What do you look for in a house?

[bjstare]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1

Haters gonna hate. If all entrepreneurs and business men listened to the naysayers, nothing would ever get done.

If you build the house to current design trends, and manage costs, it may take a lot of your time, but at the very least you aren't going to lose money. It's all about whether the ROI is worth the risk you are taking.

LOL

You think he isn't going to lose money? Based on what?

If real estate tanks another 15% YoY for the (at least) year or two he takes to build this, it will be nearly impossible to make money. That doesn't include unforseen schedule delays due to weather/contractors/permitting/etc. And I'm only just scratching the surface regarding risk.

@ OP, like others, I'm not specifically trying to shit on your idea. I sincerely hope you succeed if you do go for this. I also sincerely hope you don't listen to someone who says you can't lose.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[s_havinga]

Fair enough, I assumed by contractor he was referring to General contractor. I would definitely GC the project.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by cjblair


You think he isn't going to lose money? Based on what?

Did you not read the rest of my post? #readingfail. Good job though. Let me explain it for you like you are 5 years old though:

I didn't say go ahead exactly with his plan as is. I even said that for myself, I wouldn't do it right now at this very second. But if he has a decent head on his shoulders, he can build a house. My family also has a home building business, well ladee da! It most certainly is not "impossible". Arguably, in this current economic climate, you should be able to build a property for about as inexpensive as it is going to get, unless property values keep going down (I would doubt this, but that remains to be seen, property values are NOT going down 15% in the next year or two on top of what they already have, now THAT would be a crash).

However, to act like you can't make money in this current housing market is also silly. Of course you can, plenty of people and companies do, and are doing it right now. Rule #1 of business is to always cry poor though.

Originally posted by C_Dave45

I'm trying to caution them on how almost impossible it is.

But it isn't There is risk and reward in any business venture. If people only ever went for the sure-fire guarantee, a lot of business ideas wouldn't get off the ground.

And Dave, do you build houses, general contract them or? I know you do contract work, but do you actually build houses? Because if you don't, then how would you know? You probably wouldn't, just like you argue some in this thread don't

I already laid out how I would do it as a one off build. I don't think it would be worth the time, but there is a path forward with the idea and a way to make money with it. His decision to decide if he can pull it off.

[max_boost]

It's not worth it for the average Joe.

BTW, a urinal in the man cave would be awesome haha

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by s_havinga


If a skilled contractor can't buy a property build a house and sell it for profit, I would argue that he is not a very skilled contractor at all.
.

I didn't say that did I? I didn't say a skilled contractor can't make money on an infill. I said it can't be done with your criteria and expected numbers.

You said you wanted to build a house and sell it for ~$1mil.
You said you wanted it a SFD on a 50' lot in inner city.
You said you would build it around 2200 sq ft. (which I might add, is very small for that price point of house/property)

I'm pointing out that you won't be able to do that with those numbers. Your costs alone will be way above $1 mil.

If you're doing it for ROI, then a SFD on an innercity 50' lot is the poorest way to do that. The best way is a duplex.

But all that aside, even if you revise your numbers, the work, money and time involved is huge, and if not done properly, can turn into a disaster.

[bjstare]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


Did you not read the rest of my post? #readingfail. Good job though. Let me explain it for you like you are 5 years old though:

I didn't say go ahead exactly with his plan as is. I even said that for myself, I wouldn't do it right now at this very second. But if he has a decent head on his shoulders, he can build a house. My family also has a home building business, well ladee da! It most certainly is not "impossible". Arguably, in this current economic climate, you should be able to build a property for about as inexpensive as it is going to get, unless property values keep going down (I would doubt this, but that remains to be seen, property values are NOT going down 15% in the next year or two on top of what they already have, now THAT would be a crash).

However, to act like you can't make money in this current housing market is also silly. Of course you can, plenty of people and companies do, and are doing it right now. Rule #1 of business is to always cry poor though.

I said if RE tanks for another year or two, it will be impossible to make money. He's already going to be running a thin margin if RE stays flat, based on the criteria he laid out. For all we know, RE prices in that sector of the market will climb 25% in the next 18 months and he'll be laughing all the way to the bank

And since you know that property values are "NOT going down 15% in the next year or two", why don't you look into your crystal ball and tell me what oil price is going to do? Or gold price? Or the share price of (insert any company here)?


I'm not sure why you think I didn't understand your post. I was just cracking a joke at the fact you said OP can't lose money. You must be smart enough to know that's a ridiculous statement to make, especially since you even recognise there's a risk/reward factor. If he can't lose money, then enlighten me... what exactly is the risk?

[03ozwhip]

now that I've just built my house mostly to what I wanted, my views are a bit different, but this is what I'd go for...
3+1 beds, 3.5 baths, triple garage, delete tub and put a huge shower in master, and a walk out basement. I agree in the 1mm price point, stucco is what I'd want.