All Forum Posts by: Mark Mathews

As for what to build, perhaps contact your local chamber of commerce to see what's most needed in your area. Also, try to search the Internet for commercial demographics.

I'm interested to see what others have to say.

I'm looking for opinions about what are the pros and cons in regard to spec building vs. flipping residential properties.

Thank you in advance.

Angel, 

I agree completely with learn as much as you can before you're eligible to enter into contracts at 18. BP has a really good video course for learning about real estate investing. I just finished the course myself. Click on the Education tab, and then click on the Free Course tab.

Another thing you can do, maybe over the summer when school is out, go to a local construction site and ask if you can work as a laborer. You'll learn a lot about what goes into building construction, which is closely related to property improvement techniques used in flipping.

Best Regards.

"No we have not talked to a engineer about design yet. I have just negotiated terms for the owner to owner finance for six months to give me time to get all my details in order."

"I'll be honest I'm not sure if the best thing is to whole sale, develop and sell off lots, or develop and build the whole thing."

Wow, Multiple Red Flag Warnings!

A project like this can eat you up if you've not properly prepared all the details. The cost of funds alone can make or break you.

I suggest you figure our all the details before negotiating terms. How will you know what terms to ask for if you don't even know if you will wholesale or develop?

Financial mistakes in real estate can really throw you a curve ball and set you back several years in your real estate investing career. (Talking from experience)

Here's an idea. Perhaps consider designing the community, doing the subdivision, and then sell the lots. You could also offer to sell your services to design and or build the homes. This way, your capital requirement is lower and you get some experience in developing a community while your customers fund the construction.

The benefit to your customers is that they get to choose everything about their new home, design the perfect place.

Win - win!

Not that I know, but maybe try another, larger bank, credit union, etc. My insurance company also has a bank they use to make loans. Another thing to try is ask for a construction loan. You don't get all the money up front and have to show progress in the project to get advances.

Suggest you ask the designer exactly what you're paying for. Probably it's reasonable and competitive when you consider what all goes into "approved plans". If you're still unsure, get another quote.

Anyway, if that sounds expensive, wait until you see the contractor's bids for the job.

Hi Yvette. I'm just curious. Are you planning to live in the tiny home? or sell it? or...?

Hi Dhanush,

From my understanding, a "spec builder" is a person who builds a home on speculation that he will be able to sell it for a profit. Perhaps what you are looking for is a home builder construction company? There should be plenty of those. Just use a search engine, like Google.

Regards,

Mark Mathews

Hi Mitch. Congratulations on the successful project. I think another thing to consider is your personal financial condition. The project you just finished provided you with a place to live while working the project, saving you additional cost. If you go the new home spec build, you'll have the added cost of housing. Another option is that you could buy a fixer and live in it while having contractors do some of the fixing to speed up the process. Maybe that's the next step.