Ground Up Construction

[James Peterson]

I'm moving to the Destin area and looking to get into ground up construction in Pensacola. I've done a successful flip and currently have 7 units, however, I'm tired of unexpected CAPEX. I'm looking to buy a infill lot ~$120K cash and use that as collateral to build a 3/3 SFH with a 1/1 ADU. Anybody do ground up construction in that area and able to answer the questions below.

1. What's the average cost per square foot to build in the Pensacola area ?

2. Barring soil tests, zoning and ensuring I'm on city water/sewage/power, what other factors can bite me on the backend ?

3. Can someone point me to a recommended builder ?

4. Is ~120K an unrealistic down payment for a new build. Leveraged $480K total build cost assuming a bank will issue me 75% LTV on a construction loan ?

[Allen Bounds]

1. The cheapest I have seen is around $200/square foot. I mainly build on the higher end $300-$350/square foot.

2. Wetlands issues are common. Flood plain issues (building on elevated structure is common). Good school zones can be hard to find (if that is your clientele age).

3. Depending on budget I'm pretty good, ha! Let me know the project details and I can name a few.

4. Depends on how you structure it. There are 2 banks that do most of those types of loans here.

Good luck and welcome to the area!