Help! New build in Petal, MS

[Ron Martin]

Soliciting advice on our situation. We have a home that was destroyed by tornado in 2017. Bought another house to live in shortly after, but kept the old one (which was just a slab for awhile).

We’d been saving for a long time, and based on a friend’s numbers, I thought I could rebuild a new house on the old slab (which is in great shape) for around $80k.

We began to build using cash, and we’re around $62k in. After a major ripoff by our contractor (who goes to our church and knew for 10 years), I’ve gathered my own quotes on the cost to finish from where we are. Looks like we should be able to finish it for another $50k. Basically all the inside needs to be finished.

I think we can save up enough to finish the house this year or early next without a loan, and then we’d have $1250/mo rent coming in with no mortgage. Thoughts?