Where to start? I want to build an Eco-Village of 300 lots

[Philippe Brouillard]

I want to build a self-sustainable Eco-Village with 300 lots with little businesses around like grocery, restaurant, farm, cattle, etc. I already have my architects that are from the region, but need to do the planning to then search for investors, so I can then advance in the Masterplan to sell the houses. It will be a unique project that would technically in Mexico in the jungle. 

I have knowledge in business, but not in the real estate development. Any books, online courses  to make this happen?

[Mike Lambert]

Hi Philippe,

I'm not sure there's any specific book or online courses to make this happen.

Also, I'm not sure why you'd want to do something like this but, in any case, you'll need buyers and investors. Your project must be appealing to them but I assume you already did your homework on this. It's great you already have an architect, as you'll need a good one indeed. Mind you, architects might do what you ask them to if you pay them, regardless of the merits of your project. Assuming that there is a proven path for buyers and investors to make money with that concept, I'd reverse engineer how to get there and find which intermediate steps you have to take.

Knowledge is one thing but what you'd need is (practical) experience. Do you have any in real estate? In Mexico? Doing business in Mexico is a total other ballgame than in the US. Do you know the laws, rules, regulations? Do you understand the business culture and do you know how to deal with employees and all the partners you'll need for this? I don't know that there's any books on that but maybe there is. It took me more than 20 years of experience doing business in Mexico and multiple years investing in real estate there before I jumped into development there. Of course, you can always do it quicker but I'm not sure how many investors you'll find to experiment and learn while putting their money at risk. Do you have access to love money? It'd be ideal for this.

What you want to do is very difficult and most people probably wouldn't be able to do it but it doesn't mean you can't. You've started on the right foot by asking for help.

Feel free to reach out by DM if you think I can help you. I would start by making sure I have a solid plan with a proven path to success, I found haven't done so yet. To come back to your question, I'm sure there are books and resources on property development. While they might not be specifically on Mexico, any resources for the US could still be helpful to you since you don't have experience in the topic. Have you already done a Google search for that?

Bone chance!