by bryant follow (0)
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Thanks for the pointers. Can you recommend a modular home builder in the area, who might have more expertise in this area?
Anyone have recommendations re: buying @ foreclosure? Normally, you can't even see the inside and there may be unseen issues with the house. But if you plan on tearing it down anyways, all of those worries become irrelevant, and therefore less risky in my mind.
OK, I've been looking at houses in Palo Alto, etc, and realize they are really expensive as size increases.. For example, a 1000sqft house might cost $1.0m whereas a 2000sqft house might cost $1.5m. So, instead, I've been thinking about a new plan:
1) Buy a foreclosure at auction with the largest plot of land (and crappiest condition house that nobody wants), paying maybe $600k cash
2) Re-fi the property for the land value at least, in order to get most of the cash back
3) Tear it down and build a new house using a modern/green prefab unit (such as http://www.flatpakhouse.com/), maybe $250/sqft, or $500k for a 2000sqft home
In the end, I'm all in for about $1.1m but get a brand new 2000sqft house. How realistic is this? My questions:
1) Difficulty of buying at foreclosure auction -- any recommendations for a low-fee broker for Santa Clara County?
2) Will the bank allow me to re-fi based on the land value, since I will be tearing down the house? I don't have enough cash to pay for both land and construction.
3) Will neighbors, and the city, allow me to build a modern/green prefab house? Stick-built building costs would pretty much wipe out the savings difference.
4) Any recommendations for a builder who has done this before?
Thanks for any guidance!
#housing