Do-It Yourself Urban Development

[Kerry]

Just FYI, Habitat homes aren't given away; homeowners must make a down payment, help build their home, and then make mortgage payments.

I didn't know that. Who do they make the payments to?

[USG'60]

Just for fun, I just might start snoopin' around the ol' neighborhood and see if anything available looks exciting for such a project. Don't worry, I know it is WAY early, but it will be a way of keeping me inspired with the project.

[Spartan]

That would be awesome CuatrodeMayo.

Does anyone have any ideas what the basic steps are that would need to be followed.

I have no idea how the process works. There is obviously more to it than the 5 steps below.

1) acquire land
2) design structure
3) Get building permit
4) Construct home
5) Sell home.

Well I think in pushing for taking some civic responsibility for this...there are a few more steps.

1) Work out specifics of group
2) Try and get some heavy-hitters on board
3) Present to neighborhood associations
4) Select a neighborhood, acquire land
5) Site-planning phase, environmental impact study, etc
6) Structural design, interior design
7) Permit phase (dealing with overlay districts, etc)
8) Put out feelers for pre-sale
9) Break ground
10) Market home through construction
11) Finish construction, sell home
12) Repeat

I do think there is potential to get neighborhoods to compete for this type of project. Perhaps the Plaza District would be very interested, or perhaps 9th Street, Paseo, or somewhere else. If Plaza is selected, perhaps there could be some interesting support opportunities with them--many of their stakeholders are very interested in things like civic responsibility and involving the community in neighborhood improvement.

Kerry, this is a personal question for you. You live in Florida, how would you be able to pull this off?

[Spartan]

This reminds me of what Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood did recently...

[Kerry]

Kerry, this is a personal question for you. You live in Florida, how would you be able to pull this off?

Thanks for that list Spartan. There is no way I could do this from Florida, which is why someone local would have to do it. I just want to be part of the group and not necessarily the 'leader' of it. If I lived there I would be more than happy to take a lead role eventhough I don't know much about the inner workings of real-estate development.

[Spartan]

Well I live in Europe atm. You live in Florida. Others live in California. There are plenty of local heavy-hitters that read this forum, but without someone like that, essentially a developer, I don't think it will be possible. So then it's not "Do-it Yourself Urban Development."

But we'll see. This will be an interesting topic to follow. I think it could be a really cool idea, as well. It would be very cool if it could serve as a way to introduce "newbies" to urban development and get more players in the inner city redevelopment, as well as to put some urban residential on a high-visibility corridor. It would be cool to see this go in the heart of the Plaza or Paseo, for example.

[Kerry]

This reminds me of what Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood did recently...

And then the police came and made them clear the street.

[okclee]

I'll get on the OCURA website and look for the available vacant land/lots. There should also be some good information as to how to acquire the OCURA property.

[Kerry]

I'll get on the OCURA website and look for the available vacant land/lots. There should also be some good information as to how to acquire the OCURA property.

I use this site to find property ownership and relative cost. OCURA doesn't have a webite.

http://oklahoma.latitudegeo.com/imf/...ma/launch.html

I have found one block off the beaten path (but still highly visible) where all the lots except one are very reasonably priced. By reasonable, nothing over $50,000 with most being in the $10,000 range - at least on the assest value. What would be nice is if the property owners joined the group and put up the land as their part of the investment. If we can't do a whole block then I would be happy just to do individual lots or a smaller collection of contiguous blocks.

However - to Spartans point, it takes someone local to make it happen.

[shane453]

Definitely agree that small developments like this concept are a great way to jumpstart some real progress... But also the great thing about these projects that cost less than $1 million is that there are a lot of people who could do it individually, and even more who could do it with some borrowing. The best way to utilize a bigger group of investors without some huge legal concerns/expenses would be something like SOSA, where each investor has their own property and project. In this case there could be an agreed upon overarching theme (such as a street of adjacent rowhouses, with two homes per individually owned lot). This would still reduce the risk of starting a project in a sketchy area, because you know the whole street would get done at once, but it would also avoid the risks of such a legally complex micro-financing situation.

[Spartan]

Well, SoSA is mostly owner-built, as well.

[kevinpate]

I didn't know that. Who do they make the payments to?

Habitat builds and sells at cost. Mortgage is sans interest. payments go into the construction budget to build more homes.

purchasers also put in hundreds of sweat equity hours

[Kerry]

Habitat builds and sells at cost. Mortgage is sans interest. payments go into the construction budget to build more homes.

purchasers also put in hundreds of sweat equity hours

That is what I thought after you mentioned it. We wouldn't be able to do that because if one person missed their payment we would go out of business.

[kevinpate]

tis why such groups also rely on in-kind and monetary donations as well

[CurtisJ]

I hate to use my first post on this forum to bring up a dead topic, but I'm going to anyways.

I recently returned to OKC and I've been looking a good way to learn about real estate development in a hands on environment. If someone here with the needed experience ever decides to pursue this sort of development I would be more than willing to contribute a good amount of time and a modest amount of money. I'm currently in Mesta Park and there are several streets in that neighborhood that would make great candidates.

[metro]

The Jefferson Park neighborhood association does this.

[Just the facts]

I wanted to bump this thread back up. As luck would have it some of the pieces have kind of fallen together but before I get too far into it I need a local general contractor that would be willing to pitch in for part ownership of the company. Being so far away makes this effort more difficult but if I can find someone locally who can oversee the project we might be able to get this started. Ideally what I would like to do is find enough people involved in the development process to donate their time for part ownership so that initial funding can be used to purchase land, building materials, and permits. If anyone is interested please send me a PM.

[MidCenturyModOKC]

I have found one block off the beaten path (but still highly visible) where all the lots except one are very reasonably priced. By reasonable, nothing over $50,000 with most being in the $10,000 range - at least on the assest value.

I have not found a thread on here specifically speaking of vacant lots in NW OKC/Midtown/Downtown which could be bought and built on...But that is one of the reasons I am interested in OKCTalk. I have GC experience and would like to build a new home for myself which has a MCM design. Any ideas on how to find these lot options or network with people who are selling lots would be appreciated!

[betts]

I have not found a thread on here specifically speaking of vacant lots in NW OKC/Midtown/Downtown which could be bought and built on...But that is one of the reasons I am interested in OKCTalk. I have GC experience and would like to build a new home for myself which has a MCM design. Any ideas on how to find these lot options or network with people who are selling lots would be appreciated!

Drive around SoSA. You'll see multiple lots with for sale signs on them, both "for sale by owner" and real estate signs. That's where I would build if I wanted to build a new home for myself. I'm not sure how reasonable any of the lots are, as I didn't call for prices.

[Pete]

You can also just look on realtor.com and select 'land' as a search option in zip codes 73102 and 73103.

Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...ex=OK531118591

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...ex=OK537011007

[MidCenturyModOKC]

Thanks for the ideas!! I am really interested in the hard to find lots which are just left vacant or are FOR SALE BY OWNER and you may never hear about unless you know someone! I check the MLS often, still looking, but having a great time hearing what everyone thinks about all kinds of developments around town in the mean time!

[Just the facts]

One thing to keep in mind when building an urban homes is that they are not usually as big as a suburban home either, which will help keep the price down.

[MidCenturyModOKC]

Very good point Just the facts! The average urban lot in OKC seems to be 50' wide and I would assume that the setbacks are a min. 5' on either side in most additions so that limits what you can do quite a bit.

[MIKELS129]

Very good point Just the facts! The average urban lot in OKC seems to be 50' wide and I would assume that the setbacks are a min. 5' on either side in most additions so that limits what you can do quite a bit.

You might want to check your information on the average width in SoSa and the surrounding area. I believe the lindividual lots are 25' wide. Most older homes where built on two lots.