Ground-up residential development, often called spec building, means constructing a new home on vacant land with the intention of selling it, on speculation that a buyer will materialize at a profitable price.
Log in to followFinished and closed last month. 2,340 square feet, two story, four bed, in an established neighborhood where similar houses trade between 545 and 590. Mine appraised at 508 and so…
Trying to write down everything I'd pay between putting a lot under contract and pouring footings, and my list keeps growing. So far: plan set, boundary survey, topo, soils report…
I've been trying to figure out where I fit on the service side of this business, and last week a guy I know through a contractor friend asked if I'd "handle the project" on a spec…
First one went okay, mostly by luck. This one is a slightly bigger lot in the same county and when I filed for the permit they came back asking for a stormwater management plan an…
I've been tracking budget versus actual in a spreadsheet and it worked fine when it was a small scope. Now I've got a draw schedule, subs invoicing at different stages, two change…
I have a lot under contract, 62k, and a builder who says he'll do a 1,900 square foot single story for cost plus 12. He wrote the number on the back of a business card, which I un…
A guy I know through my brother builds one or two houses a year. Last time he had a lot and a construction loan but needed money to cover the gap between draws, and he offered me…
Third spec on the same plan, 1,850 square feet, entry level neighborhood where clean resales trade 372 to 388. Lot is paid for, permit is in hand, I break ground in three weeks an…
Two years ago I put 62k into a spec build as a second position loan behind a 240k construction loan. Roughly 2,300 square feet in a decent suburban submarket, as-completed apprais…
Numbers first. Lot was 88k, infill, already platted. Build budget 388k for 2,350 square feet, four bed, standard plan I'd seen a local builder run three times. Sold at 512k. Actua…
The lot cost me 62,000 cash and the finished house closed at 452,000, eleven months from the first excavator to the closing table. I own a couple of small buildings and I'd never…
Two identical lots, same 1,900 square foot plan, budget of 268,000 vertical on each. Carry runs me about 2,900 a month once the loan is drawn up, so five months from framing to cl…
The plan I had drawn was 3,200 square feet and the framing number came back so far over my budget that the whole thing stopped working, even before I priced the mechanicals. Meanw…
Reading a subscription agreement and operating agreement for a spec build JV. 300k check from me, sponsor is a builder with what he says is nine completed houses. Two houses on ad…
Finished spec, listed at 469, three weeks in with decent traffic and no offer. My agent wants to advertise a permanent buydown, roughly 12k of points to the buyer's lender, which…
I've got two things I could put the same money into and I've been stuck on this for three weeks. The first is four raw acres in a growing outer suburb, priced around 112k, that wo…
My first rental hasn't even closed yet, so I'm asking about someone else's problem that I've been shown the spreadsheet for. A builder I know has a finished four bedroom sitting a…
1,720 square feet, three bed two bath, single story, small city in the middle of the country where the median is around 350. Sold at 392 with a 26 day marketing period. Numbers as…
Numbers on the one I'm looking at. Lot is 180k, plan is 2,400 square feet, my best hard cost number is 165/sf so call it 396k. Soft costs I've penciled at 55k. That's 631k all-in…
Got a term sheet back for a single spec house, first one for me. Lot's already mine, bought it last year for 62k with cash. Build budget from the contractor is 288k for 1,850 squa…