Land development costs/difficulties

[David Kenny]

Hi everyone,

I am currently looking into developing small plots of land and putting starter homes on them. Im seeing very little homes available in this price range (150ish) and the big builders aren't competing here since it doesn't make sense for their business models. My plan is to purchase the land cash, and then take a construction loan to finance the land dev and construction costs. 

My concern is this is very new for me, and development is particularly scary. I am comfortable with $80 a ft construction costs, but is there a general way to budget land dev per foot? I know it will vary wildly depending on the lot, but for initial valuation, purposes a rough per foot cost would be very useful. 

Also if anyone has any nightmare stories or tips for developing land, they would be greatly appreciated!!