Build to suit condos, earnest money, lock in buyer???

I assume you have a prospectus and a contract that ties to it. You should be able with a serious buyer to enter into a contract to sell and a contract to build out the interior, which would be ismilar to a standard construction agreement, one third down, progress payments, last 25% after c of o.

A condo is a common or shared interest real estate. You own the title ("fee simple" in the case of a condo, to the "air space" your unit occupies. In a large building, this may mean that you own the equivalent of an apartment with other units above, below and on all sides around you. In the case of a townhouse (technically a "Planned Unit Development or PUD), you also own the land on which your unit sits and the airspace above (up to a few hundred feet).
What all of these different types of developments have in common is the sharing of common space including walkways, landscaping, parking, recreational facilities and so on. In short, not only are you buying a home, but you're usually also getting the right to use a lot of amenities to boot. In a sense, you're buying into a type of lifestyle. While this may sound appealing to many people, it also has its drawbacks.
Here are some concerns to be aware of before buying into a shared interest piece of real estate.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
● Does the unit have adequate Covenants, Conditions and restrictions? Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions set the basic rules for use of the development such as minimum square footage, voting rights, size of board and so on. Many older developments only had Covenants, conditions and restrictions that were a page long and left out much that was needed. (Modern Covenants, conditions and restrictions can run to a hundred pages or more).
● Is the development separately incorporated? If not, you could be heading for a morass of legal problems.
● Are there any pending lawsuits against the development (home owner's association)? If there are it could mean poor management. Further, if the Association loses and the award is greater than the insurance, each homeowner could be responsible for the difference. (Some states, such as California, have passed laws exempting homeowners from deficiency payments, provided minimum amounts of insurance are kept).
● Are there clear and reasonable architectural guidelines? These could be vital if you later want to remodel or add on.
● Is the Association solvent? Check its financial statements. This is critical. Is there a comfortable bank balance or is each month hand to mouth?
● Are their adequate reserves to handle maintenance, repairs and emergencies? A rule of thumb is that 25 percent of the annual budget should be put away as reserves.
● Is the project old and in need of repairs? If so, you might be assessed in the future and your monthly dues could go up dramatically.
● If you're buying a new and not fully completed development, how are sales going? If they are slow, is there a chance the developer/builder could collapse leaving many uncompleted units and the existing owners with a real headache?
● Does the home owner's association provide insurance against earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornados? You may need it to get a mortgage (either when you buy for the next buyer when you resell), but not be able to get this insurance individually.
● What is the ratio of owners to tenants? If there are more than 25 percent tenants, you could have problems with noise and maintenance. (.