Advice for a noobs current situation

[Sean Webb]

Hello fellow REI's, I'm a noob from Houston and I'm looking for any advice or tips on my current situation. My immediate family has two fully paid single family homes in Houston and 1.5 acres of raw land (I believe is on city water and sewer) in Roman Forest, near New Caney, TX. The land is in a nice little community off 59N and is paid off as well. In the past year my mom has been talking about full retirement and how she would rather work on personal projects. After analyzing the situation and realizing potential REI opportunities at hand, I made her a business proposition. The plan I have in mind, since I don't have any big time capital, is to take a heloc or an equity loan out. We can split the raw land up in half and build two different houses to sell. She definitely became interested with the idea to use her properties as a stepping stool to enter the world of REI, especially because she didn't have any plans for any of her properties. I have already looked into a land surveyor and land/tree clearing companies, and also a blueprint sketch architect, but I have not looked into contractors yet. My question is just for some advice on the entire plan. We are considering placing one of the homes under my name to gain multiple heloc opportunities. Again, I am a complete noob so anything is greatly appreciated. If you see any holes in my plan or have any heads up on what I should expect when doing new construction, please tell me! I'd like to know if its not the best idea to start with a new construction job for my first intro into REI. I am all ears!...thanks guys and gals!