question about building a house...

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Hi All,

Had a quick question and I thought this would be the best place to ask...

So I have a close family relative that is a general contractor and has agreed to assist me in building a 2500-3000 sq. ft. home. I would be choosing a plan off of homeplans.com. I particuraltry like this one -
http://www.homeplans.com/plan-detail/HOMEPW08544/four-bedroom-european

His margin would be very small as he is family. I've always wanted to build a home from the ground up and learn the whole process.

My question is that knowing the condition of the real estate market, is this financially the wisest thing to do? My plan was to live in the home for 2 years and then sell it hopefully reaping some gain from having it built for a low cost. And then repeat the process but build the next house as having myself as the general contractor.

Or would it be best to just buy a home that is a short sale/foreclosure or has a seller that is desperate to sell and then sell that later on for a small profit?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm located in the Western Suburbs of Chicago if that makes any difference. I'd be building there too.

[Justin S.]

You need to determine your costs to build and then compare that to similar sold homes in the area. If your cost to build is more then it does not make sense financially.