My First Spec House: Lessons Learned

I’ve been building since 1981, mostly custom houses, and always on a cash basis. Last spring, work slowed down for the first time since I’ve been in business. No one was knocking on the door, and I knew that within a few months I would be out of work. As it happened, about this time I was looking at building lots with a potential customer. The real estate agent we were working with mentioned that he had recently gotten a loan to build his house. He put no money down, yet was loaned 75% of the appraised value of the finished house. This sounded like a great deal, so I began to investigate