Who can Help me with Basics on starting a Development ?

Question

I am looking into starting a development I have zero experience and would like to connect with someone to bounce Ideas off of. I Have no desire to build homes but would love to create a place where people would love to live. I am in the process of getting the first one rolling and would love someone with experience to connect with.

Jamie Hora · Answer

I would say in general there are 3 main aspects for new development, each with lots of detail. You have the land acquisition/entitlements, project financing, and the physical development part.

For the actual developing aspect, I second what @Jay Hinrichs said, where you should begin with a planner and civil engineer.  When evaluating a piece of land, you should always begin by researching planning codes of the jurisdiction to see the size/magnitude of what you can build and if the land fits your goals.  I would also recommend having then a civil engineer further evaluate the site for water, wastewater, roads (if needed), drainage requirements, geotechnical conditions, etc. This stage will help estimate the development costs and let you know if the project has viability for you to pursue further.

Barry Ruby · Answer

@Darvin Ezell Darwin, asking for the cost to build a single family home or anything is like asking how high is up.

The answer is “it depends” on: the cost of the land, entitlements, site cost and hard cost (vertical construction).

Hard cost can run to literally anything based on the quality and level of finish and include gold fixtures and imported antiques.

That said, the average home in the US is about 2,000 to 2,200 sq ft and sells for about $120 psf and sits on a ~5,000 sq ft lot that probably cost $40 to $50k.

I can send you an Excel worksheet that runs a residual analysis to determine hard cost and finished lot cost. Let me know if you’d like to have it and how to best send it to you

Barry Ruby · Answer

@Chase Brewer Chase feel free to contact me anytime with anything you need help with. Real estate development has a very broad profile but in the end it is digestible if eaten one bite at a time.

Robert Carpenter · Answer

Sounds intriguing and I'm   curious as to

The possible size of the development

The ballpark price point of the homes

Whereabouts the development will be developed

Cheers,

Robert

Who can Help me with Basics on starting a Development ?

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