I am interested in purchasing property for the purposes of building a house, at which point I wish to sell it. I am very aware of the real estate markets in certain areas, and am currently in discussions with a few developers who might be willing to have me shadow them for a while.
My question is: Where can I go to learn about the ins and outs of this business in the meantime? I’m looking for books, websites, or other materials that detail the building process, how to hire builders or subs? Should I act as builder myself? Etc.
Does anyone out there have any advice as to how I should proceed?
You mean that you just want to build a single spec house and sell it? Or do you want to make a residential development of several or many houses? Do you plan to build it? Be the general contractor? Or just hire someone to build it?
I’m looking at infill opportunities right now, and am unsure how to proceed. I have no experience as a builder, but it seems as though most folks I know are acting as general contractor, which is the route I was thinking of at this point. Obviously, I’m a good way away from acting on anything. Any ideas?
(By the way, I apologize for paragraph #2 of my OP. We were late for dinner and the wife was hurrying me out the door.)
Run away, run away now, while there is still time…
Building a house is not like anything else, and it’s not a simple process. It’s expensive, time consuming, and frustrating.
If you have no experience whatsoever in any aspect of the process, I would recommend you not do it. But hey, that’s just a contractor with 15 years experience talking, disregard at will.
You might try a local community college or university. They often have classes for the general public, and stuff like that seems to be covered — how to be your own contractor, and that sort of thing. That would be where I’d look if I were in your situation. Hope that helps!
I am familiar with many of the filings and such in this area, but am less familiar with how to go about hiring subs, the steps involved in the process, etc. Is the Building Dept going to help much there?
What specifically are you planning on doing Swan? Is it a spec house? The price range? Do you know who your potential buyer is, what their demographics are? Do you have a specific piece of property in mind? Single or multi family? Do you have an architect, or house plans? Do you know what is being built in the area, the demand, the market? Can you do this full time?
Having known quiet a few people who built rather than bought, I’d advise against it unless it’s for your own purposes (or you’re a large-scale developer with deep pockets). It’s a labor of love, and to go through all that just to turn around and sell it seems like masochism at its finest.
Maybe, but Atlanta doesn’t seem to be as bad off as other regions. There is still a rather large number of peopklemoving to the area, and even more who are willing to move from the burbs into surrounding neighborhoods. I have been keeping a pretty close eye on such things, and am not even sure if I even want to go the spec route.
These are questions that I hope to figure out. I own two lots in the Cashiers, NC area (vacation properties out the wazoo) and am interested in doing infill stuff to start in the Atlanta area. I own no properties here. I know several architects, but have not hired anyone, nor do I currently own any plans. I am interested in taking this very, very slowly at first, since I am rather clueless at this point. Single family, and most newly-built homes are going for around $1.5 - $2 million in the area,and demand is moving up and up (though we have a long way to go before we get to DC, Chicago, California, etc. prices). I would eventually like to get to full time, but not for another few years at the soonest.
I would just love to have some reading material that would help me through the basics of the project management aspects of building, the financing (I do have an MBA in Real Estate & Finance, and a father in banking, so I’m pretty comfortable with the numbers part), and the nuts and bolts of hiring subs. (How do I find good teams and such).