I am a guy that bought a piece of land years ago and the neighborhood is starting to build free standing townhomes outside of downtown Houston. I am thinking to give it a try. Land is paid for but I will get loan to build, hopefully one at a time (4 to 6). Anyone done this and have advice for me?
your land is zoned for it?
start there.
second, you’ll need to see about a subdivision - if it’s raw land.
i mean, i’ve never built any new construction - town homes, but i’m assuming that you start by calling the municipality it’s located in and the county.
planning approval, permits, the works.
who’s doing the building? you? are you going to hire a contractor to contract it out? - they’ll do all the leg work, but be careful. some will promise the world and deliver a big crap sandwich.
are you in the business of building at all?
I’ve just got one question… How do you build one townhouse at a time if townhouses share adjoining walls?
They sound like free standing cluster homes.
talk to an independent builder. there are multiple ways to go about this.
examples:
financing - will you pay for the construction or is the builder going to get a construction loan? you should pay less if you are paying for the construction and the dealer doesn’t have to get a loan.
best layout of the land:
should you put the houses next to each other facing the street
should you put a shared driveway in and orient the properties such that they don’t face the street, but face (or back) the shared driveway.
there’s a lot to consider. it’s definitely do-able, and i don’t think it’s too difficult, but i’d “pay” for the expertise of a builder (not perry or whomever).
i live in houston, and have considered the same thing with triplex apartment/townhouses, but decided against it as rent wouldn’t cash flow enough and the neighborhood hasn’t started to turn around yet… i’ll be mad i didn’t in 10 years, though.