Be a Successful Residential Land Developer

By R. Dodge Woodson

Book Overview

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. Learn how YOU can become a player in the hot market for new housing You don't need a fortune or years of real estate experience to become a successful residential land developer. This shrewd, up-to-the-minute guide shows you how to find and acquire prime properties that are true diamonds in the rough. You'll learn the factors that determine whether you've got a good deal: engineering surveys, grading, water availability and drainage, utilities, traffic, and more. And once you've chosen your land, you'll discover what you need to do at every stage to make your project succeed.With the step-by-step advice of real estate expert and contractor R. Dodge Woodson's failure-proof primer, anyone can learn to exploit the opportunities in land development.Reflecting today's advantageous financial land development climate, Be a Successful Residential Land Developer shows you how to: * Tie up and control land with very little cash and plenty of escape clauses * Tap into conventional and creative financing sources * Apply powerful Internet tools to leverage information * Get favorable bids from subcontractors * Deal with zoning, environmental, and code enforcement issues * Reduce neighborhood resistance and handle boards of appeal * Put together a professional team and direct the project * Develop a marketing and sales plan for your new home(s) * Much, much more INSIDE RESIDENTIAL LAND DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS Why Should I Get into Land Development? * Can I Really Do It? * The Development Team and Selecting the Viable Project * Finding Hidden Treasure * Tying Up Land without a Full Commitment * Having Your Experts Do Preliminary Checks * Going over the Ground from Top to Bottom * Planning on Paper * Storm Water Drainage * Deciphering the Dirt * Water Requirements * Land Lost and Cost for Roads * Flood Zones * Location, Location, Location * Plans and Specifications * Getting Development Bids * Sales Projections * Financing * Zoning * Closing Your Land Deal * Insurance and Subcontractor Needs * Rolling Out the Big Rigs and Site Supervision * Keeping Your Project on Time and on Budget * A Marketing Plan and Sales Team * New Projects

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071441719
• ISBN13: 9780071441711
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Length: 359 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Start

I found this book to contain a great wealth of information. I did not expect to find the meticulous details of every facet of land development, rather a good overview, and this book provides that. Anyone seriously interested in land development will need to do a great deal of additional study in technical publications and local state, county and city codes. This topic is so broad that I doubt any single book could cover all the issues involved. If you're looking for a primer and are prepared to dig deeper, this book is for you. If you're looking for a single comprehensive book on every detail of land development please let me know when you find it!

great start

Woodson doesn't tell the reader how to survey, do his/her own drawings, tell how to design a curb and gutter system. I didn't expect him to! He does walk you through how to get started on the path to be a land developer, including who and/or where to go for the details you will need to get further information, as well as the long list of subjects and details the potential developer needs to consider and explore.

good starting point

Overall this is a good book to get started in land development buy I wish there were more actual examples taking you through all different problems and situations that could arise.

Good Book for Beginners

For those of you interested in getting started on residential real estate development, this book is a wonderful start and a delight to read. The author writes in a down-to-earth, straightforward manner. Great insight into various aspects of analyzing and selecting land and how to approach the development process.

land developer

This book explains a lot about a very difficult subject. I would have liked some info about easements. I would recommend this book to those interested in this field