I agree with Anne’s comment about the lender and architect’s insurance. Unless there is a huge difference between Boston and Florida (other than the warm winters), those should be major issues for your project.
On all of our projects with construction financing, the bank has someone look over the proposed contract documents and send us comments. I would imagine that not having a specification would be a loan killer for anything bigger than a two family house.
Our insurance has two stops that would kill a non spec project. Our rate is dependent on our use of a master specification. Our insurer also has us send a copy of each proposed Owner Architect Agreement with riders to them for review. No specs would raise red flags.
In addition: from the contractor’s perspective, they should want specifications too. Most GCs use them as part of their negotiations with subs to insure that they are buying what the contract requires. Having clear concise and complete information up front allows them to buy out and build faster…lowering their admin costs.