Why the Broken Housing Market Is a Great Investment: Dan’s View from the Trenches

A System Designed to Stall

“It takes 18 months and $3 million just to get a permit,”
— Dan Abbate

That’s not for a skyscraper in Manhattan.That’s for a modest housing development in a quiet North Carolina town. No opposition, no lawsuits—just paperwork, politics, and procedural purgatory.

“We need houses now,” Dan says.
“But we’re stuck in a system that’s allergic to speed.”

He’s not exaggerating. In the places where housing is needed most, the barriers are often the greatest. Local groups organize against new development, citing traffic or “neighborhood character.” Meanwhile, prices climb and families are priced out. It’s like watching someone throw water on a fire while yelling that it’s too cold.

But Dan isn’t just frustrated—he’s committed. He sees the inefficiencies, the delays, the bureaucratic maze. But he also sees families waiting for homes, communities ready to grow, and investors looking for long term value. So he leans in. Not because the system is easy, but because the opportunity is real.

“In Raleigh-Durham, we’re developing 1,200 homes. We are four years in and it will probably be 8 more until the last home is sold. That’s not unusual. Between planning, permitting, horizontal development, vertical construction, and sales, the timeline stretches—and stretches.”

Predictably Irrational. And That’s the Point

But that’s exactly why it’s a good investment.

The demand drives value. If housing supply could meet demand overnight, prices would stabilize. But they don’t. And they won’t.

The system is built to be slow. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that regulatory costs account for 24% of the final price of a new single-family home. A Clean Water Act permit can take a year. Add zoning, environmental reviews, and local politics, and you’re looking at years before a shovel hits the ground.

“We don’t get a vote on the speed limit,” Dan says. “So why does everyone get a vote on whether we can build housing?”

It’s not just inefficient—it’s irrational. But it’s also predictable. And that predictability is what makes it investable.

Now layer in the capital structure. Big national builders operate like central planners. They make decisions based on macro trends and profit margins, not local demand. So even if a town is begging for housing, if the numbers don’t work, they’ll pull back.  Smaller, regional builders could move faster—but they don’t have access to capital. So the cycle repeats: big builders squeeze margins, projects get delayed and timelines get stretched out.

“They’re making money on our cost of capital,” Dan says. “Same way a big company leans on a little manufacturer.”

It’s a system where the biggest players squeeze both ends—land sellers and builders—because they can. And because the scale of each project is so large, only a few can play.

From Chaos to Clarity: What Comes Next

Housing development today is like getting a ride in New York City before Uber. Catching a cab was random. You waved your hand and hoped. Uber removed the randomness: it created structure, predictability and efficiency. Housing development today is still in the“waving your hand” phase. Everyone—builders, landowners, investors—is guessing. Contracts are loose. Timelines are vague. Anyone can walk away at any stage.

“If we could take the randomness out of the vertical equation,” Dan said, “we would take the uncertainty out of the entire process. Imagine a futures market for housing. Contracts at different stages, each with standardized terms and shared risk. Investors could bid, trade, and commit with clarity. Builders could plan with confidence. Communities could grow with purpose.”

Some day we might get there, but in this moment, Dan says,

“We’re not trying to fight the system, we are trying to work within it—and still win. The housing market is broken. But in that brokenness lies the opportunity. It’s slow, bureaucratic, and often irrational. But it’s also essential, in-demand and deeply valuable. We aren’t just investing in land—we are investing in the future of communities. We are navigating inefficiency and turning it into the win-win. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we build. And that’s why, even in a system that doesn’t make sense, the investment does.”

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