New Construction options right now?

[Luke Tetreault]

Bought a BRRRR deal that came with 2 full size vacant lots behind it with road frontage to a nice neighborhood, I was very excited to dive into my first new construction project. After talking to my contractors, it doesn't seem like any sort of development works on them. Duplexes wouldn't cash flow and the price to build a single family wouldn't be much better than the price it would sell for. New to this side of things but very eager to learn, is this a common problem right now with material costs and interest rates being so high? Should I keep talking with other builders to try and find better quotes? Or is now just a good time to sit tight and wait it out. I would hate to just dump the lots if there was a possibility to make something bigger or more longer lasting out of them. For numbers if it helps. the properties are values around 25k-30k a piece, I'm getting estimates around 350-400k for a nice single story, 3 bed side by side duplex. Rents would be in the 1800 a side range. Around the same numbers for a regular spec home and in that neighborhood the ARV would be about the same as that cost to build. Thanks for any help or advice, look forward to connecting with everyone!

[Damon Owens]

I’d suggest talking to someone in your area that is very familiar with local zoning, besides potential contractors. There may be creative possibilities that your contractor isn’t considering. Or, if they’re hillside lots, earthwork and retaining walls will price out most viable options. Not sure of your construction experience, but if it’s on the low to none side it might be worth finding a partner with lots of construction experience for your first new build deal. There’s a lot more to new builds than renovations.