All Forum Posts by: Russell Holmes

@Jim Adrian Thank you for the cost breakdown as well as some of the extreme limitations of trying to do something small and technical/varied with precast. It seems like the perfect material for large uniform buildings, but the restrictions would require far too many restraints on smaller structure design.

How did the precast concrete modular home work?  I know wood frame modular double wides would come as two shipments of 'half of a house' that connect together with all systems in place.  But with concrete I imagine that would be too heavy so it was probably more parts to ship and assemble.

@Jonathan Landry thanks for your input too! I don't believe I realized they made precast wall sections for residential building.  There's a lot of highway work in my area and a couple concrete plants pumping out as many precast beams parts as they can, but hadn't considered it on a smaller scale.  Do you find that the proximity of your build site to where they are produced plays a major part in cost?  I'd imagine a semi truck can only haul a handful of panels?  Very interesting material.  While we don't have basements here typically, I've seen some really nice farmhouse style homes built on a hill with a walk-out basement overlooking a view of water or wildlife.  

It sounds like there is significant time saved in building out the basements in that method.  What would you say the total cost savings is over a traditionally built basement?  or is it comparable or more?  I'd imagine the end result is more structurally sound than hand laid block.

@Jay Hinrichs 18 months, wow, that is incredible!  Funny too that I picked a 'wide' model.  Those Hunley Waters homes look to lack some character compared to some of your referenced builds, but I can see them being a hit if the price point is right.  

I can't say that I have tracked every project you've done, but over the time I've been on BP, I've always loved hearing the broad range of projects you have tackled and how you offer insight from those projects to everyone you can.  I look forward to a website to be able to see all of your work. 

To upload a picture here, you can click on the word "image" under the text box you type in.  It'll bring up a prompt to upload an image file from your computer (you can save most images online by right-clicking and choosing save as).  If it doesn't prompt you to 'choose file', pop-ups may be blocked. You can tell your browser to trust Bigger Pockets and allow pop ups there only, but that would probably be easiest as a task for your granddaughter as all browsers vary and I get frustrated trying to change settings myself. As always, thanks for the input!

@Daniel Soyars I'm a realtor in Central FL but mainly focus on Orange Lake and Seminole counties. You would likely be better in general with a Volusia local who knows the area better than I do. However I do know of a good looking triplex/duplex (depending on rehab) in New Smyrna Beach. I did a video walk through and ran some numbers. It appears to be a good cash flowing deal but comps are nonexistent because it's grandfathered into a single family area and as such I couldn't get any buyers to see "the light" without a solid ARV. It's still listed active at $189,900 and I thought it looked good listed at $215k awhile back. The "third unit" is a bit of a stretch and really should be a top/bottom duplex of large 3bedroom units. I'd be happy to give you more info on it if you'd like. It needs rehab/finishing but didn't look awful at all.

Here's another new construction modern one I've passed as it was being completed in the upscale Orwin Manor neighborhood of Winter Park with mostly mid-century homes existing.  The junker ones get flattened to build things like this.  This one is listed at over $700k and is just over 3000sf.  

@Mike Reynolds excellent, I'm going to look into this more! Thank you for the insight!!

@Account Closed on site fabrication seems to be one of the biggest benefits.  I hadn't heard of pouring walls on top of each other and thought you may have to do them in phases.  But with the right design I think it would be really cool as well! 

There are a hundred or so of these cool little mid-80s houses built in clusers around Apopka that are all about 950-1100 sqft. So far I haven't seen a build date for one outside of 1984-1987, but they cranked those suckers out in those years.

I've bid on two for buyers that have come to market as they are perfect size for good value per sf and rent numbers while being old enough to be thoroughly tenant abused and discounted. They are oddly joisted wood frame homes built on concrete block perimeter foundations.  Most homes with joisted floors here are on pier & beam with open crawl space.   Something of this style with a few intersecting single plane pitched roofs, but in a larger scale may be interesting for either tilt wall or SIP.  Even though these houses were tiny, the high ceilings and high windows made them feel large.  I loved the basic geometry of the designs as well, as if the architect only had two or three shapes to work with.  

@Jay Hinrichs thanks for the reply!  I looked up the Village at Rand Road as well as the other two addresses and looked through pictures with my wife.  Beautiful job on every single one and she was in awe.  Those are pretty much the style I'm referencing as well. Around here they may throw in a smooth stucco finish on a portion of the home and often put a large porch or garage attached to the tall and narrow home.  Our area is one with older homes on an acre or more but newer developments typically building on 0.15-0.25 acre lots.  1/3 and 1/2 acre lots are actually a premium 'feature' in some developments.  Buyers tend to want yard space and sqft while being ok with small lots, so it works for similar reasons.  I saw one of yours was on a 0.07 acre lot.....wow!    Most are at least double that here.  

Here's one that was just built on a subdivided lot in an area of restored 1920s-1940s houses (70 S Central Ave, Apopka FL).  The roads are still 100+ year old brick which forces you to drive slowly and enjoy the architecture. The city wants to repave portions and the residents protest.   The older houses all have a cool eclectic varied style, so it works well even though it stands out as modern. This one is on a 7500sf lot.  The builder built one identical to it over near the beach, and liked the end result enough to do another inland down the street from his house.  I met him when I went to see the house and he had ridden his riding lawn mower down from his house two blocks away to mow it.  They're a little high on price and there are some odd things I may have done a bit differently, but it's cool in its own way.

For those of you reading who may not google the addresses  Jay gave above (you really should to look at all the pictures) here are a few teasers of the properties Jay is talking about:

One of the first property images I found in The Village at Rand Road:

20 F St

8 Woodall Ct: 

I'd say you definitely know how to maximize your build envelope Jay!  Those houses are gorgeous.  What was the time span from ground breaking to selling the last of the 24 homes in The Village?

@Mike Reynolds oh wow, that is great! I will definitely be looking into SIPs more as it sounds like it could be a viable method for strong and efficient homes while still being profitable for the investor/developer.  Also since 'custom' design isn't necessarily a priority of building investment properties either for sale or hold, be they starter homes or rentals, I'd be curious if there are pre-made plans that could be state approved by a structural engineer and then quickly built, saving the custom design costs.  

You've given me my next rabbit hole of research to dive into! 

@Jay Hinrichs have you done any SIP structure development or have an opinion about it?  

@Mike Reynolds thank you for the feedback! And to be honest I had to Google SIPs to see what they were. I believe I have seen them used but I don't think I realized they were fully structural. The images I saw on quick search has OSB outer layers but I read that it can be sheet metal, concrete board or others. Non-wood exterior is a huge plus here with humidity, rain, and wood destroying insects in lovely Florida :). It looks like you could build the entire structure, roof and all, with them? Would it also replace need for trusses? I'm curious if they'd meet FL hurricane code but I don't see why not. What is your experience on cost compared to traditional methods? And to be clear I have no issue with normal concrete block with wood framed walls and trusses, my house is built that way and I bought it intentionally after seeing my Dad work feverishly to keep a wood framed home free from rot over 25+ years. I'm just curious of other methods that may be relevant.