---
id: "quote-margin-of-safety"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["00:08:28"]
tags: ["risk", "pricing"]
related: ["concept-margin-of-safety-waterfront"]
speaker: "Jay Roberts"
speakers: ["Jay Roberts"]
sources: ["jayroberts"]
sourceVaultSlug: "jay-roberts-florida-condo-development-2026Jun25"
originDay: 4
---
# Waterfront Margin of Safety

## Quote: Waterfront Margin of Safety

**Speaker:** [[entity-jay-roberts]]  
**Timestamp:** 00:08:28

> "The same building off the water costs the same to build. It costs the same to build. Same concrete, same windows. But people will pay more to be on the water. So we prefer to be on the water and that's our margin of safety."

### Context

The canonical articulation of Roberts's site-selection logic. Pairs directly with the concept note [[concept-margin-of-safety-waterfront]], the executable playbook in [[action-target-waterfront]], and the underlying cost analysis in [[concept-hard-vs-soft-costs]].

Note the explicit borrowing of language from **value investing** — "margin of safety" is a Benjamin Graham / Warren Buffett term repurposed for development site selection.