First, how will you finance construction if it’s under the table? You gotta get the money from somewhere, and nobody here is well off enough to be able to just toss out $10k for an essential fix - If people here had that kind of liquidity, we wouldn’t have so many conversations like this. Poasters would be familiar with the ins and outs of running these kinds of things.
Okay, say you manage to scrape together a couple thousand for some cool under the table work - surprise! it sucks ass. Every time I’ve cheaped out on something and gone with the “I know a guy who has extra asphalt/wood/cement” it has lasted about 15 years before needing complete replacement. If you nig up a project, it’ll jew you in return. If we’d just sucked it up and done it the right way, we wouldn’t be looking at about $40k in repairs before we sell this place. Now add in the “ah I didn’t tell the county anything lol” and see how fun it is to demand $40% more than your home is assessed at when they start building a new subdivision down the road.