@Johnny L. What follows is coming from me as a GC/Builder with many years in development.
First advice, STOP calling yourself a developer! I guarantee it's making bad rapport right off the bat. If your talking to builders the way you are here, chanting "I'm a developer, developer, developer..... because I want to pay a GC to build 1 home". They are laughing at you inside, and outside the moment that phone hangs up.
A developer, develops, it's that simple. Your a client, your looking to build 1 home, that's NOT developing, not even close. Are you getting zoning approved? Installing roads, water & sewer laterals, negotiating utility easements, doing soil corrections, navigating environmental impact studies???? These are the things a DEVELOPER does, your just some guy asking a GC to build a home, that's a client. How you use that home we, GC/Builders across the world, couldn't care less. Sell it, burn it to the ground, run a hostel or brothel, it means exactly 0 to us.
Next problem, you trying to coax them with promises of all the work you will bringing, yet your only asking for 1 single property to be built, immediately the BS meter hits the ceiling for them and you just put yourself in the dog house, seriously. Do you know how many calls per week we get like that? We get conditioned that those blow-hards are waste of time. Now, not saying your full of it, I am telling you that's how you making yourself look. You'd be better off keeping it to the facts of "hey, I'm looking for the right builder to build my home, I got big hopes and dreams but for now it's just this 1 home".
Lastly, you gotta get real. GC/Builders are King Sh#t of Tu#d mountain right now, they don't need you or your work, they don't need anyone's really, they rule the day, fact. If your even just a somewhat ok builder your scheduled out at least a year in advance and turning down 19 projects for every 1 that you accept. Exactly how is it in their interest to take your build? That's the brutal truth of it that you need to answer, how is it in their best interest? Because your going to bring them a bunch more work, yeah your bringing sand to a beach, congratulations. No, you gotta make it work for them, it's that simple.
Your best option is to partner with a builder, give them a slice of that profit pie, as much as 49%. Fact is builders don't have endless ability to scale, labor is hard enough to get and retain to stay at size more or less scale up even 10%, yeah, good luck at that. And also, everyone IS trying to scale up, it's not that nobody wants to it's that the bodies simply are not there. So each builder is working on a calendar that has a certain capacity of builds, they are saying WHAT builds do I give a slot for, because each slot has 20 different projects begging to be it. Your best smartest move is to suck-up your pride and go kiss the ring, present the offer to be there 51% partner, put up all the capital so they will build the properties. On the upside there gonna not just build but will care about that build because it matters to them AND if you negotiate well you can get it done at net 0 so the 49% wont actually be a full 49% because your only paying cost or cost + overhead, no builder profit on build.
But seriously, do yourself a favor and please stop calling yourself a developer, it's nauseating. Developers work there arse off and take huge risk all to create a site from 0 that builders can than build upon, they don't do individual properties, they build SITES, neighborhoods, communities, cities.
