Ground-Up Construction Underwriter
Underwrite a spec or build-to-rent construction loan from the land up to the exit
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with The Helvetica Group. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
Underwrites a ground-up construction loan the way an experienced credit officer would: rebuilds the real project cost, tests every leverage limit, checks that the interest reserve survives the real schedule, and ends with a go, go-with-conditions or no-go call and the conditions that fix each gap.
What it does
- Rebuilds total project cost from land, hard costs, soft costs, contingency, interest reserve and closing costs, and catches the budget lines builders usually leave out (site work, utility connections, impact fees)
- Tests loan-to-cost, loan-to-value on completion, land advance, borrower equity and contingency, and shows which limit caps the loan
- Checks whether the interest reserve lasts until the house actually sells or refinances, and flags the month it runs out
- Scores the builder's experience, contract type and capacity, and ranks permit and entitlement status
- Tests the sale or refinance exit with a value-drop stress and the breakeven decline
When to use it
- A spec home, townhome or build-to-rent construction loan comes in
- You want to know whether the budget and interest reserve are realistic
- Before sending a ground-up deal to credit committee
- A broker asks how much you can lend on a new build
What to have ready
- The loan request and land cost
- A line-item construction budget
- The as-complete value (appraisal or estimate)
- The build schedule, builder resume and permit status
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"Underwrite this ground-up spec build at [ADDRESS] — land is [LAND COST], budget attached, as-complete value [VALUE], they want [LOAN AMOUNT] over [TERM] months."
What you get back
An underwriting summary with a rebuilt sources-and-uses table, every leverage test and the one that binds, an interest reserve check, builder and permit review, exit stress test, ranked risks, and a list of closing conditions.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- Every limit it tests is shown as an illustrative default you replace with your own credit policy, and anything missing is marked not tested rather than guessed.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
Ground-Up Construction Underwriter
Ground-up loans fail in predictable places: a budget that left out site work and utility connections, an interest reserve sized for a schedule nobody believes, a builder whose last three houses were remodels, a permit that is "ready to issue" for four months, or an exit that only works at the peak comp. The loan-to-cost ratio on the term sheet looks fine in all of them. This skill rebuilds the project from the land up, tests each place it can break, and ends in a plain go / no-go with the conditions that would fix what is weak.
Works for: spec single-family and townhome builds, build-to-rent houses and small scattered-site packages, duplex-to-fourplex infill, and small ground-up projects where one builder and one budget carry the loan. For horizontal land development or raw land, use land-loan-underwriter. Once the loan closes, each draw belongs to construction-draw-reviewer; the month-by-month reserve math belongs to interest-reserve-calculator.
Step 1 — Intake
| Input | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Loan request and structure | ✅ | Amount, rate, term, extension options, what it funds (land advance, hard costs, interest reserve, fees) |
| Land basis | ✅ | Purchase price and date, or payoff of existing land debt; as-is land value if appraised |
| Construction budget | ✅ | Line-item, hard and soft costs separated, with builder fee / overhead / profit shown |
| Contingency | ✅ | Dollar amount and whether it is inside or outside the builder's contract |
| As-complete value | ✅ | Appraisal (as-complete / subject-to), or the broker's estimate labelled as unverified |
| Plans and specs | ✅ | Square footage, bed/bath, finish level; needed to judge cost per square foot |
| Builder resume | ✅ | Completed projects of similar size and type, with addresses and dates |
| Permit and entitlement status | ✅ | Issued, approved-pending-fees, in plan review, or not submitted; zoning confirmation |
| Construction schedule | ✅ | Start date, months to completion, and the sale or lease-up period after it |
| Exit plan | ✅ | Sale (with comps) or refinance (with rent evidence and target program) |
| Builder contract | Helpful | Fixed price, cost-plus, or cost-plus with a guaranteed maximum |
| Borrower liquidity and track record | Helpful | Cash after closing vs carry and overrun exposure |
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
More from The Helvetica Group
They publish here under a verified work email. Their other skills, and how to reach them, are on their contributor page.