New build for first deal

[Leah A.]

My husband and I have a goal of making our first deal in 2024. I have been reading and researching and listening to podcasts to gain as much knowledge as I can for months. My husband owns a plumbing, electrical, and carpentry business, and is a master plumber himself. He believes our first project should be a new build (which he would do himself/with his company) to sell. We would then reinvest the profit into the next deal. We already own two new houses that my husband built; one we live in and the other family lives in. We have a good relationship with our bank as they gave us the two mortgages, but we don’t have the income to support a third loan. We are not making money on the second home so we are planning on our first deal being funded by having a colleague co-sign on a construction loan and we would then pay him a percentage of the loan amount (not sale amount) when the house sells. We live near a college town, and I believe we would benefit from buying a multi-unit for midterm rentals there as our second deal. My husband is very knowledgeable in building and has run the numbers, but I am curious if experienced investors could point out the downsides to a new build being our first project. Thank you!