New Dental Office

[Trevor Ellis]

I am getting into real estate investment and would like to get into development. A good friend of mine approached me and told me his story:

He is an established Pediatric Dentist with two locations, he was recently sought out by another orthodontist who was looking to open up a new office. He wanted to partner with my Pediatric Dentist friend to draw from his already established clientele and name. He has already purchased two adjacent home lots in an area that he would like to level the homes and build the new office building. I have already checked and the lots are zoned correctly.

My friend came to me to discuss this opportunity. He wanted to know what I thought about him opening up a third office with this orthodontist. I told him that he should do some market research and look more into the demographics of the new location to see if it was a good fit. This is my first research project but I would like to present something fairly in depth for him. I told him I wanted to take on the project myself if for nothing else, the experience and education of actually doing it.

My question is, what would you research? What types of demographic details to you include for a project like this? What resources do you know of to create a demographic snapshot and analysis? I have two mentors that I am also going to be working with to help me complete this. But I thought I would ask how you would go about and what things you would research to see if partnering in this location would be a viable and good option for my friend.

[Karen Margrave]

Trevor Ellis We've developed a lot of real estate over the years, and never have we ventured into the area of doing market research for any of the potential tenants, or buyers of a property. The liability involved would expose you to unnecessary risk, if your numbers show the business to be viable, and it goes belly up. You have no control over how a person runs their business, and you may be asking for trouble going down that road. I'd stick to the real estate and leave the business aspects to a professional consultant specializing in dental clinics, etc. Just my opinion. Good luck.