Real Estate Development - Best Order to Start Get Things Up & Running

[Dale Adams]

Hello all

Would like to get some advice from Real Estate Developers...

So, we're in Canada and we own several rental properties, and want to expand our portfolio. Prices have gone up a lot here, and so buying to rent is becoming non-viable. So we're looking at building to rent as a long term investment.

We've already done all of the financial side, so that's all set and happy and ready to go when we are.

However, all we're hearing right now is that all builders are super-busy and taking jobs 1-2 YEARS in advance. Naturally, that doesn't work for us!

We're right at the start of the process, the chicken and the egg, and a little confused on how to pull this together.

Essentially we need quotes to see how viable this actually is, but we don't have final plans to quote from, nor is land purchased.

We've looked at Altus, and know what pricing SHOULD be. But in reality is what we need to know. Chances are busy builders are going to be charging more?

Should we just call up every builder and ask them to quote on a job that does not exist yet? Or should we get some cheap plans drawn up first? Or are builders likely to not even take the job seriously/bother quoting on it if the land isn't already purchased?

It will be all materials supplied, so it's just labor. So that should make it much easier (and quicker) for them to quote!!!?

Basically, how do we actually start to pull this together between builders, land and drawn plans?

Any and all help appreciated!!