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Charlie:
Andrew in Garden Oaks writes to us, “I have a piece of property just north of Loop 610 and Shepherd.” I think that’s like Garden Oaks, right?
Tom:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Or is it also Oak Forest in there? Anyway, he says, “That I use as a man cave,” so he’s got like, basically, a patch in there. It’s about 146 feet by 72, it has a 1500 square foot building. He’s thinking about razing it and building a few of those contemporary mid-sized townhomes or wondering if he should sell the land just outright because right now there’s a lot of demand on it. He’s been getting flyers from a real estate company that’s purchased a few lots around him. He’s wondering, “Build or sell?” What do you say, Tom?
Tom:
Probably sell. I’m doing this in a selfish way for him. I don’t want him to go through the headaches of building because you can make some money or you can just lose your shirt on it. Selling the property at a profit, it’s easy, it’s quick for a guy not in the business.
Charlie:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tom:
You don’t have to deal with borrowing money from banks. I don’t know if he’s going to pay cash on the property as far as the build-out goes. He’s going to have to hire architects, he’s going to have to be his own general contractor. He’s got a lot of things to deal with if he doesn’t do that. He’s not going to make any money if he tries to just have a contractor do it. I would say sell the property. Take the money and run.