Jun
20
Chris Jones, a friend of my brothers invited us to a presentation in Sandy where we learned about buying versus building. Chris is a Mortgage broker. I found it interesting that he was part of the dotcom craze before the finance business. So was my friend Nathan. All the dotcomers left the Internet and started into real estate? I guess the two industries really balance one another out. When the Internet is roaring, real estate is down and vice versa.
After an overview of the housing marketing and the Interest rates for 10 year bonds, Chris pitched a method for buying a house and beginning with 20-30 percent equity without a down payment! Sounds tooo good to be true. They claim that one can become their own general contracter, consult with B.I.Y.D.S. and five months later have more equity than most folks have after 10years on their 30 year mortgage.
The offer sounds very appealing. Especially after they gave case studies of folks who have done it and then sold their homes for 40-60 k profit. Well, the only catch is that you can’t finalize your long term loan until the house is built. It takes at least 5 months to build the home. Considering I’m quitting my job June 1, my chances for a decent loan will be very slim.
Comments
18 Comments so far
Hey Neal, I just found your blog by doing a seach on BIYDS. What did you think of the idea? Did you do it? How in the world can I find more informations on this? I would love to hear what you think about this co. Like I said I did try to do a seach on them but this was the only thing I could pull up. Couldnt even find anything on BBB.org. I dont trust a co. that I am unable to research, but yet their offer seems so tempting…..
I never did it because I knew I’d have to get a 6 month construction loan and then after the construction was complete I would need a full mortgage loan. I quit my full time job in June and so I can’t get a decent mortgage right now. Plus, I’m swamped with business and don’t have time to think about it.
In principle, it makes sense. I’d consider it if I were in a position to. But, I would definitely do more research too. Let me know what you find out.
Their website is biyds.com
Take it from one who knows: do NOT sign a contract with BIYDS. You will kick yourself every day after that. Call Mark Infanger at (801) 318-4227 and hire his company instead. He offers the same program and the same plans and he’s actually competent. BIYDS is known among subcontractors as incapable of managing projects, scheduling, and their understanding of code rivals the average third grader. Several banks will not carry loans because they take too long to build a house. I built a house through biyds, and after about three months and about a million mistakes and missed deadlines, my wife took over the whole project and said, “Don’t do anything more with my house.” And they thought we were the model customer! So we paid $11,000 for a list of subcontractors and their standard contractor discount. Really, do not hire BIYDS to build your house, because they won’t, or if they do, it will take about a year or so and go way over budget.
I’m very glad I stubbled across your comments about BIYDS. I’ve been calling people and trying to get a feel for their company and system. I was literally hours away from signing with them. I am now however in a bid of a bind as I need a consultant to help me in my building process. I saw that you mentioned a Mark, is there any more information you can give me about him? I tried his # with no success. (Does he have a web site? from where does he work? Does he consult or is he more of a General Contractor? What does he charge? etc…)
We used the BIYDS program to build our home. It worked out great for us. We built our home for $150,000.00 and it appraises for $199,000.00. We love our home because we were the ones making the decisions. Yes, it was stressful along the way, but after talking with friends who built with general contractors and big companies and didn’t have a say in what was going on, I’m very happy with what we got. The key is to be involved every step of the way. You make the decisions, whether it is concerning paint color, tile, whatever. Staying on top of making these decisions and actually attending your bi-weekly meetings with a BIYDS consultant can alleviate many problems. We realized we were not paying for a general contractor–many people walk into this type of program thinking that’s what they’re getting, a contractor–but instead you’re getting a consulting company that is going to help you get equity into a home by building it yourself. This program worked for us. Good luck!
Hey guys,I stumbled on this blog after getting some insight from one of my clients who was comparing my company to That of BIYDS. We are a general contracting company who has been offering a Owner-Builder Consulting service for about 6 years we have been doing it all over central and northern utah and have had a great time doing it. The Key is realistic expectations. Definately do your homework and research your contractor/ consultant very thoroughly.. I would be happy to answer ?’s via email and such. I would love to help you with our consulting service, however even if all we do is answer some ?’s for you and give you a little more insight then Job Done. Check out http://www.youbuildyouwin.com Or http://www.smartwayhome.com Or ocorp.net Whatever you do get as much info as you can, this is a huge investment. The concept is a good one. We have been putting clients into their homes with 20-30% equity for 6 years or so. Its not easy we compare the process to childbirth all the time and for good reason. When you are done you will know why generals charge what they do trust me. Bottom line 1 1/2 hours a day for 6 months .. Check the website Frantz Ostmann O-Corp Const. & HomeCoach Owner Builder Connection
If you are considering for any reason doing business with BIYDS, I strongly urge you to reconsider. Unless you have about $30,000 extra laying around doing nothing, don’t waste your time with BIYDS. In fact, take that money and join ANY MLM cause your chances of making something are FAR greater! I do not endorse any builder. I’m just a guy who got taken by BIYDS (Mike Alvey and his promises) and spent 11 MONTHS wasting time and money due to their mis-management, lack of quality assurance from the sub-contractors who did absolutely dispicable work, inner-office communication breakdown, communication breakdowns between BIYDS and myself, and last but not lease, THEY WILL EXCEPT NO LIABILITY FOR ANYTHING and turn the whole thing back on you while being paid their “consulting” fee the entire time. In fact,I’ve been invited to join a class action suit against them but have declined due to it being a waste of time because they probably have no assets to lien even when a judgement is obtained. BIYDS
Oh, brother! This is a little over the top. When I decided to build with BIYDS I definitely did my homework. I talked to actual clients who were in various stages of building their home (I didn’t just read competitors slander like that listed here) I talked to various subcontractors, cities, others. What I found was this: There is not a single person who has built with BIYDS that did not receive their occupancy certificate with equity in their home (on average about 15%–some more, some a little less), they recommend subcontractors who offer good work at a low price and help mitigate with problems that arise with subcontractors, they allow you to learn about building your home and encourage you to be involved. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of building to talk to BIYDS AND their ACTUAL clients as I have done. They are consultants. If you want a general (and no equity) than this program is not for you. As mentioned in a previous remark–building a home is difficult!!! Thanks heavens I don’t have to go through it alone.
I built a home with a construction consultant in 2000. Acting as the general, I had a positive experience (they provided a completely documented system, list of reputable subs, and consulting throughout – all for a fee) and was able to gain about $50,000 in equity on a home that cost me $309,000 to build. Try http://www.ownerbuildercentral.com/
I was VERY surprised and somewhat disappointed when I stumbled across this web site, and found all the negative comments about BIYDS. I AM CURRENTLY a client of BIYDS; and am CURRENTLY building a house with BIYDS. And I can not say enough good things about all they have done to ???consult??? with me about building my home. When I first met with them, they said I could continue my full time job, continue my schooling, AND have enough time to build a home WITH up 25% equity, even though I have NO building experience; frankly I didn???t think it was possible. I???m only 24 and the thought of having an extra $40,000 lying around was certainly fun to think about. I was very skeptical at first; but once I got started, I found that BIYDS actually knew what they were doing and took care of most everything with building my home. I am almost finished with the house and I m coming out better then I had hoped. It turns out my cost to build is $202,000and I just listed it for 249,000!!! It???s an amazing program. I have now talked my best friend, my parents, my sister, and my brother into building an investment home with BIYDS; and I just got approved to start another home last week!!! I suggest any one who is curious about building a home to ask BIYDS to provide you with a list of good and bad examples of homes they have built; and you will find that every home they have built, their clients made money!
Now I am not saying that I simply did nothing and came up with $47,000. It was a learning process! I ran into problems, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. But they were the same problems that I would be faced if I had BIYDS or not. The only difference is that WITH BIYDS I had someone on my side with years and years of experience with building homes and solving problems! I think the problem with the above situations is that those people felt that building a house would be just like buying a car. You go to the lot??pick it out??and drive the damn thing home. Its not! It???s a project, that if you are willing to do, and spend a few hours a week to ???solve problems??? and pick out colors etc.??you can make A LOT of money! It more then tripled my 2004 salary, and I worked 9-5 EVERYDAY??and all I did with BIYDS is spend a few hours a week meeting sub contractors out at my house describing what I want and going to 2-week meetings! Over-all I am very pleased with BIYDS and would recommend ANYONE to their program!
Oh yeh, those last few blogs are really choice. Its sad that BIYDS has to write them under assumed names.
This topic is drawing a lot of interest. It’s important to note that Sue and Russels comments were posted by the same IP address. This doesn’t invalidate them, only means that they were posted on the same Internet connection.
[…] this year, when considering buying a home in Utah, I posted a blog about an experience I had at a presentation about B.I.Y.D.S.. They offered to help me build my own house with tons of equity. It sounded very good but I […]
Mark Willian Infanger d/b/a Watermark Financial, d/b/a Trident Financial, is in jail, for the second time, for wire fraud.
http://www.co.utah.ut.us/dept/sheriff/InmateDetail.asp?id=210088
Enjoy trying to do business with him.
Mark Infanger has been booked on charges of fraud for this exact thing. he has screwed many people on this. Join the lawsuit against him.
Nick, how can I reach you to discuss some things?
I tried John Does URL.. It does not work. Must be a fake.