I need a little guidance for my current situation.

[Laurenda Landry]

Hello all,

I have this land available in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I'm torn because on the one hand, my mom told me that she wants to sell because she's not using the land at all. On the other hand, I'm thinking that we could build on the land and rent out the house since rents have increased in the neighborhood. I'm not really sure what to do in this instance. 

[Colleen F.]

I would analyze a stick built and a pre-fab and see if the rent would justify the build cost. You could offer to buy it but that is another topic. The key question is if the money you put into building will be covered by the rent and you would make a profit. Analyze it. You don't need to get firm numbers just yet but find out the cost per square foot in your area to build what rents in the area figure financing that and analyze it as a rental through the rental calculator on this site.  You need to refine that down the road but first see if it is even something that would turn a profit.