Advise Needed for New Builds (Sell or Hold) in Boothwyn Area Greater Philly

[Taoli Zhen]

Hey BiggerPockets community!

I’m a first-time builder/investor working on a new construction single-family home in the Boothwyn area, part of the greater Philly market. I already own the lot and have stamped plans in hand, but I’m running into some roadblocks and could use advice from the experienced pros here.

The plan is for a ~2,500 sf, 4 bed / 3.5 bath two-level home with an unfinished 850 sf basement and a two-car garage. New builds are rare in this area—most comps are 90s-built flips that have sold for around $480K–$500K in the past year. A nearby newer build (3 bed / 3 bath, under 2,000 sf) is listed at $550K est. on market in July.

Here’s where I’m stuck and could really use some insight:

1. Am I crazy to shoot for a $650K listing price?
This would be the only way I could justify hiring a GC and still come out with even a modest profit (5–10% net). But most GC bids I’ve received fall between $250–$300 per sf, which pushes my build-only cost to $450K–$500K. That makes things extremely tight.

2. Should I alter the plan?
Would reducing the square footage or replacing the basement with a crawl space help me control costs enough to still justify this project? I know losing the basement might impact resale value, which works against the $650K goal.

3. Is GCing it myself the only way to hit a sub-$400K build?
I got a material package quote from 84 Lumber at around $60K, and the foundation alone (not including excavation) is already at $50K–$60K. I don’t have experience running a build, and I work full-time, so GCing myself is intimidating—but maybe necessary? In this case, I aiming for $160/sf for just the build.

4. Should I pivot to a Build-RRR strategy?
If $650K is unrealistic for this neighborhood, I’m considering building and refinancing to hold long-term. My estimated all-in cost would be ~$560K, and rents in the area are about $3,300–$3,500/month. I’d hope for 20% equity post-build after appraisal—would that be a solid play?

I’m also actively looking for a GC who might be open to working within a tighter budget. If you're a GC or know someone who might be interested, I’m happy to share full plans and current quotes. I have bids on some major items, but still need stormwater and excavation quotes.

Would love to hear from others who have built in this price range or market—do the numbers make sense? Is there a creative way to make this viable, or should I cut my losses and sell the lot with plans?

Thanks in advance for the advice—really appreciate this community!

[Stuart Udis]

@Taoli Zhen I know nothing about the Boothwyn housing market but I can tell you there's no margin building 2500 SF new construction single family homes in the Greater Philadelphia area with $650K outsales. Looking for a GC who will operate with tigher margins translates to shortcuts or an inferior build. It would be a mistake trying to cut costs this way. Value engineering is an important part of new devlopment but you have to weigh the modifications against marketability. Again, I know nothing about the Boothwyn housing market but you already acknowledged removing the basment will impact value so is the reduced cost really going to help? Doesn't appear so.  Sometimes I see investors try to force deals where the underwriting simply does not work. You definiitely want to avoid going this route. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. 

Perhaps you should look into entitlements or alternative ways to devlop the land. Maybe you can build smaller twins on the site and sell the smaller homes at a higher outsale PPSF? This will require a deedp dive into the market and understanding the pricing and housing product the neighborhood can absorb. Maybe there's even a rental play with two smaller 3 bed houses?  With the rising housing costs, a lof of people continue to be priced out of home ownership and 3 bed units that give a renter the same experince as home ownership is a product that I am seeing being absorbed well. It's my best performing rental product at this time. To add additional context, I self perform and build in Philadelphia which tends to run at a little higher cost PSF compared to most surrounding areas and I am only pursuing builds where I can achieve $400/sf on the outsale.