Building a new property instead of buying one?

[Tyler D.]

The town I live in has gotten quite expensive, with the average home price around $350k, and rents at around 1200. However, land is fairly cheap, and I found a pair of half-acre plots for 50k each. I'm thinking about building something on them and either holding or selling and wanted to see if anyone here can share their experience and insight.

The land is in a primo area, and the houses directly next to the plots are 600k and 750k respectively. I got a rough estimate from a home builder website and it was around 200k before electrical, plumbing, etc. for stick built. Modular is obviously cheaper. I could build a duplex or fourplex, which may be a smart idea cashflow-wise, but might hurt the resale value. Also the land is on a slope, but I imagine that wouldn't be too hard to level out and build the home(s) on.

Overall, does this sound like a smart situation to take advantage of? Would you build single family or multi? And would you buy (build) and hold or flip? Let me know your thoughts.