Home Rebuild 2027 + Parents' Retirement Home
Two coupled household goals that share capital, timing, and family logistics.
The Goals
Project A — Tampa lot tear-down + new build
The current 1700 sqft 1963 home at 1212 S Suffolk Dr (Sunset Park, 33629) doesn't work anymore:
- Fails 4-point inspection (Florida insurance liability — original windows, ungrounded upstairs electrical, broken sprinkler, slow hot water)
- Layout is segregated — kitchen isolated, no door on the WFH office, dining can't host family, detached laundry, carport instead of garage, inaccessible attic
- Great location, wrong house
Build a modern ~3000 sqft custom home on the same lot. Target $1.5-1.8M all-in. Land value preserved (location is the asset; structure is the depreciating piece).
Project B — Parents' retirement home
Help parents buy a $500-700k house/townhome they own outright in their name. Founder gifts down payment, parents carry mortgage on retirement income (or co-sign if needed).
Why coupled
Originally considered "buy parents' future house, live in it during build, gift it later." Decomposed in analysis below — keeping projects separate is cleaner for DTI, tax, and title reasons.
The Math (as of 2026-04-18, post-finance-cleanup)
Income picture
- Founder phData W-2 (June 2026 start): $190k base + 10% bonus + cert escalators
- Wife W-2: $125k
- Combined gross: $315k/yr = $26,250/mo
- Add wife's retirement match + benefits + founder's bonus + cert escalators → real total comp ~$370k
Capital available (April 2026)
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Wealthfront Joint Cash HYSA | $293k |
| Current home equity ($1.0M − $418k) | ~$580k |
| Less ~$60k closing costs at sale | −$60k |
| Net deployable today | ~$813k |
| Projected additional savings 2026-2027 (at 30% organic save × $26k/mo × ~20 mo) | ~$150-200k |
| Total deployable by Q1 2027 | ~$1.0M |
DTI capacity (combined $26,250/mo gross)
- 28% front-end (housing-only): $7,350/mo
- 36% back-end (all debt): $9,450/mo
- Current PITI: $4,094/mo (16% back-end)
- Capacity for new debt service: ~$5,300/mo
Mortgage capacity at 7% / 30yr
- $500k → $3,900/mo PITI
- $1.0M → $7,800/mo PITI
- $1.2M → $9,400/mo PITI (right at 36% limit)
- $1.5M → $11,600/mo PITI (over limit, requires bonus inclusion)
Practical mortgage ceiling on income alone: ~$1.0-1.2M.
Why "Buy Temp Home → Live → Gift to Parents" was rejected
Three problems:
- DTI can't hold 2 mortgages + construction loan simultaneously. Combined would blow past 43% back-end ceiling
- Gift-with-mortgage-attached is a tax mess. $600k transfer would consume ~$600k of lifetime gift exemption (currently $13.6M ceiling — not fatal but permanent reduction). Better to gift cash up front
- Title gymnastics. Parents can't simply "take over" a mortgage without refinancing in their name. They'd need to qualify on retirement income alone after the fact. Risk of lender saying no, leaving founder stuck
The clean alternative: gift cash for down payment, parents carry their own mortgage from day one.
The Recommended Plan
Two projects. Kept separate. Sequenced.
Project A — Tampa Tear-Down + New Build
- Sell current Tampa home at build start (~$1.0M → ~$920k net)
- Temp rental for 9-12 months in comparable Tampa neighborhood (~$4k/mo × 10mo = $40-50k)
- New build $1.5-1.8M all-in, 3000 sqft custom, modern, every problem fixed
- Financing: $920k equity roll + $300k cash down + $300-500k construction-to-perm mortgage
- Final state PITI: ~$7-8k/mo (comfortably within 36% DTI)
Project B — Parents' Retirement Home
- $600k house in parents' name
- Founder gifts ~$150k for down payment (uses $150k of lifetime exemption)
- Parents carry ~$450k mortgage on retirement income
- If parents need help qualifying: founder co-signs (NOT primary borrower)
- Founder out of pocket: $150k one-time, no ongoing payment
Total Cash Required (over 2026-2027)
| Use | Amount |
|---|---|
| Parents' down-payment gift | $150k |
| Temp rental during build | $50k |
| Build cash beyond equity roll | $300-400k |
| Total cash outlay | $500-600k |
Available Capital by Q1 2027
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| HYSA today | $293k |
| Projected new savings by Q1 2027 | ~$200k |
| Total | ~$490-550k |
Conclusion: tractable but tight. ~$50-100k margin of safety. Anything that goes over budget on the build or surprises in the parent-home process tightens it further.
Milestones & Decision Gates
See milestones.md for the detailed timeline with dates and decision criteria.
High-level:
- Q2-Q4 2026: Pre-work (inspection, HELOC, zoning, parent conversation, savings)
- Q4 2026: Architect feasibility + concept design
- Q1 2027: Decision gate — go/no-go based on (a) phData W-2 history, (b) actual savings hit, (c) build cost from architect, (d) parents' mortgage qualification clear
- Q2 2027: Parents close + Tampa home goes under contract
- Q3 2027 - Q3 2028: Build runs, family lives in rental
- Q4 2028: Move into new home
Critical Open Questions
- Parents' mortgage qualification. What's their current income + asset picture? Can they qualify for a $450k mortgage on retirement income? Determines whether founder needs to co-sign and shifts DTI math
- Lot zoning + flood zone. Sunset Park has setback rules + some lots are FEMA flood zones (relevant given the $77k flood insurance event in 2024-2025). Affects build cost and design constraints. Needs verification at City of Tampa Planning Dept
- Bonus inclusion in mortgage qualification. Some lenders include 100% of W-2 bonus, some 50%, some require 2-year history. Talking to a Tampa mortgage broker early shapes the achievable mortgage ceiling
- Construction-to-perm vs separate construction loan + take-out refi. Affects rate-lock timing and whether you carry interest-only payments during build
Risks & Mitigations
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build comes in over budget ($1.8M+) | Medium | High | Get firm architect bid before signing; cap with fixed-price builder contract |
| phData W-2 history insufficient for $1.2M mortgage at 2027 application time | Medium | High | Apply 2027 Q1 (will have 7-9 mo history) — wait if needed for full year |
| Parents can't qualify for $450k mortgage | Medium | Medium | Gift more upfront ($200-250k) so they only need $350k mortgage |
| Tampa real estate market shifts (current home worth $850k not $1.0M at sale time) | Low-Med | Medium | Get a real CMA Q3 2026 to validate the $1.0M Zestimate before planning |
| Construction loan rates spike from 7% to 9%+ | Low-Med | Medium | Consider rate-lock float-down options at construction loan close |
| Family stress from living in rental for 10-12 months | Medium | Medium-Low | Pick comparable Tampa rental, not a downgrade. Treat as planned cost |
| Need to halt mid-build for income loss | Low | Catastrophic | Maintain 6-month expense reserve OUTSIDE the project budget |
Integration with /finance-pulse
The monthly finance pulse will track:
- HYSA progress vs the ~$490-550k Q1 2027 target
- Savings rate (target: maintain 30%+ to hit projection)
- Any project-related spend (architect retainer, inspection costs, HELOC fees)
- Reminders of upcoming decision gates
Updates will be added to the dashboard at ~/rdco-vault/04-finance/index.md.
Related
- [[../../04-finance/index.md|Finance dashboard]] — savings progress
- [[../../04-finance/2026-04-18-monarch-baseline.md|Live ledger snapshot]]
- [[../financials/2026-04-11-phdata-vs-mg-decision-analysis.md|phData decision analysis]]
- Notion task board — operational milestones tracked there