Spec Building - Advice Needed

[Jacob Anstaett]

Hello Bigger Pockets forum,

I am looking for some advice on getting started with spec building in central Ohio.  Speculation building is not new to me, growing up my grandfather built spec houses on his off days (he was a firefighter), and once retired my uncle took over and did the same.  From the age of 14, I worked along side them building 2-3 houses per year.  However, a lot has changed since their time, and while they are a great asset of knowledge to me, with new regulations and codes they can only help so much.   Main things I am looking for advice on:

• Acquiring solid plans (i.e hire an architect, use online plans, etc.)
• Finding good subcontractors
  • My uncle and grandfather framed, sided, and did many other aspects of the builds themselves.  I already own a small business and have 3 little ones so I am not interested in performing large portions myself
• Profitability - Mainly looking to see if anyone has recent numbers from a central Ohio spec house
• Lessons learned

I look forward to any advice, thanks in advance.

[Nik Moushon]

Don't buy plans online they might as well be a scam. You will HAVE to hire a local architect to review the plans and to site specific work and bring them up to current/local codes. By the time that is all done you could've had a custom plan (or multiple) done for a similar price. Plus you'll have more options to choose from, both plan wise and architect wise. Architects really do hate working with online plans because 99% of the time the customer wants to customize it and in the end it cost them more time and money than to do something from scratch to begin with. 

Oh and depending on the state/city req. you don't necessarily need a structural engineer to do calcs for a residential house. Most cases an architects seal with do and most architects are comfortable doing those small type of load calcs. Of course some wont but most will. Actually depending on state/city req. you might not even need an architects seal. I know if its under a certain sqft, for example, you dont need an architect seal. Though they will probably request a structural seal at that point. Again, check local requirements. 

As for you builders license that will vary by state. I would double check very carefully. I know several states that have a lot of restrictions on what you can build, how many you can build or how many you can sell. i.e. You are fine building your own home but if you go to build a second one then you need a license. OR if you sell more than "X" number per year you need a license. That kind of thing.