Buy land ONLY or offer Joint Venture???

[Joe Wortham]

Hello BP! I’m new here, but a long time listener, reader and watcher. My wife and I are licensed real estate agents in the South Bay Area. We recently sold our home and have a little budget and would like to make a solid investment in to a real estate deal. We are considering buying a small parcel of land and building a home on it with the intent to take advantage of this hot market we’re in and selling it within a 12 month turnaround. Land in the Bay Area is very expensive so it would be somewhat of a miracle to build something practical yet desirable enough to attract million dollar buyers when done. SOME unimproved land for sale have been sitting on MLS for over a year and a half and show no signs of moving. Finally, my question is would it make sense to offer LAND sellers a joint venture deal allowing us to finance the build on their land to sell together and splitting the profits? Or should we just buy the land now and sit on it until we have the equity to build ourselves? Please let me know your thoughts. I’d really appreciate it! Joe - in Gilroy, CA.