Multi-Family in Houston

[Roshan Pujari]

Dear fellow BP readers - I am considering buying land in Houston and developing a Multi-Family building. Has anyone does this? Some immediate questions that come to mind are:

1. What are the rules around the size of lot required for a building size (or number of stories). Ie. if I have to build a 6 unit over 2 levels with each having 750 sq ft, so total building size of 4,500 - 5,000 sq ft, what would the minimum land size have to be?

2. How does financing for a project like this work? Would a bank finance a % of the land and also provide a construction loan? 

3. I would like to keep this as low maintenance as possible, but also want the economics to work, what is the minimum number of stories that require an elevator

4. What is a good rule of thumb for cost of construction? I hear $100 per sq ft, but is that realistic?

I would appreciate any responses, Thanks