No offense but I don't see how you can blame him or even come to the conclusion you have in starting this thread.
Your one and only problem isn't with your family member or friend... it is the fact that you decided to build a house in an "undeveloped" housing area that didn't even have the basic setups for a house to even be completed, let alone completed to livable conditions.
If anything, if you are really going to bail on this guy and leave him in the lurch, it is YOU that is the reason why you shouldn't do business with family or friends. He has done nothing wrong and walking out on your end of the deal is a pretty shitty thing to do.
Some life lessons are harder than others, but you don't learn anything running from them. I hope it works out for you and especially your friend who probably did it for all the right reasons.
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"The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives." H.S.T. 09/12/01