Arete ADV

Custom Private Adventure Travel Consulting / Inaugural Trip: Everest 2023

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

We have been taking advantage of the warm/dry spring here in the PNW. Hired 2 framers to help us expedite the process….still a lot of work and long days.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

@itsDaveFlynn This is one of my go to reply GIFs.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Heading to Everest Base Camp to wrap up this Gokyo-EBC trek. We’ll jump on some helicopters lower in the Khumbu valley over the next few days.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Dole-Machermo-Gokyo. Looking out at Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Makalu. Cho Oyu at the end of the valley.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

@TXMCtrades

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Long day from Namche to Dole. Lots of yaks and big mountains.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Busy month since returning from Tanzania. Headed to Nepal in the morning DIY house construction is time consuming & expensive…back to work.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

It’s been 17 years since I began my guiding career here in Tanzania on Kilimanjaro. It’s been good to come back and see the changes and some friends. The summit glaciers are almost gone but the wildlife seems abundant in the Serengeti.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Will excavate, form & pour house foundation in February/March.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

I’ll preface this by acknowledging what I am about to say is not an option for everyone but I do think it’s an often overlooked opportunity for many.
1. Buy land via owner financing. Land owners are in the same predicament potential land purchasers are. Banks want an exorbant amount down and at these rates that’s unlikely to make sense for either party. Use parcel viewers, talk to people in an area you are interested in building your house. Send letters as an interested party not some multi-tier hotel condense room land LLC. Set the terms to benefit you and seller. Example: we paid $40k down at 5% when rates were 1-2% in 2019. We owner financed the remaining $90k amortized at 30 years to keep payments around $1000/mo so we had cash to begin development of utilities. That was beneficial to us the buyers. The sellers wanted the mortgage paid off in 10 years so that was beneficial to them.

2. Build a 200 sq foot shed/cabin. Many municipalities or rural unincorporated areas are ok with this size structure. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Live in the cabin/shed while you develop. This accomplishes 2 things, you get a nice dry place to live and you learn your carpentry skills.

3. Get utilities going. Join a community water system, get a well drilled or have water delivered and put into a tank. Get power from a nearby transformer to a temporary service entrance. Use starlink for internet.

4. Start your permitting, this will be dependent and more complex depending on where you live.

5. Buy a small excavator to start your site prep. Call in the pros for large items like clearing and grading or learn to fall trees and establish grade yourself. Yes, you’ll have to learn to service an older machine but you can do this with YouTube and some tools.

6. Once your permit is approved, begin forming your foundation. It sounds daunting but if you know to level and plumb a stud wall you can do the same for concrete forms. Forming an insulated slab is even easier.

7. Hire a concrete pumping operation to pour your concrete. Hire a small team to do a slab, it’s going to turn out better. You can do the foundation walls yourself as any small imperfections can be ground down with a diamond grinder on a handheld tool yourself.

8. With designed house plans you can get a take off down at your local independent lumber store…avoid big box home improvement stores for this. Order your materials as needed for each phase of construction. Hire help as needed, get friends/family with experience to help you build. Hire hourly labor as needed. By this point you will have learned a lot of skills that transfer to the framing.

9. Pass inspections by sticking to the plans and local/international building codes. Hire professionals to do a consult or pre-inspection and correct any needed work.

10. End up with a house or garage with apartment that you can then move into as you finish the structure and get an occupancy permit. Rinse and repeat for the next building.

How to pay for this: save money by decreasing your lifestyle, ideally carry no debt aside from your mortgage on the land. Look into USDA rural home loans for your area. Invest in digital 🌽 and wait for market conditions to take profit and put towards your project.

I did this, it’s taken 5 years so far with another 2 if we are disciplined. I had never fallen a large tree, operated an excavator let along wired a house from a service panel or formed a complex foundation. It’s a low time preference approach in a high time preference world. It will be slow and frustrating at the beginning but you’ll gain confidence and speed as you get the skill set dialed in. At the end you’ll have a house likely paid for. It’s not for everyone but many can do this by reading a few books and watching YouTube, I am not the exception we just are not accustomed to this way of doing it this way.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

3 sides down…today we took the last day of warm/dry weather here in the PNW this year to paint the remaining siding & trim. We will get it finished this week but might have to wait till next spring for a final coat of paint.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Slowly but surely the exterior is getting “dried in”.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

We’ve slowed down some as windows, siding & trim got delivered & take longer than expected to install. should still have the building “dried in” before it gets too wet here in the PNW.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Today I celebrate Independence Day by participating in efficient capitalism at SEA drinking a beer that’s delicious and offered at a price that due to a “convenience of wants” is acceptable. I despise TSA and the security state and all it stands for but I am grateful for a tax code that favors business. Off to Peru for my second trip under the Arete ADV badge. 🍻

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

@rookisaacman Will you and Ghost Squadron fly Seafair here in Seattle sometime?

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

A lot has happened since the last post in March….2 week break for some work that pays the bills then back at it.

[Arete ADV @AreteAdv]

Pour day!