Townhouse Development

[Mel Locke]

I originally joined BP to learn how to make my property more attractive to potential buyers/developers and in a Pygmalion like twist, I am now contemplating developing it myself. 

The city has turned surprisingly builder friendly, the land is paid for, I will have a large cash reserve to pay for some of the upfront soft costs.  This should make the land more attractive to lenders when it comes time to borrow the big bucks.  In theory it shouldn't be too difficult to build, the land is flat, new housing development next door, utilities are at the road (yup, I know it's expensive to drag it out). Big demand for rentals.

Negatives, I am a newbie, it's in western WA, so it won't be cheap or easy (even with the city's change), all the issues that come with new construction, which is exasperated by the size of the project. 

Would like any thoughts or ideas, all criticism is happily welcomed. 

Some questions, I am getting a bid done for some site work and I have talked to a architect/GC.  I will continue to talk to all manners of people in the business, but is there anyone I should be really seeking out, other then other builders to get their prospective? I have talked to some very friendly and helpful city workers. 

Sorry for the long post, but if it matters: zoned mixed use/townhouse, when it was zoned sfr could get 60+ lots. The land is located in one of the fastest growing cities for the state. 

[Devon Garbus]

Find a local medium sized construction company, someone who will JV it with you.

You do NOT need an 'architect' at this point. So many off market pieces of land we pick up a seller paid tens of thousands for an architect to write up unbuildable/sellable plans. 

You need an experienced builder who isn't too big to want to write you out of the deal by just buying the low. If you were in Tampa I could help you out more specifically.

Your best bet would be to decide whether the land is worth more as SFH or TH. Get the zoning and platting done and then resell the land at that point. Offer owner financing or JV with the listing. If you really want to get more out of it you can run all utilities/etc and develop the land up to construction, that will add a lot of headache (especially if you haven't done it before) but will get you a very good RoI.