New Construction for AirBNB/ STR

[Mike Soofian]

Hi, 

I am starting out and would like some help with advice on moving the needle forward/ action plan. 

I live in an expensive suburb of NYC, Rockland County. Houses in decent shape easily fetch for $500k - $1M. Land can also be very expensive easily 250k+. 

Goal: Use a construction loan of about $250k to build a 500sqft STR.

Property: 1.96Acres, 100*868ft with the back half is a steep sloping mountain which abuts state park/land.

Target Market: Couples and solo adventurers

Since neighbors are close to road, I would position the home close to and facing the mountain. This would give a great sense of privacy and nature. My initial idea was create a black A-Frame home with mid-century detailing but have been thinking to go a container/modular style although not using containers. I work full-time so cannot put sweat equity but looking for construction methods to maximize the build long term. It wont be good for equity due to total sqft but i think using a more business model... i think it can do $200/night safely with a 50% occupancy. Some details I would like to use would be using concrete piers and slab foundation to prevent moisture issues from water run-off of mountain. I would also like to include radiant heating in the concrete foundation to keep. 

Notes- Property has hookups near street.

I did see some sort of large rusting drum. Im not sure what it was but I am assuming its a cause of concern... if there was once a foundation on this property... I walked it with over 2ft of snow down so hard to tell...  

Baseless projections/ budgets: 250-300k (max)

Property 120k (this is asking but I would offer something like 75k. It was last sold 42k in 2014)

Permits 4K

Site Prep (utilities, driveway, decking) 30k

Foundation 20k

Build costs 70k

Furniture & Decor 5k

Hot tub 5k

Miscellaneous 3k

Anyway, so... can I get some advice if number make sense to you at all? Also, I am assuming I need to work with an architect and GC to get started (not to mention buying the land)... but who do I go to first? Where do I start? 

I do have a lot more details including zoning for this project but dont want to overload the post... if interested, i can expand on my areas of research and I can provide specifics...

Thanks in advance.