Where are we now?

Things are going very well at this point. We have dug out the two basements, have had success working with the inspectors, have most of our plans done to get started with applications for hearings with planning, and have poured a little concrete. We are in the process of pouring new footers in the basement upon which we can begin to frame. I will soon send post some pictures of the basement and the progress that we have made!

Let's review

So far we've learned several valuable lessons. Don't sign a contract that you haven't read completely, don't do business with Canton Title, and don't expect crackheads to clean up after themselves, pay their bills, or do anything that resembles a good job when it comes to construction. Now that that is all behind us, we are stuck in a holding pattern waiting to get building plans to get permits from Baltimore City. Permits are a minor inconvenience, if you are fond of being ass raped, but are essential to having your project run smoothly if you intend to do more than a little construction. Most licensed contractors pull their own, but any work you do yourself may be spot inspected. An inspector has the authority to stop you from proceeding with construction and will frequently boast that they can fine you $10,000.00 and put you in jail. I have never heard of that happening and my understanding is that these sentences can be imposed by a judge if you are willfully neglectful, or brazenly ignore their recommendations. Nonetheless, having a good relationship with your inspector will help you avoid fines and may help to minimize frequency of inspections and seemingly arbitrary complaints which cost you time and money. Really the system is thinly veiled extortion scheme whereby the city is nice enough to let you pay them to make them go away. Isn't repressive government great...but I digress.
The best way to work with the city is to keep them in the loop as much as you have to. I suppose this is a vague statement so I will clarify. If there is any chance that the city will find out what you are doing, tell them first. Case in point, there is a house in my neighborhood that has been gutted and has succeeded in receiving variances(I will address this in the near future) to dig out the basement, and raise each successive floor to increase the basement height ot make it livable(I believe the threshold is 7'8" to be considered occupyable space, but I can't remember). Everything moved along well until the brick was removed from the front of the house and the inspector was able to visualize what the happy little elves had been up to inside. Needless to say, it was only a couple days before a bright orange card on the front of the house indicated that the workday was done. The process of getting the city to lift a "stop work" order is about as predictable as playing what's in my ass with Barney Frank. Sometimes everything flows well other times, not so much.
We are bound to experience this soon so I will be sure to report everything we face.

crackhead carpentry-- half a dozen 2x4's to replace the support of a brick wall 

Welcome to the Jungle... the beauty of a crackhouse 

Just keeps getting better

Well, things are moving along nicely. Interior demo is mostly done, and we are digging the basement today. The only preblem is that every time we expose something, we discover a structural disaster. For that reason, we have to dig the basement and pour a concrete pad to support a post and beam to support the floors that have been completely undermined. We have to remove the roof on the back of the house as a result of duct tape and chewing gum construction, and we may have to remove the back brick wall since it has been so badly abused. None of these is going to be a major expense in either time or money, but have definitely been surprises. The other great challenge will be in coordinating architect and Baltimore city.

Tomorrow: zoning nazis?

Phew!

Now the fun starts.

We closed on our house last week, not without a great deal of strife. Fortunately that is all behind us. When we first got there we definitely had a rude awakening. The Crackheads that had lived there left all kinds of trash throughout the house. There were crack vials all over the floor, burnt spoons all around and several crackpipes hidden in various places. It was really depressing.

Two days later we are starting to feel pretty good. We have removed all the trash from the house and done a significant amount of demo. All the carpets are up and the dry wall is down. With any luck, it will be completely empty by the end of the day and ready for the architect tomorrow.

possible solution to stringer/platform attachment 

Titulary Rights

The Title Company has dropped the ball. I'm not sure where everyhing went wrong, but we are anxiously awaiting the 24 month title chain without results. This does not bode well for closing quickly. I'm remain hopeful.

The Joy of Contracting part 1

We met with the architect this week and are trying to make decisions about how to work everything. There are a lot of questions to answer before we move forward with him, but I am convinced that he will be a great asset to optimization of space & style. The big question is one of liability. We'll figure that out over the next couple of days. Meanwhile, the underwriters are cloistered and pondering the details of usury. I would have thought they would be able to streamline everything and get back to me quickly, but they have shown an unwillingness to engage their cerebral cortexes when making decisions.

Specifically, we have bought 2 houses that have been converted into 1. We are interested in reversing this union and selling 2 houses when we are finished, therefore almost doubling the return that we will get. The underwriters have created a catch 22 as far as attaining construction financing. If we get a loan on the house then we will be in breech of contract by splitting it in two which is the course of action we specify in getting a construction loan. If we want to get 2 loans, one for each house,we must get them deeded separately which will be impossible because they are not yet separate houses.

The simple, but not wholly attractive solution has been to use alternative financing, ie 2nd mortgages on our existing properties. This way the underwriters have no knowledge of what is going on until we deed the properties separately after they are completed. At that point they have the option of forcing us to sell one of the houses to cover the mortgage, if they want to be a pain. Since this is exactly what we intend to do, I anticipate very little problem. In fact, the mortgage company that holds the note may not even notice the modification of the deed. We'll see. For now, we are tightening the construction schedule to try to finish the first house in 6 months. I've got a feeling this is going to get real tough real quick.