In today's market, is it better to build vs buy?

[Wesley Mullen]

I'm curious to get people's opinions on whether it's better to build a house in today's market vs buy. We have been looking to add to our portfolio for several months, but have been unable to locate any deals that cashflow, given high prices and interest rates. We've still been keeping an eye open, but have also turned to a new idea: finding land and building on it (in turn adding our current residence to our portfolio). The trouble with this idea is actually locating land - it seems it is just as scarce as properties. Whether looking to build a new primary or even spec building, has anyone seen better results vs buying existing properties? 

On a tangent, this has also turned my attention to potential minor subdivisions - buying a large piece of land and re-zoning it to put multiple properties on it. My grandpa actually did this in rural Missouri. However, in just scratching the surfaces, this looks to be highly complex, with lots of legalities involved and outside my novice knowledge & price range. I tend to think up big ideas, but then usually do not have the resources to act on them. It's been 2 years since we purchased our first rental property and we're itching to get more. We just wish the market would cooperate. Is anyone else experiencing this frustration? 

[Terrell Garren]

After 20+ buy/rehab/rent SFHs 2008-2019, I found it difficult to make the #s work on new deals due to heated demand. I made new SFH construction work by getting my GC and taking that cost out of the equation. My last 4 adds have been new construction on tax sale lots.