Architect-Contractor-Owner building near Breckenridg /First deal

[Kyle Donath]

Good afternoon Yall,

I am a soon to be licensed architect preparing to purchase a lot a half hour drive from Breckenridge, Colorado in a thickly wooded, slightly sloping subdivision that sprawls up the mountainside with plans to build a small, modern and well designed SFR.

Some background on the area: Breckenridge was the most visited ski resort in the US this year, and constantly growing in popularity. Up the valley to the north is a heavily developed couple of mountain towns that serve the many resort towns of Summit County, leaving down the valley over a well plowed mountain pass to the south to be the only option for future development. The specific area I am looking toward is the Valley of the Sun Subdivision of Fairplay, Colorado, where lots are selling from $20k - $60k depending on how far up the mountain side they are. Higher up = less maintained roads in the winter, and this is a ski house, so access during storms is key. 

My plan is as follows:

-Purchase a lot of ~1 acre for $30k-$35k in cash.

-Building permit can be acquired for only permit fees, structural engineering, soils testing and surveying fees. I will provide all architectural services. Approx. $8k.

-Construction of new 1,000SF home - 2 bed 2 bath I will be the GC (will receive license for FHA loan), and my friends, father and I will be performing all of the framing, windows, flashing, most MEP, insulation, dry walling, painting, finishing. Subcontracted will foundations and limited MEP work. Estimated costs at $100/sf will be $100k funded via FHA loan.

-Comps in the area are selling at around 250K for cookie-cutter 1990s mountain lodge style homes that need updating. I am confident that the mountain-modern style I seek to design to will stand out from the competition in a positive way. 

-Total costs ~150K for a home I can conservatively sell for $250k and roll into the next property in the area, the following year. 

So, seasoned developers, what am I forgetting and what am I getting right? My current time to buy land is May - when snow is gone, and building could start soon after. Thank you in advance! I'll be active here to keep answering questions to clarify everything I haven't touched upon!

[Nik Moushon]

Unless you have quotes for your soft cost services, $8k seems really low. I dont know your area but I would guess your survey and soils test are got to cost close to $5-6k. Struct is going to be another $2k easily. Permits will probably be in the $3-5k range. Also, if you are a licensed arch (or even if you are not) then you dont need a Struct Eng for your SFH. You can do your own calcs for a SFH. Thats easy math. Plus if you over size them a bit and dont do huge spans then the city usually doesnt ask for calcs anyways. Its when they start seeing large spans and beams that look a bit to close for comfort is when they start questioning things.

Utilities are a big one you are missing. This is easily another $30k. Where I live, near mountains too, it cost my boss $20k just to drill his well and he is only at 2000 ft elevation. That didnt include the equipment for the well. Septic can be hit or miss and it is very site dependent. Check with the subdivision you are buying this lot from. They should've been required to do a perk test for each lot (depending on how old this sub div is). You could be at an avg cost or instantly and a huge cost bc your lot just happens to have too shallow of top soil and hitting solid rock to quickly and you have to get a completely different septic system thats double the cost. 

You will also need to consider rental costs for any heavy equipment and transportation of hauling to and from site. 

Dont forget your down payment and closing costs on the loan. That can easily end up being $5-10k. 

Most of this stuff you can get a pretty close to firm number on. Just have to do some due diligence. 

Lastly, how are you doing an FHA loan if you are planning on selling this immediately after completion?