Duplex - Building over multiple years and Holding + House Hacking Advice

[Haylee Methvin]

My husband and I recently purchased 3 rural acres right outside of Longview, Texas. (approx. pop is 100k people). We are considering building 4-5 duplex's on the property over the course of a few years so we can pay them down as we go. There are 4 duplexes across the street and they do very well in that rural area since it is close to town but not too far. We know this because we stopped and asked the those tenants questions about rent, time of stay etc. However, we are going back and forth on a few items and would appreciate any advice or if anyone knows who to talk to locally to find out the answers to these questions that would be great.

-How do we set ourselves apart from the other duplexes across the street without out pricing the market? Their duplexes are very basic. Single story, no fence or garages/carport and  3b2b rents for $1500-1800. We thought about fencing/gating ours and making a community or just simply adding garages if it doesn't get too pricey.

-Do we do most of it ourselves or have a contractor do it? My husband has a remote job and would love to learn from my dad who has built for years and is now retired Of course, that may take a while and my husband could only work with him after he gets done with work around 4pm each day. 

-Do we move from DFW down there and live in one side for a while? We like this idea, and we currently rent, so it wouldn't be hard to move in 6 months, but how beneficial is house hacking on a project like this?

Ultimate goal is obviously to build cashflow as seamlessly as possible and pay down debts of houses as we go so husband can leave his consulting job and we can do real estate full time.

[Connor Kline]

@Haylee Methvin Good evening, I can give my opinion on a few of these questions. I am a Realtor out of Tyler and know a bit more about rural areas around my area than Longview's. 

-Fencing at least the backyards would be a bonus for tenants. It would give each tenant their own space. Also, it would cut back on other tenants "encroaching" over imaginary lines of the other tenants spaces.

-Garages would be a nice addition, but I would think you need to check the surrounding places and see if that would be a huge step up or not. Carports are not near as expensive, and less for tenants to tear up. If a lot of the other rental properties don't have any covered parking, then carports would be a much preferred option.

-As I am sure you know, building yourselves would save money, but maybe not time. Maybe that would be a better option after the first couple are built?

-House hacking would be a major benefit. You would have more options as far as construction loans for sure (If you are needing to get a loan). For instance, the construction loan I got to build my personal residence only required 10% down. If I were to build any type of investment property they would most likely require 20%. If your land is paid for, or maybe have some equity in it, then that could also help with down payment. 

Hopefully some of this helps. Good luck on your journey!