Gunk will come out, unless you have really soft water.

Most banks will require 25% of total costs (land, soft costs, hard build costs, etc) as a down payment or equity position, and they will loan the remaining 75%.  

So much for my rant as well :-)  I apologize for my industry for not doing a better job teaching the soft skills to agents, especially commercial agents.

Where I live, it's not uncommon to see a handful of basement jack posts either on concrete pads or on the dirt itself to deal with soft spots on the foundation, but the soil here is thick, heavy clay with solid rock close to the subsurface, so there's not a whole lot of movement.

I am looking for a quote for construction only excluding all the soft costs like architectural,engineering, permit, etc.

They will likely see a "reversion to the mean" or softness for longer.I think you are correct on the policy response preventing a depression.  2008 almost killed us.

Make sure to include soft costs in the loan so you can get reimbursed for those.I always let the subs know the draw payment schedule in advance and have them carry me until the draw gets funded.

The stress this tenant can now put on the OP is unlimited and if the OP starts off with a soft posture this caliber of tenant is very likely to apply that stress.

Investment wise the market has been quite soft the past years on the mediterranean coast; The Nice, St Tropez and Cannes areas remain the most sought after.

Don't forget your soft costs!