The 3 biggest differences with land/new construction deals from flipping.

The 3 biggest differences with land/new construction deals from flipping.

Developer · Boise, ID · Member since 2023 · 68 posts · 38 votes

I transitioned from flipping to new construction basically at the beginning of the pandemic. The 3 biggest differences in land/construction deals vs flipping are:

1. Time - Unentitled land takes 2.5- 3 years to go full cycle from contract to exit. Mostly because of... difference #2... 

2. Working with government entities for approvals. Surveys, plats, engineering, working with every single P&Z department plus the highway district, health district, irrigation district, etc. Multiple cycles of redlines and corrections to plans based on all the reviews. 

3. Financing. You need a larger percentage down payment, or pay in cash, and you need to be able to carry that for the full cycle from contract to close. This is perhaps the highest bar for a lot of people. 

There is a reason why a lot of people don't transition to new construction from flipping, and that's because it's complicated and it takes time. But we need housing and we need to lower the bar for people to get into new construction. I have been seeing more education on land deals, so hopefully that translates into more people jumping in. I personally am planning on scaling this year as it's looking like it's going to be a great time to buy some land deals! 

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  • Robert EllisBusiness Member
    Developer · Miami, FL · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Zach Matson:

    I transitioned from flipping to new construction basically at the beginning of the pandemic. The 3 biggest differences in land/construction deals vs flipping are:

    1. Time - Unentitled land takes 2.5- 3 years to go full cycle from contract to exit. Mostly because of... difference #2... 

    2. Working with government entities for approvals. Surveys, plats, engineering, working with every single P&Z department plus the highway district, health district, irrigation district, etc. Multiple cycles of redlines and corrections to plans based on all the reviews. 

    3. Financing. You need a larger percentage down payment, or pay in cash, and you need to be able to carry that for the full cycle from contract to close. This is perhaps the highest bar for a lot of people. 

    There is a reason why a lot of people don't transition to new construction from flipping, and that's because it's complicated and it takes time. But we need housing and we need to lower the bar for people to get into new construction. I have been seeing more education on land deals, so hopefully that translates into more people jumping in. I personally am planning on scaling this year as it's looking like it's going to be a great time to buy some land deals! 


     This timeline is true I think if you don't have plans and do large projects but for what we do which is infill new construction projects in columbus ohio it's much quicker. I can buy a piece of land and get approval in 30 days, build in 6 months, close in 60 days. rinse and repeat. most of what we do is through joint ventures with out of state partners from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin TX, Miami FL, New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Denver, and other expensive markets. I've been selling to out of state investors for 10 years. great point of view. hope it works out for you. 

  • Developer · Boise, ID · Member since 2023 · 68 posts · 38 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Robert Ellis:
    Quote from @Zach Matson:

    I transitioned from flipping to new construction basically at the beginning of the pandemic. The 3 biggest differences in land/construction deals vs flipping are:

    1. Time - Unentitled land takes 2.5- 3 years to go full cycle from contract to exit. Mostly because of... difference #2... 

    2. Working with government entities for approvals. Surveys, plats, engineering, working with every single P&Z department plus the highway district, health district, irrigation district, etc. Multiple cycles of redlines and corrections to plans based on all the reviews. 

    3. Financing. You need a larger percentage down payment, or pay in cash, and you need to be able to carry that for the full cycle from contract to close. This is perhaps the highest bar for a lot of people. 

    There is a reason why a lot of people don't transition to new construction from flipping, and that's because it's complicated and it takes time. But we need housing and we need to lower the bar for people to get into new construction. I have been seeing more education on land deals, so hopefully that translates into more people jumping in. I personally am planning on scaling this year as it's looking like it's going to be a great time to buy some land deals! 


     This timeline is true I think if you don't have plans and do large projects but for what we do which is infill new construction projects in columbus ohio it's much quicker. I can buy a piece of land and get approval in 30 days, build in 6 months, close in 60 days. rinse and repeat. most of what we do is through joint ventures with out of state partners from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin TX, Miami FL, New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Denver, and other expensive markets. I've been selling to out of state investors for 10 years. great point of view. hope it works out for you. 


     Yes, that's true. Infill, build-ready lots are much faster. I've done a few of these, but have a harder time finding lots that are build ready and have profit potential. But they are out there, and it's definitely a niche that not a lot of people do. Still have more capital requirements than a traditional flip which is why a lot of flippers don't transition I think. 

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