If you want to dig into the realities of land development, you’ve come to the right place.
Managing real estate investors is a tough job when project objectives, cost, and time-to-completion are not handled the right way. Even when they are handled correctly, it can still be tough because managing your investors has a lot to do with managing their expectations, along with their invested assets.
I wasn’t raised a country boy but when it comes to land development that’s where my heart is. The bulk of my land development career has been creating 5+ acre residential lots in the rural transition zone (RTZ).
It is challenging and rewarding to negotiate and contract for the very best terms possible in a real estate deal. You can make deals and binding contracts for almost anything - as long as it is legal!
There are thousands of steps involved in bringing a land development project to completion. Land development is like traveling an unfamiliar hiking trail; you never know what might be around the next corner. At the same time, if properly prepared and equipped for the journey it can be safely and successfully completed. I have 5 steps that I use as waypoints to navigate through a land development project. In no way are they the only ones, but they do seem to be universal and therefore worth taking a closer look at.
One profession I have a deep respect for is civil engineering. Whether you are an old salt in land development or a Newbie on your first project, it’s critically important to select the correct engineering firm. One challenge in doing this is the technical knowledge gap between a licensed engineer and we, as land developers.
The definition of affordable is relative to each person’s economic condition. As I’ve said before, when it comes to real estate we buy and sell at the economic level we are at. A $40,000 purchase deal on a vacant lot is peanuts to one person and a life decision to another. In the end, each real estate deal is typically a high-tension event no matter the price tag.
As land developers we are conditioned to think horizontally, in other words, to be flat earth thinkers. We consider the land as a horizontal surface and start thinking about our layout for the project. But how often do we think of the air above our land holdings as a development opportunity? There are ways that the average developer can use to make the airspace above the surface of a project profitable!
There is little in land development that gets my full attention more than construction costs, simply because they are always huge! Smart land developers take early and sustained action to manage them. The real success in managing land development construction costs starts at pre-acquisition and is an active process throughout the life of the project.
Good land development project managers in either the corporate or private sectors are tough to find. If a person can find a way to learn the ropes and succeed you can become a valued commodity, not only in the business, but to yourself and your career.
As we slide out of a very questionable past year and into 2021, I want to thank all of my loyal readers for your support and insight. A new year should call for a new set of goals and challenges. In setting them a review of the past year’s results should be taken. Here are the Top 10 most read posts in 2020 for Land Development Realities and I appreciate your continued support!
In land development the archaeologist uses data base technology, field work and accepted investigative methods to uncover, study and report on materials of cultural significance. An archeologist’s material investigation can span history going back thousands of years, up to more recent times. So, why would an Archaeologist be needed in land development in the first place?
Successfully completing a problem-free real property transaction is a great feeling. Getting caught up in a fully executed contract problem isn’t.
The companies I have formed around land development projects have been audited five times by the Internal Revenue Service. I have been personally audited by the IRS once. That’s six and counting for the Feds.
One of the most difficult challenges a land owner can face is environmental problems, particularly - pollution and hazardous waste. In the case of pollutants, due diligence can be especially difficult since our 5 human senses cannot detect many of them.
My experience in dealing with opposition to land development projects has been different than I would have guessed. In the Pacific Northwest I found opposition to my projects to be much more aggressive, structured and effective. In Florida, I don’t remember a single group that ever participated in a meaningful opposition effort. There are some reasons why, which I’ll address.
I’ve made a lot of mistakes land development and I wouldn’t be candid or balanced without mentioning a few of them. Doing so might also help others to avoid similar pain. After all, high-risk undertakings tend to have penalties that are commensurate with big rewards. Prevention is the best cure and all of these mistakes were avoidable, if only I had been smarter and more experienced at the time.
A look at land use - the modification and management of the land for a purpose that is sustainable and balances human and environmental needs.
Nothing takes the fun out of a finished project faster than serious CC&R violations and the resulting enforcement. Here are suggested tips to avoid this misery and to deal with it if it comes.
Entrepreneurs in business are those that undertake a high amount of risk for a greater potential reward. If we used that as the only criteria, it would be fairly easy to conclude that entrepreneurs would be ideal land development speculators. Not necessarily so…
It is estimated that planet earth is just over 4.5 billion years old and it has been naturally collecting, absorbing, distributing, and draining water for that long.
