Quote from @Jeremy H.:
Are you paying for the new construction in cash?
What you're doing here is really just building at a discount. I would be careful with your expected appraisal amount just because I have generally found new construction to be more expensive than buying an existing structure. Now this may not be true for all areas but it seems to be the case with mine. If it were that significantly cheaper I think you would have a lot more building as opposed to buying existing homes...
Hey Jeremy, thanks so much for the prompt reply! We are financing the construction with a loan and the land (which we own outright) is being used as the down payment so we don't have to put up any additional cash. That's definitely my biggest concern/what keeps me up at night, that builder is underestimating construction costs, but they came highly recommended by a mentor that I trust and our banker also says they generally do a good job of hitting timelines and hitting cost estimates which is why they like using them. We would definitely like to do a proper rehab with a BRRR in future but have had a hard time finding contractors that do rehabs in the area. Most seem to really prefer new construction.