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Newsletter Archive
Newsletter #1
Newsletter #2
Newsletter #3
Newsletter #4
Newsletter #5
Newsletter #6
Newsletter #7
Newsletter #8
Newsletter #9
Newsletter #10
Newsletter #11
Newsletter #12
Newsletter #13

Newsletter #1

Book Review
Save on Windows
Appraised Vs Assessed

1-1. Book Review
Habitat for Humanity has a new book out. How to build a House, ISBN 1-56158-532-7, Taunton Press $24.95. I really like this book; it is a complete step-by-step guide to building a simple house. You will notice the similarities to what I teach in my class and the examples in my book, again K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple, especially if you want a good inexpensive house for very little money. One thing I don’t really like is the use of roof trusses, as you probably know, especially if you attended my class is that I prefer a ridge beam and rafters, that way you can have a wonderful feeling of cubic space, also its easier to build.
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1-2. Save Money on Windows
A friend of mine recently told me about three major window manufacturers who have Bone-Yards in the Sacramento area; they are Millguard, 916 852-1762. A.B.S. (American Building Supply) 916 387-2602 and Cal Builders Supply, 916 564-8416.
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1-3. Appraised Vs. Assessed
I got an email from a student recently; here is the body of the text;

Subject: 'From Web Site' - tax lien sale question

David,

I attended your class last Saturday at Sierra College in Rocklin. It was interesting, eye-opening, and I enjoyed it, but I've got a question I hope you can help me with.

I followed up on the tax lien property sale idea this week, and found two sales that had just occurred in the past two weeks (Placer and Nevada Co.). Their websites showed properties that were sold during the sale, plus properties that were sold in previous year's sales. Although the sale prices varied from as little as $2800 to $102K, in pretty much all cases the final sale prices turned out to be nearly the same as the property's appraised value (at least as shown by the County), or in some cases even higher. Isn't the point of using the tax lien sale to find bargains on property? I don't mean that statement in a snide sense, but I'm planning to go to the El Dorado Co. tax lien sale next Friday, and am trying to learn as much as I can beforehand. If the properties end up costing an amount similar to the open market appraised value, it would seem to make more sense to just shop the open market at leisure. Please give me your feedback on whatever I'm missing in this picture. Thanks for your time, and thanks for opening a door to new knowledge. Randy

Randy,

Where did you find the appraised value of those properties? Or do you mean assessed value? The assessed value by the County assessors office is used for tax purposes and is always way below the actual value, the actual value would be what its worth on the open market (appraised value). So in my opinion those where probably excellent buys. Please keep me informed of your progress. David.

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Newsletter #2

Expanding Seminars
Tax Sale States
Book Review
Tip

2-1. Expanding Seminars
In the fall of 2003 I booked 5 new seminars in southern California, they were all quite successful. I also went back to Washington DC for only the second time in three years, my fiancée, Andrea came along and we made a vacation out of it, taking the train up to New York city, we arrived there on a Saturday afternoon and on Sunday morning it was snowing, so we walked in Central park in the snow and thoroughly enjoyed it. My first time in New York City. When I got home I started looking online for more places to hold my seminar. No matter where you live, if you can get enough people together I will be happy to come and teach my seminar; obviously I need to cover my expenses. Think about it, is there a junior college near you that holds non-credit classes, a Parks and Rec center?
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2-2. Tax Deed States
Some of you have asked which states hold tax sales similar to California, as it turns out there are more States than I thought, so here’s a list. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and finally I was recently informed that Michigan is now a tax deed State. There are many idiosyncrasies within the individual States, for example in Hawaii you hold the tax deed but the previous property owner still has one year after the sale to redeem. Go to the County Tax Collector or Treasurers office and get a copy of the rules pertaining to tax sales. The balance of the Country are tax certificate States.
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2-3. Book Review
Working alone, by John Carroll. ISBN 1-56158-286-7 Taunton Books

As you may know after building my house with just the help of one man I then built a small studio and three carports by myself. The carports had a fairly involved foundation which consisted of piers and a foundation/retaining wall. I learned to do things by myself. This book has lots of tips: like how to attach sheets of plywood single-handedly, how to install kitchen cabinets by yourself, framing walls and even hanging windows and doors solo.
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2-4. Tip
If you live in most of the United States, the exceptions would be places like Hawaii, Florida and Palm Desert. Now is the best time to buy land, things look bleak in the winter so you may be able to get a better price, a Man who attended my seminar last Spring did just that, he looked every Summer and never found what he liked at the price he could afford, so he went in the Winter and found just what he was looking for at just the right price. So remember, if someone needs to sell and you are buying now is a good time to get a better deal.

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Newsletter #3

Interview
Book Review
Tip

3-1. Interview with David Cook
Editor: Why do you think so few people build their own houses?

David: First there is the fear factor, fear of the unknown, but you won’t ever know unless you try. Then of course there is the time element, most of us don’t think we have the time; we are all so wrapped up in our lives. That is of course a real shame, because most of us are not living the life we would like. Imagine how different our lives would be if we actually owned our houses, the freedom it would give us to do the things we really would like to do. Most people are working, to pay the rent, buy food and clothing, make the car payment and pay the credit cards. So there is no time. What people need is a fundamental shift in their lifestyles.

Ed: What do you think that would take?

David: I think it’s mostly a matter of will power and a plan and sticking to that plan. It’s living simply, and saving and buying some land instead of that nice shiny car. Working toward a future of living the life you want.

Ed: Easy for you to say

David: I have been up to my eyeballs in debt and completely free of debt, in fact that is where I am today and l like it much better.

Ed: What can the average person do to at least start the process of building their own home?

David: I think it has to start with the land purchase. In California and many other States the tax sale still offers one of the best chances of buying land cheap, but even if you can’t find time to go to tax sales you can buy land privately with seller financing and make small monthly payments. Sometimes when a person asks me about that I advise them to think about moving further out where they can afford to buy some land, build a house and earn some sweat equity. Consider living in a mobile home that you own free and clear and using the money that would usually go for rent to build your house.

Ed: I have heard that building a house can put a strain on a marriage.

David: I also have heard that but I think knowing that before you start makes it easier. It is so important to keep it simple so you can actually enjoy the process, that might seem like an exaggeration but my point is that it also doesn’t have to be a nightmare. And that’s why you need to understand how the house is built, or at least have a professional tell you it looks really easy to build. Also, take time off for yourself, your family and your kids.
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3-2. Book Review
Build Your Dream Home for Less, by R. Dodge Woodson, ISBN 1-55870-383-7. Better Way Books. I think this is quite a good book, it’s written by a builder who has built many houses. Here’s what I like about this book; the house building process is outlined and explained in easy to understand language. He talks about site work, temporary power hookups, septic systems and the entire house building process. The author assumes that you will hire out most of the work, but he does suggest acting as your own general contractor. Here’s what I don’t like about this book; for one thing he seems intent on convincing you that you should hire out most of the work, even things like installing windows which, as anyone who has installed windows in a new house knows is quite simple, also I don’t like what he says about squeaky floors, he doesn’t explain that you should always nail and glue the plywood sub floor, but nobody is perfect. All said, I think this book is worth buying.
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3-3. Tip
You don't need a Contractors license to build your own house.

Did you know that? It’s true, you can do all the work yourself just like I did. I found someone to help me and I learned from him, I had never built a house before, I found it fairly easy too, now I can do it all by myself. As I often mention in my class, Learn how to do it, it's really not that difficult. Take classes, or hire someone who knows what they are doing and learn from them.

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Newsletter #4

B.E.C. — Off to the best season ever
Book review
Tip
Habitat for Humanity Restore
Email from former student

4-1. B.E.C.
The Building Education Center in Berkeley is revving up for their best season yet. I was there last week delivering some books, I spoke to Glen Kitzenberger, their main instructor, he is such a nice guy you would enjoy taking a class from him. Here is a list of some of their classes:

Owner Contracting, Project Management
Owner Contracting, Legal Aspects
Cost Estimating
Kitchen Design Fundamentals
Installing Windows and Doors
Foundations
Plan Reading
Basic Electrical
More, more and more.

PLUS, THEIR HOMEOWNERS ESSENTIAL COURSE, How to Build Remodel and Maintain Your Home. This is a 17 session workshop that covers: Reading Plans, Tools and Safety, Codes and Permits, Layout, Foundations, Floor Framing, Wall Framing, Roof Framing, Roofing, Siding, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Windows and Doors and lots, lots more. Check out their website at www.bldgeductr.org.
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4-2. Book Review
The Owner-Builder Book by Mark and Elaine Smith. ISBN0-9661428-3-7 published by The Consensus Group. Visit www.OwnerBuilderBook.com

This is a great book for those of you who just want to manage the project, not my style, I like to immerse myself in the building process probably because I find it so fascinating and satisfying,

However, Mark and Elaine saved over $100,000 by acting as their own General Contractor and so can you. How did they do it? Mostly by good planning, budgeting, and careful selection of sub contractors. Check out their website.
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4-3. Tip
Site selection and foundation. Interesting subject, and unless you have done it before it’s one of those things most people don’t give a huge amount of thought to. Most of this is pretty obvious when you read what I have written, so HEED my advice when you are looking for a lot or piece of land to build your house on. Site selection; flat is obliviously best, but with easy street access too (Roads can be expensive to build), after that a slight downhill slope and the most difficult is uphill.

Excavation is expensive, avoid it if possible, geotechnical services are expensive as are engineering costs. A pier and grade beam foundation doesn’t have to be expensive, but can be. The second house I build was on an upslope so I leveled the area where the house was to be built, but because of that I had to install retaining walls, behind and in front of the house, additional time and money involved. Obviously here in the San Francisco Bay Area its not that easy to find a flat lot, and it may very well be that the reason the lot is for sale is because the development costs are exorbitant.

You can save a great deal of money but not time if you can do this work yourself, as I did. I bought a backhoe at an auction, did a lot of the grading myself, built my own retaining walls and even built my own 150’ long concrete driveway. Was it hard time consuming work? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably not.
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4-4. The Restore
New and Used. Join East Bay Habitat for Humanity as they celebrate the Grand Opening of THE RESALE STORE. Buy new and used building materials for a fraction of the cost of regular retail.

2801 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 510 614-5656.
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4-5. EMAIL from former student
Hello David - thanks for the newsletter - we attended your class in Berkeley
a few years ago. now we have 18, neglected but beautiful, acres in Oregon
(Hood River) and are soon to start work on our house (now living quite
happily in an old singlewide).

This was always the plan but your class really made it happen, and we are
really enjoying ourselves - thanks!

Please note my new email address -
please send the newsletter to this email

thanks again, and again,

Ben

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Newsletter #5

Tax Defaulted Land Sales and Refresher

5-1. Here is a list of upcoming tax sales in California

IMPERIAL 940 W. Main St., Ste. 106 El Centro, CA 92243-2864 (760) 482-4295 2/12/04 378

SACRAMENTO P.O. Box 1703 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 874-6621 2/23/04 194

CONTRA COSTA P.O. Box 631 Martinez, CA 94553-0063 (510) 646-4125 2/25/04 44

SAN DIEGO

1600 Pacific Hwy. Rm. 162 San Diego, CA 92101-2477 (619) 531-5708 2/27/04 328

KINGS 1400 W. Lacey Blvd. Hanford, CA 93230 (559) 582-3211 ext.2476 3/1/04 34

LOS ANGELES 225 N. Hill St., Rm.100 Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 893-0837 3/1/04 - 3/2/04 2,121

MADERA P.O. Box 1228 Madera, CA 93639 (209) 675-7713 3/1/04 - 3/3/04 44

MERCED 2222 M St.Merced, CA 95340 (209) 385-7592 ext.4351 3/2/04 87

KERN 1115 Truxton Ave., 2nd Floor Bakersfield, CA 93301-4639 (661) 868-3456 3/8/04 - 3/10/04 1,152

TULARE 221 S. Mooney Blvd., Rm 104E Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 733-6575 ext. 208 3/11/04 164

RIVERSIDE P.O. Box 12005 Riverside, CA 92502-2205 (909) 955-3949 3/15/04 - 3/16/04 1,026

ORANGE P.O. Box 1438 Santa Ana, CA 92702 (714) 834-3808 3/25/04 57

LASSEN 220 S. Lassen St.Susanville, CA 96130 (530) 251-8220 5/5/04 - 5/6/04 68

The information included in this list is: The name address and phone number of the County Tax Collectors office, the date of sale and the number of properties being offered.

So lets get on the ball here guys, keep me posted and email me if I can answer any questions. Remember start physically inspecting a week or so before the sale, that way there’s less chance of the property being redeemed. Here are some of the questions you must ask yourself: Do you like the property enough to invest in it? Is it buildable? Does it have services? i.e. electricity and Phone, Water, Sewer. Reread the section in my book that deals with tax sales. Definitely read the rules on tax sales in California, you will find those at any County, they are the same for every County except for payment.

County Departments you may need to contact: Tax Collectors office, to get update on list and to answer your questions about the tax sale. Assessor’s office, to look at and buy plat maps. Planning dept, deals with zoning issues. Building dept, deals with building permits. Recorders office, to look up recorded easements, and other liens, remember most liens are wiped out at the tax sale, but some remain, to find out more get the rules and other pertinent information from the County tax collectors office. Double check the utilities, a physical inspection isn’t enough, make sure they are available and know the approximate cost.

And finally. Remember you may be able to buy the property from the current owner before the sale, find the current address in the recorders office, and talk to the owner about buying the property. You two work out the price and terms, you will probably want to work with a title insurance company, they can record the deed and you pay the back taxes, that’s all there is to it, you don’t have to bid against hostile bidders, you have bypassed the tax sale and bought the property at a bargain price.

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Newsletter #6

Self Sufficiency
Auction in Washington DC
Book Review
Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House
Comment

6-1. Self Sufficiency
If you live in Northern California Take a drive to Hopland and wander around Real Goods www.realgoods.com and the Solar Living Institute www.solarliving.org. Hopland is on Hwy 101 north of Cloverdale and south of Ukiah. One of the things I don’t usually talk about in my class is solar power and other forms of self-sufficiency. Quite honestly I would love to be entirely self sufficient, that means never depending on the local electricity company or for that matter the water company either. There are classes and workshops on solar energy (photo voltaics), straw bale construction, Grey and Wastewater disposal and many more, some classes are held in San Jose, Los Angeles and Pomona.

My problem is that I am spoiled living here in Marin County, our master bedroom looks out on Mt Tamalpais. Well perhaps I could have a better view but do I really want to move to the country, if I did I would seriously consider looking for some acreage and building a totally self sufficient house. I often think that I would like to someday start an Owner-Builder School where the students could build cottages which would be smaller versions of the houses they will later build for themselves. I’ll keep that idea in my head for now, who knows what the future holds.
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6-2. From: "Margaret”

To: <david@buildyourdreamhouse.com>

Subject: this may help those in the Washington, DC Area

Date: Thursday, February 12, 2004 10:42 AM

AUCTION! AUCTION! AUCTION!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH 9:00am

PREVIEW 7am-9am

ITEMS TO BE SOLD: paint, sinks, doors, windows, washers, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, tubs, furniture, glassware, light fixtures, misc. lumber, iron railing, tile, file cabinets, copy machine, air conditioner units, computer monitors, coveralls, gloves, T.V.'s, electric queen bed, cabinets

TO BE HELD AT:

Christmas in April Warehouse:

5310 Judges Drive, Upper Marlboro MD 20772

Call for Directions or Questions: 301-868-0937

Items to be sold are "as is" with no guarantees. Payment is by cash or good check - no credit cards. Items need to be removed that day or other arrangements made. Terms by Christmas in April*Prince George's County (Mary Kucharski, Executive Director).
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6-3. Book Review
“Finding and Buying your place in the Country” 3rd edition, by Les and Carol Sher, Dearborn Press ISBN 0-79310-395-9, price $24.95. Les Sher is a Real Estate Attorney in Northern California, and so there is a lot of good legal stuff in this book, particularly well covered is the Land and the Law, things like Easement Rights, Water rights, Zoning laws, Building and Health Codes. Chapter 36 contains a very complete property buyer’s checklist. This book isn’t just for California either; there are useful resources in all States even Canada. This is my favorite book for everything to do with evaluating and acquiring land.
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6-4. Mr Blandings Builds his Dream House
I was flipping through stations last night when I came across this great old Cary Grant movie. If you haven’t seen it, rent it, because it illustrates beautifully the trouble you can into if you don’t know anything about designing and building your dream house (which of course most people don’t). Hopefully you won’t make those mistakes especially after taking my class.
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6-5. Comment
When I read the evaluations from yesterdays seminar at De Anza College I was surprised to see that one student didn’t think what I shared applied to a “Dream House” Well that’s a relative term. If you now live in an apartment then any house that you OWN would be a dream house. In any case, what I teach does apply to a dream house, mine was our dream house and the story I shared about the man in Redwood City, well that was a dream house also. Your dream may not be someone else’s dream.

My class is the only one of its kind anywhere. A Woman from Russia came up and thanked me after the class for sharing what most people would keep to themselves. I love giving this class and almost 100% of those who attend love it also, it awakens something that’s been sleeping for far too long. All of your ancestors built their own houses, in many cases I am talking only two generations ago; if your Grand-Parents are still around ask them about it. The dream! is a lifestyle that almost none of us have anymore, that of living the life we want. And one way to do that is to own our own homes without mortgages, that way we can do the things we really want to do with our lives. Think about it. What’s your dream?

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Newsletter #7

Own your home without a mortgage
Tip. Build for your old age
Free stuff on Craigs list

7-1. Own Your home without a mortgage
The sub-title of my book says just that,"Own it Free and Clear in 5 Years". But how can you do it? This question was posed to me recently by Tricia. Let me start by saying that the short answer is YES you can, after all who wants a mortgage especially when they retire?

Let's say you now pay $1,000 per month for rent or a mortgage, over 5 years that's $60,000.

Lets suppose you buy a lot at a tax sale for 5,000 and it's easy to build on so there are not a lot of development costs, say 3,000 for a concrete driveway up to the garage which is 30' from the street, you design a simple one story house (if you want a bigger house, build in stages), and submit your plans to the county, you buy a mobile home for 3,000 and pay 10,000 for you building permits and temporary hook-up fees. You are a couple so one of you works and the other builds the house, or you both work and build on weekends and some evenings in the Summer. The materials for a 1.000 square foot house cost around 20,000, you may get some help along the way, but if you have no money then you will have to do a lot of the work yourself.

Maybe you already have a house and have built up some equity, now you are in a much more favorable position; you could get sub contractors and save on the materials. Even though I list items in class in order of importance for saving money,

Labor
Design
Live on your property while you build.
Materials

And although I put materials last you can still save serious money.

Just to clarify the importance of living on your property while you build: Let's say you are currently paying 1,000 a month in rent or mortgage payment. If you live on your property while you build, say around two years, like we did, then you save at least 20,000 which can be put towards your house. So, if you can do everything for 50,000 (which I believe you can) you could have a 30,000 mortgage, for five years at 594.00 per month with 7% interest.

Obviously anyone wishing to build a house needs some money. I had a couple in my class once who had 6 kids they both worked and build their house in their spare time; they finished it in a year.

There's a great quote in my book it says "In order to enjoy the pleasure of feeling rich you should live in less of a house than you can afford"
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7-2. Build for Your Old Age
Simply put that means making your house easy to get around in, no steps, an easy to use bathroom with grab bars, an easy to use kitchen, and what about the possibility of wheelchair access? That means wider doorways for one thing. Depending on how much money you have and your income when you retire, you might want to build your house to last your lifetime. My Mother passed away in October of 2003, she bought her house in 1963 and nothing was ever done to it except for some minor repairs, it still had the same metal roof. The point here is that if you build your house to last you may never have to do a thing to it; you can just enjoy it until the day you die. My Mother spent the last year and a half in an aged care facility because after she had a stroke she was no longer able to climb the 10 steps to get to the front door.
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7-3. Free Stuff on Craigs List

I got an email from Mary who informed me that she saw free Windows on Craigs List. Go to www.craigslist.org and click on free in the for sale section of the main page. Craigs list is in major cities across the US, and London, England.

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Newsletter #8

Affordability Factor
ECO Friendly Homes
Regarding IRS code 121

8-1. Affordability Factor
A recent study by the California Association of realtors disclosed that only 23% of Californian’s can afford to buy a house. The median price of a house in California according to the same source is now $405,720. The income needed to buy that house is $94,020 (The median price is the price of the house that falls in the middle of the total number of homes for sale in an area).

A friend of mine used to work for a real-estate developer in the Sacramento area and she told me that they build houses for about $40 a square foot and sell them for $200 a square foot. So what does that mean? Well other than the fact that real estate developers are making heaps of money, I think it means that the only way to afford a house is to build it yourself.
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8-2. ECO Friendly Homes
This question came up at my class in Seattle recently so I went to that wonderful book store Elliott Bay Books and bought “Designs for a Healthy House” by Dan Phillips. In it he defines an eco-friendly home as one that is kind to the environment, to our families and to the people around us. That’s a nice simple definition. He goes on to talk about using non-toxic materials and using energy economically.
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8-3. Regarding IRS Code 121
As you probably know since May 1997 the rules changed with respect to paying taxes on the sale of your home. Prior to that date you had to buy another house of equal or more value and defer any taxes on the gain. Since May 1997 you can buy and sell your primary residence every two years and as many times as you want usually without paying any taxes. A single person can exempt up to 250,000 and a married couple can exempt up to 500,000. You have to live in your house for a minimum of two years, which I think means that if you move into your house before it is complete you get a head start, anyway that's the way I read it, check with your accountant to be 100% clear on this. Also you can read IRS publication 523 go to www.irs.gov.

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Newsletter #9

Use Permit and other fees
Recyclers
Book Review

9-1. Use Permit and other fees
I am looking for a lot here in Marin County, I want to pay $ 250,000 for an easy to build lot, and it’s not that easy, in fact I have not found anything suitable yet, but I will keep looking. I paid a visit to the planning and building departments to see how much the fees will cost. The use permit for a mobile home) has gone up from when I last built and is now $1580. The school tax fee on the other hand is only $2 per square foot, not bad. All the fee’s came in at a total of about $10,000.
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9-2. Recyclers
Cyndi from Riverside sent me a list of recyclers. Interestingly enough it is from an Australian web site www.oldhouses.com.au the link to United States recyclers is http://www.oldhouses.com.au/docs/directories/us/us_salvage.html check it out it’s quite complete. /there are recycling businesses in the San Francisco bay area, like Urban Ore, in Berkeley. Waste not Want not in Port Angeles, WA. Cleveland Wrecking in Vernon, CA. Pacific Wholesale Materials in San Diego and many, many more.
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9-3. Book Review
I received an email recently from Bill Seavey asking for a copy of my book. Mr. Seavey promised to send me a copy of his book in return, it’s only about 24 pages but it has some very good ideas. “Home Dreams for Hard Times” has ideas for those who have very little money. You could live on a houseboat. You could become an apartment manager. You could live in a garage apartment. 19 ideas for very inexpensive housing at www.houseyourself.com

I remember receiving an email not too long ago from a woman who attended my class. She wanted to know about the sub-title of my book ‘own it free and clear in 5 years’. One thing I often stress in my class is that dream house is a relative term. Have you ever owned a house? I mean, no mortgage, owned your own home? Probably not. So isn’t it reasonable to suppose that owning any home outright may be a dream for many? I certainly think so.

Some of the other ideas in Mr. Seavey’s book include what I would classify as more conventional inexpensive housing, like an A frame, straw bale, geodesic dome kits and converting an old building.

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Newsletter #10

Sacramento Owner-Builders Center
The Farnsworth House
How to get a free mobile home

10-1. The Sacramento Owner-Builders Center
A few weeks ago I had lunch with Skip Weihunt of the Sacramento Owner Builder Center. We talked about many things including; the classes they offer, owner-builder financing and the high cost of housing. Probably the most important aspect of our conversation focused on owner-builder financing. Skip it turns out is a mortgage loan broker and he can arrange construction financing, there is a small catch though, you must first take the their house building classes, upon completion you will receive a certificate that is recognized by several lenders. http://www.ownerbuildercenter.com/home.asp
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10-2. The Farnsworth House
I spent last week in Chicago, my eldest daughter Emily lives there. I was actually there for some seminars on book publishing and marketing sponsored through PMA (Publishers Marketing Association), and to visit BEA (Book Expo America). Emily works for the Chicago Tribune and is the principle organizer of another book fair, called The Printers Row book fair, which was much more fun than BEA.

Anyway I decided to take a drive south to Plano and visit the Farnsworth House. It was built around 1950. The architect, as some of you may know was Mies van de Rohe. It was considered way ahead of its time. Some of you may remember from my class That I emphasize simplicity in design, interestingly there was an architect on the tour who pointed out that often bare simplicity is difficult to achieve. The fact that this house is built of glass and steel is certainly something that attracted me, but in addition was the fact that it recently sold at auction to the National Trust for $7,000,000. I have boasted in my class that I could build it for $70,000, which is exactly what it cost to build in 1950, that price included labor.

If I was to build it for that today I would have to do almost all the work myself, and would have to make many modifications. The approximately ten foot square panels of glass would be impractical and very expensive, the foundation on the other hand looks fairly simple and inexpensive, the steel could be picked up at an auction, it would be just a matter of time to find. Visit the Farnsworth house here. www.farnsworthhousefriends.org/
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10-3. How to get a Free Mobile Home to live in while you build your house
Go to mobile home parks and let the managers know that you are looking for a free mobile home. When a new mobile home is coming into the park the old one has to be removed. If it is not sold then it is usually taken to the dump, it costs money to dump things. So if you want it then the mobile home park actually saves money. You may want to sweeten the incentive by offering the manager some money so he doesn't forget.

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Newsletter #11

San Bernardino Tax Sale
Green homebuilding Newsletter link

11-1. San Bernardino Tax Sale
The recent San Bernardino County tax sale netted over 41 million dollars. Of the 5,000 properties approved for tax sale status 1,169 were redeemed. The 3,831 properties offered for auction consisted of residential, commercial and agricultural properties in unincorporated areas and cities throughout the county. This sale was held online by bid4assets.com. Bids were received from people in Florida, Iowa and as far away as Canada and Germany. Bidforassets.com now conducts tax auctions for 20 other counties in California. I think I see a growing trend here. Sonoma Counties' upcoming tax sale will be conducted by bid4assets.com.

I doubt that out of state bidders are inspecting those properties. You therefore have a much better chance of purchasing a property this way and having it be usable, if you do your homework.

Recently there was a Woman in my class who paid 40,000 for a driveway which may not have any value since it had been used continuously for more than 5 years. I guess she thought that if she owned the driveway she could sell it to the property owners that needed access, but they already had access through adverse possession.

The Marin County tax sale was today. The only two properties I was interested in were redeemed before the sale.
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11-2. Link
Here is a link to green homebuilding Newsletter, you may want to check it out

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/ezines/ezine20.htm

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Newsletter #12

Construction sequence
Book review

12-1. Construction sequence
I have had several requests for a house building sequence: Here it is

Site work
Foundation
Floor framing
Under floor plumbing
Under floor HVAC
Under floor electrical
Under floor insulation
Wall framing
Roof framing
Windows and exterior doors
Siding and trim
Top out plumbing
HVAC top out
Electrical rough in
Wall and ceiling insulation
Drywall or other interior wall covering
Finish carpentry
Interior painting
Countertops, tile
Finish plumbing
Finish HVAC
Finish electrical
Driveways, patio’s, walkways
Finish flooring
Finish hardware
Move in

I have not included the inspection sequence because that is on the building permit. Also some things can be done simultaneously, like plumbing and electrical. Finish flooring and outside work, (walkways driveways etc). If you were building a two-story house, then you would build your second floor after completing the first floor walls. If you do a lot of the work yourself as I did, then this list is helpful but you don’t have to follow it that closely. I do think it’s important to get the house closed in so you can work when its raining, snowing etc. So think of it like the chapters of a book, it will seem less formidable that way.
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12-2. Book Review
Prescriptions for a Healthy House, by Paula Baker Laporte, Erica Elliott, MD. And John Banta. ISBN 0-86571-434-7

I realize how important it is to live in a healthy environment. As many of you know I include a five-minute segment on having a healthy house in my seminar. I came across this book recently and have been passing it around in my classes. Until the 1970s there was little concern regarding unhealthy houses, but with the energy crisis, houses were built tighter. Prior to the 1970s air was usually exchanged once every hour, now it is more likely once every five hours. You have the choice of building a healthy house, using natural materials. This is a reference manual covering everything that goes into a typical house.

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Newsletter #13

Financing Options
Where to go
Lumber Auction

13-1. Financing Options
I recently had a representative from Bank of America in my class who informed us that B of A is offering 90% loans on raw land. He is in Southern California and I will be happy to pass along his contact information to anyone interested, just email me.

Interest Only Loans
When I first heard about these I was very skeptical. Now after investigating a little further, they may not be so bad. If the loan is interest only for 5 or even 10 years and the house appreciates over that time there should be no trouble selling or refinancing when the time comes. If house prices go down (which is unlikely) or interest rates go up (much more likely) you could be in serious trouble.

Seller financing on land
As you know I spend 45 minutes at my seminar explaining tax defaulted land auctions. All of a sudden there are too many bidders driving up prices at these auctions. 20 Counties are now conducting these auctions online, which means you can bid over a two to three day period. I prefer being at the County and bidding on a piece of property in person, then it's all over in a matter of minutes. You are hopefully the winning bidder; you pay for your property and get a receipt.

You can, of course, buy these properties directly from the owner prior to the auction and arrange "seller financing." If you can find the owner, you may assume that he or she is financially strapped otherwise they would have paid their property taxes. If you have done your homework and find that you have a nice buildable parcel of land you can forgo the tax sale and buy directly from the current owner. This is a normal sale conducted through a title company, you open escrow, get a preliminary title report, make a deposit and, after investigating and disposing of any liens, you close the deal.

Don't forget to record the deed and pay the delinquent taxes. Seller financing may be your best choice on any land purchase, because the seller may not want all cash in the year of sale, due to the income tax implications. Use short term financing. I recommend 5,7 or 10 years, or how about interest only for several years until your house is complete and you refinance and pay off the seller of the land, this is called a balloon payment. Financing is not a simple matter, everyone's situation is different and that is why, today, there are so many options available.
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13-2. Where to go
I took most of the month of August off to check out three tax sales: Marin, Sonoma and Yuba. I was hoping to find a lot to build a simple house on. Boy was I disappointed. I spent days driving around checking out properties, to no avail. Everything either got redeemed or sold way too high, one little lot in Santa Rosa that I had my eye on sold for over 250,000. I was horrified.

For the moment at least we are very happy where we are; Andrea and I have a nice house in San Rafael with a view of Mt Tamalpais. It needs some improvements though; for one thing the kitchen is too small, for another it needs, at least in our minds, a new master bathroom. It already has one full bathroom and two half bathrooms but one is always looking to increase the value of ones home, isn’t one? I should hasten to add that this is not a house I built, if it was it wouldn’t need anything, for that’s the way you build a house, exactly as you want it. In any case, we expect to stay her for about ten years, so any improvements will pay back handsomely in increased equity.

But what about you? Those of you who have no house, where can you go? If you don’t have a lot of money you may want to consider moving father out to more reasonably priced areas. You can live in a mobile home in many places as a permanent residence, that way the money you earn can go towards building materials. I recently had a couple in my class who where doing just that in Riverside County, CA. There are still bargains to be had at tax sales too, maybe not so much in the San Francisco area but certainly in California, and also in Washington state. If you reconfigure your lifestyle you can still own your home within 5 years.
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