All Forum Posts by: Chris Z.

@Mark Kovacs also consider that if the load bearing wall is an interior wall you may have to add lally columns in the basement. Load points should transfer all the way down.

I recently opened up 13 ft in a load bearing wall in my own house and had to have two new lally columns in the basement. Was about $2,400 for the columns.

Echoing what others have said a structural engineer is a must.

+1 What @Brandon Moffitt said. Take his offer. Its simple and easy to do online for single member LLC. You dont need to pay a lawyer or some website to do it for you!

@Marivel Fortenberry Welcome to BP. I do some investing in Austin as well. Glad to have you on board!

Not all mortgages over 80% LTV require PMI on a primary residence. Just look at all the 5/5 ARM options from credit unions. Yes, maybe its baked into the rate, but it still comes out better than a 30 yr fixed with PMI.

My advice. Put 10% down on your primary residence and dump the rest into a rental property.

I agree with @Nnabuenyi Anigbogu. I have a 50/50 agreement with my GC, but its because I'm new to it and doing it out of state. If I had opportunities, especially local to me, and had the experience, which it sounds like you do, I would just hire the GC.

I would check Airbnb to get an idea on short term rental rates in your area. 10% is way too little of an upcharge. If rent for a 12 month lease is $1,000/mo, I would expect to pay $1,500 or more for furnished and having the flexibility of short term

@Damian Leonarddid you find most of your deals through your networking group in DFW or where there other sources that you used?

Congratulations. That is a great accomplishment!

I might be in a similar situation soon as well putting an unfinished house under contract. Since we're changing the layout and putting on an addition we shared floor plans and then we had our designer share samples of cabinets, counters, paint colors etc so they could get a feel for the look of the house. We plan to have all of those items and any other specifics we share (i.e. driveway type, landscaping) outlined in the contract so they agree to it all and can't use it as a reason to back out. We're also trying to secure a non refundable deposit equal to just under 5% of the purchase price, which in this case is over $40k. I'd be interested to hear others ideas as well.

@Kevin Estey I invest in property in Austin. I will connect and send you a message to get on your list.