Sell lot OR build???

[Andrea W.]

We bought a lot in Tampa (city) over two years ago and demolished the small house, which had been condemned. We saved the concrete slab, although it could easily be removed. We have been planning to build a house on it, but recently decided to sell the lot. I've run the comparables, and the right price is a little more than I expected. We already have a couple offers, maybe $5000 short of where we should be. However, a person who looked at the lot yesterday complained about how expensive it will be to build on it. I then looked at the comps with new houses on them and realized that we may be in the best position to do the building, since my husband is a framing carpenter/jack- of-some-trades, has some connections to find helpers, and we could do owner-builder. We could probably build for half the cost of hiring a contractor. Theoretically we'd then have to live in the house for a year, but that's ok since we're planning to sell our current home (in Clearwater) soon anyway.

One of my concerns is that by the time we get the house built the market will have collapsed.

Use these as sample numbers: Lot value: $50,000. Property value with new house: $240,000. Cost for us to build: $75,000. (We just did a major remodel on a relative's house, total interior tear down plus replacing some of the framing, reroofing, replumbing, and building an enclosed porch, so I'm fairly confident that we could do it for under this number.)

On the other hand, building a house is a big responsibility.

Any pointers on how to make this decision would be gladly welcomed!

Comps: