Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market
to build a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor.
Has anyone in the group done this and do they have any words of
advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity. You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia turned
out to be way overextended financially from previous projects, and
could not line up the subs I wanted, and was teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but the
builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction bond)
and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been laid and the
slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee the subs on salary
and bonus, and completed the house just a hair over budget. I had
to be on the site for about an hour at 6:30 AM just about every
morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick fireplaces,
nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and another 3,000 square
feet finished in the basement. I looked it up on Zillow early last
year and it was valued at more than $1.5 million. The "crash" of
the real estate market apparently hit Northern Virginia hard,
because when I looked it up on Zillow earlier this evening, it was
valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it was
the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for it -
nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five years
later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000 and change.
Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there in the mid-1970s
are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad to
supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


"Quietly?" What does that mean? Are you doing to track down his home
address, drive by and take pictures?

Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market
to build a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor.
Has anyone in the group done this and do they have any words of
advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity. You
can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia turned
out to be way overextended financially from previous projects, and
could not line up the subs I wanted, and was teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but the
builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction bond)
and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been laid and the
slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee the subs on
salary and bonus, and completed the house just a hair over budget.
I had to be on the site for about an hour at 6:30 AM just about
every morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick
fireplaces, nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and another
3,000 square feet finished in the basement. I looked it up on
Zillow early last year and it was valued at more than $1.5
million. The "crash" of the real estate market apparently hit
Northern Virginia hard, because when I looked it up on Zillow
earlier this evening, it was valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it was
the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for it -
nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five years
later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000 and change.
Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there in the
mid-1970s are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad to
supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


I am always curious why you want to know my full legal name? What's the
deal?


Simple. My feeling is that if your full legal name were publicly known
here, you'd be far less of a snark.

Tom Francis wrote:
On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:47:11 -0500, Jim wrote:

How do you ever find time to work on all these projects and stay glued
to your computer screen. A mortal who has done all you say you did would
have to be at least 175 years old.

Quantum reality.

Harry can be in two places at the same time.

Word has it in the theoritical physics world that Harry can actually
be in three places at the same time or three places at different
times.

Truly amazing.


Indeed, and it keeps me from buying experimental outboards and
experimental cameras.

It's theoretical, by the way. I think if you are going to expound in a
pseudo-intellectual fashion, you should at least spell the important
words correctly. :)

Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III,
Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market
to build a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor.
Has anyone in the group done this and do they have any words of
advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity.
You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia
turned out to be way overextended financially from previous
projects, and could not line up the subs I wanted, and was
teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but
the builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction
bond) and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been laid
and the slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee the subs
on salary and bonus, and completed the house just a hair over
budget. I had to be on the site for about an hour at 6:30 AM just
about every morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick
fireplaces, nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and
another 3,000 square feet finished in the basement. I looked it
up on Zillow early last year and it was valued at more than $1.5
million. The "crash" of the real estate market apparently hit
Northern Virginia hard, because when I looked it up on Zillow
earlier this evening, it was valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it
was the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for it
- nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five years
later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000 and
change. Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there in the
mid-1970s are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad to
supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


I am always curious why you want to know my full legal name? What's
the deal?


Simple. My feeling is that if your full legal name were publicly known
here, you'd be far less of a snark.


would i then just call people assholes?

On Dec 30, 10:30*am, Boater wrote:
Tom Francis wrote:
On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:47:11 -0500, Jim wrote:

How do you ever find time to work on all these projects and stay glued
to your computer screen. A mortal who has done all you say you did would
have to be at least 175 years old.

Quantum reality.

Harry can be in two places at the same time.

Word has it in the theoritical physics world that Harry can actually
be in three places at the same time or three places at different
times.

Truly amazing.

Indeed, and it keeps me from buying experimental outboards and
experimental cameras.

It's theoretical, by the way. I think if you are going to expound in a
pseudo-intellectual fashion, you should at least spell the important
words correctly. * :)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

This from the guy that has absolutely no problem trusted all of his
data to beta software.......
Yep, never stray from your narrow pathway.

On Dec 30, 9:32*am, Boater wrote:
Tom Francis wrote:
On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:44:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:

Tom Francis wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market to build
a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor. *Has anyone in the
group done this and do they have any words of advice?
Yep.

Don't do it.
I don't know, Harry was very successful GC'ing his N. VA home.

That's Harry. *Harry is successful at everything he attempts.

He's the Leonardo DaVinci of modern times. *To date, Harry has proven
extensive knowledge of a whole host of subjects including, of all
things, opera. *I mean roof loads, foundations, plumbing, electrical -
he's got the knowledge base - apparently.

So it follows that Harry would be the General Contractor for his own
home - he has nothing but time on his hands (as is obvious by the
number of posts just yesterday) which is a key element in being a GC
for your own home.

It's hard for the rest of us mere mortals to understand that.

Reggie, of course, is full of schitt. I was successful with the house in
NoVa because I had to be. If I had let the original GC get away with his
shenanigans, it would have been a financial disaster. And all successful
at the time meant was that I was able to complete the project a little
over budget. It was a hellacious, time-consuming, aggravating project,
and I would not do it again, especially these days.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Pussy.

On Dec 30, 9:25*am, Tom Francis
wrote:
On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:18:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:
I
wonder which codes he used in his area, including building code,

It's got to have four walls and a roof.

plumbing code,

It's gotta flush - somewhere.

electrical code,

AC or DC?

Or both?

gas code,

No beans.

ADA compliance,

No teeth.

I'm guessing that's as far as Harry got!

Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III,
Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing
market to build a new home, and acting as our own General
Contractor. Has anyone in the group done this and do they
have any words of advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity.
You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an
equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as
General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia
turned out to be way overextended financially from previous
projects, and could not line up the subs I wanted, and was
teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but
the builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction
bond) and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been laid
and the slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee the
subs on salary and bonus, and completed the house just a hair
over budget. I had to be on the site for about an hour at 6:30
AM just about every morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick
fireplaces, nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and
another 3,000 square feet finished in the basement. I looked it
up on Zillow early last year and it was valued at more than $1.5
million. The "crash" of the real estate market apparently hit
Northern Virginia hard, because when I looked it up on Zillow
earlier this evening, it was valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it
was the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for
it - nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five
years later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000 and
change. Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there in
the mid-1970s are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad to
supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


I am always curious why you want to know my full legal name? What's
the deal?


Simple. My feeling is that if your full legal name were publicly known
here, you'd be far less of a snark.


would i then just call people assholes?


I'm not a fearful person, and would not be intimidated if some asshole
from here showed up at my front door looking for trouble.

You, however, are a fearful person, which is why you behave like an
asshole here, hide behind your handles, et cetera.

Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III,
Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing
market to build a new home, and acting as our own General
Contractor. Has anyone in the group done this and do they
have any words of advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity.
You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an
equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the
seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to
make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as
General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia
turned out to be way overextended financially from previous
projects, and could not line up the subs I wanted, and was
teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but
the builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction
bond) and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been
laid and the slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee
the subs on salary and bonus, and completed the house just a
hair over budget. I had to be on the site for about an hour at
6:30 AM just about every morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick
fireplaces, nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and
another 3,000 square feet finished in the basement. I looked it
up on Zillow early last year and it was valued at more than
$1.5 million. The "crash" of the real estate market apparently
hit Northern Virginia hard, because when I looked it up on
Zillow earlier this evening, it was valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it
was the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for
it - nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five
years later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000
and change. Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there
in the mid-1970s are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad
to supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


I am always curious why you want to know my full legal name? What's
the deal?


Simple. My feeling is that if your full legal name were publicly
known here, you'd be far less of a snark.


would i then just call people assholes?


I'm not a fearful person, and would not be intimidated if some asshole
from here showed up at my front door looking for trouble.

You, however, are a fearful person, which is why you behave like an
asshole here, hide behind your handles, et cetera.

Is Boater your real legal name? You keep changing your handle through
out the course of the day, it is hard to keep up with you. Are you Real
Boater, Boater, hk or what?

Since you are not afraid, what is your full legal name, your address and
your phone number. If you don't post it here, obviously you are a
scared little pussy.

Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Boater wrote:
Gene wrote:
On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III,
Esq."
wrote:

We are thinking about using this downturn in the housing market
to build a new home, and acting as our own General Contractor.
Has anyone in the group done this and do they have any words of
advice?

Yes, with three houses and two workshops. Not only was I General
Contractor, I was also 50% of the labor.

Your only real savings, in this market, will be sweat equity.
You can
buy cheaper than you can build.... you just have to find an equally
desperate mortgagee and mortgagor.... or you could do it the seat
equity route, if you have the cash, tools, and a desire to make it
happen.

No bank is going to let *you* (as their mortgagor) serve as General
Contractor unless you hold a contractor's license.

Advice? You're crazy to even attempt it...... uh, but wasn't I
thinking about adding on to the workshop.....

.... Oh, never mind......


It's an incredible burner of time. I had to do it because the
general I hired to build a custom home in Northern Virginia
turned out to be way overextended financially from previous
projects, and could not line up the subs I wanted, and was
teetering.

Took the builder to court, had a civil jury trial, and won a
settlement of more than $100,000. Never collected anything but
the builder's license bond from the state.

With the help of the lumberyard (who issued the construction
bond) and my bank, I took over when the foundation had been laid
and the slabs poured, hired a project manager to oversee the subs
on salary and bonus, and completed the house just a hair over
budget. I had to be on the site for about an hour at 6:30 AM just
about every morning.

It was a huge house, ultra modern, with four full brick
fireplaces, nearly 4000 square feet on the main level, and
another 3,000 square feet finished in the basement. I looked it
up on Zillow early last year and it was valued at more than $1.5
million. The "crash" of the real estate market apparently hit
Northern Virginia hard, because when I looked it up on Zillow
earlier this evening, it was valued at about $1.1 million.

Just checked the second house I owned in Northern Virgina...it
was the one we sold to build the custom house. I paid $87k for it
- nice builder's subdivision house - and sold it about five years
later for $160,000, I think. Zillow has it at $600,000 and
change. Not bad, and the blue spruce trees I planted there in the
mid-1970s are at least 40 feet tall and full triple wides.

Nice story, and pictures?


There are aerial pictures of both places on Zillow. Soon as you
provide your full legal name here and I verify it, I'll be glad to
supply the addresses of the houses.


Ok, how do you plan on verifying my full legal name?

Quietly; not the way you would do it.


I am always curious why you want to know my full legal name? What's
the deal?


Simple. My feeling is that if your full legal name were publicly known
here, you'd be far less of a snark.


Knowing who you are hasn't improved your behavior or has it?