Good afternoon , I am a new builder in corpus , focusing on modern design I'm also interested in partnering up with a developer to get my vision and scale it to a bigger form and build specs and short term rentals simultaneously.

Consider adding any of your properties to be offered by reserve auction.Study the market, have a plan, know your spending limits.Form an investors group, pool cash for more buying power.As an investor always be prepared to do business.( keep contract offers with you, blank checks, screw gun, flashlight with good batteries pens and blank addendum).Wishing you good luck and successful investing. 

If we built a spec house we could either sell when finished and take the tax hit on gains or 1031 exchange it, or live in it for two years (before or after construction) and qualify for the full capital gains exemption because we lived there for a few years before it was a rental.  

Here are details: Specs: Duplex built in 1979, 2/1.5, 2 storiesPurchase price / financing: $50000 with 100% financingRented: Both units are rented at $500/unit/month = $1000/monthP&I: $370 Insurance: $55Property taxes: $65Maintenance, repairs, reserves: 15% of total rent = $155Utilities: $0Property Management: $105Vacancy: 10% of total rent = $105Cash flow:  Approx $160Duplex needs $5000 of repairs.Seems like this will cash flow but I just don't like the neighborhood and I am worried about declining values and if I needed to sell down the road the value wouldn't be there.Thanks in advance.

J Scott's new book on spec building?

@George Gammon  nice post I would add that another issue that created the melt down was the amount of spec lending that was being done... you had Builders that could get 20 to 50 spec loans with no cash out of pocket.. 

In the event of a tear down and new spec build, you get the valve based on knowing how many square feet, beds and baths, you will be building.

Guys have been there for 10 years and she told me that she took battery out of smoke alarm because it goes off  when she is making grilled cheese :).

The other realtor talked me out of student housing because her students drove an SUV into a dining room and others took batteries out of the CO and smoke detector to put in their controls!!!

You will have to run infrastructure (streets to city specs, sewer, water, lighting, curbs, guttering, etc) if you subdivide it into multiple lots.