When is it a good time to build instead of buy?

[CJ Baker]

I'm new to real estate and live in Tampa where it's either very expensive or very out of the way. I was thinking about ways to find/make a good deal and thought about building a multifamily home. I know very little about the housing market and am still reading tons of books and post about real estate, but could someone help me out by explaining this to me?

[Dustin Allen]

@CJ Baker

Usually it is better to build than buy when you have some sort of advantage over the rest of the market. Advantages would be having a GC license and being in the building industry already, having a close friend or family member in the building industry, having the land to build already, any sort of experience building that would make it more efficient for you than the average person.  Not having any of these doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t build but it does mean that you should expect to pay much more on the first one as a learning experience. 

Talk to some General Contractors about the process and get some very rough numbers of what it would cost to build and how long it would take. Run those numbers against buying an on market property. Pick the one that makes the most sense for you.