Financing community development???

[Lara Shannon]

Young woman here looking to diversify my property portfolio. Here is the background: 

1. Bought the back half of an undeveloped property in Texas that was part of a subdivision that had been built in the 80s. So ~50 acres was bought originally by developers and they developed roughly 20 acres and never did anything with the rest. 

2. There was not a proper survey and so I took a chance and fronted the money for a survey. After fighting the jungle, mosquitoes and snakes with the surveyor guys and sharpened machetes we found I had right at 30 acres of land. There also is a year round creek about 20 to 30 feet wide flowing through it. The way the county reads 20 acres is outside the city limits while 10 acres is inside the city limits and had originally been partitioned as residential lots that developers never developed. There are city mains for water and sewer that run under my property to supply commercial businesses such as Sanderson Farms processing plant and a Walmart distribution center. There are 2 paved access roads to enter the property from and they are the dead ends from the subdivision. I paid roughly $35K total including the survey for the property! Land in the area without a creek is 5 to 8K an acre and $8 to 12k with a small creek....so I think I did good in beating the weeds to buy this place.

CHALLENGES:

1. There needs to be a road built on the property that extends from the subdivision street. Which could be extra costly because the soil is sandy in the area and it would be built on a sloping hillside. 

2. The creek can get wild during flood events, but based on the flood survey there is still plenty of room for several build sites.

3. Since not all the property is in the city the city said i can do 1 of 3 things. #1 I can either incorporate all the property and then just pay for city water and sewer and electrical connections. #2 only develop that which is in the city and leave the rest undeveloped. #3 Have the property become all rural.

4. If property is city incorporated I then have to follow all city permitting and requirements and rules as well as taxes. If If I don't incorporate and it is all rural then I can do whatever but I have to have wells drilled, septic systems etc.... so not sure which way to go.

Here are my questions.

1. What kind of loans are available for building out a small rental community? (Ultimately I would want to build cabins with yards that would be rented out. I don't want to sell lots but retain the property and it's structures. Also, the area is in need of rentals and in short supply)

2. Are there specialty loans for building a more eco friendly community or a retirement community?

3. Would loan officers be more inclined to lend to my husband and I knowing we have a background and experience in home construction? (We don't have the time to build this ourselves and would have to contract it out, but we do have experience in construction and remodeling.)

4. Can we build it out in stages? And thus the loan reflects that?

5. What bank or other means would you use to finance this project?

6. Would you incorporate into the city or not? Why or why not?

7. Would the loan also factor in the cost of the roads and other features?

Sorry for this being so long, but I wanted to paint the full picture of the situation to get better feedback. If I need to clear up anything please let me know.

Thanks,
Lara