I saw enough friends go thru the building mess.

Sell your home, buy a “bridge” home (which IMHO is a legitimate purpose for an interest-only loan) and wait for your new home to be completed. Hope your “bridge” home will sell in time to sign the papers on your new home.

None of it with any decent amount of cash involved. All financed.

And in Chicago, there are many times in which the dirt your new home is built on is worth MORE than the home.

1/4 acre lots worth 1/2 a Million dollars or more.

INSANITY.