All Forum Posts by: Corey Williams

Technically if you jump around looking at different houses each listing agent represents both the seller and you, the buyer. The best thing for the agent is that they get the entire commission.

The complicating part is that they have confidentiality requirements to both parties. If you offer $100,000 on a house that is listed for $125,000 but tell the agent you would go as high as $120,000 if you had to, that is to remain between you and the agent. If the seller counters at $122,500 the agent cannot tell the seller that you won't accept or that he thinks the counter should be $120,000 because he knows you will pay that much.

Some deals could be a walk in the park and others could get very heated depending on how trustworthy the agent is.

The way I see it, it doesn't cost you anything to have an agent as a buyer since the seller pays the commission. You might have to work with 1 or 10 until you find an agent willing to work with you on a number of deals, but at least they are looking out for your interests during the negotiation.

Yes, that is exactly what it is.

I am going to list a few very general steps that we go through up front while looking at new land. You may need to ask detailed questions to get the full answers but it could become difficult to walk you through this in a forum like this.

Before we prepare a purchase agreement for the land we do a little investigative work to see if the land is suitable for our needs.
* are there utilities to the site or nearby?
* stormwater is a big issue in some areas. Determine what your detention requirements will be.
* what is the current zoning of the land and is it an allowable use for apartments and/or condos?
* what are the permit fees and submittal costs involved with new development and are there any impact fees?
* generally speaking how much will it cost to build this project?
* sometimes we talk to the local planning department to make sure they will support the project.

After we do some of the general investigation and determine that we can afford to build our project, we then present a purchase agreement to the owner. The purchase agreement includes tasks that the owner is to do as well as tasks that we (the buyers) are allowed to do before we close. And of course, it spells out the price we will pay for the land.

Much like buying a home, there are contingencies that must be acceptable to the buyer before you close. The purchase agreement should layout a time frame to complete some of these "due diligence" items.

You will need a boundary survey and title commitment to verify there are no liens or encumberances on the property.

You will want to hire a geotechnical engineer to verify the soil is suitable for building an apartment building.

You will need an environmental engineer to make sure there are no contaminants (asbestos, mercury, lead, etc.) on the site, as well as wetlands and/or endagered speices.

If you need to rezone the property we may want to consult an attorney and/or civil engineer to help with that.

Depending on how many units you intend to build the city may require a traffic study be completed to determine the impacts to the streets and intersections.

This is typically how we start a new site and it is a very general list of items. These are typical of most sites and there could be more, but we can start here, because I don't know alot about the area you are looking in.

I have not dealt with any high rise, mixed use developments but I could guess that a potential buyer would be someone or better yet some investment firm that maintains a mixed use portfolio.

Right now I am working for a company that develops apartment complexes with approximately 220 to 275 units per project. Many downtown markets are looking good for the type of product you are looking to do and within the next year or so we will be trying our hand at this type of project as well. But for now we are not comfortable bringing in others to help out with retail, and office use. We are still doing our homework so to say.

Each use is different in how they lease and/or sell and there is a lot that goes into a deal like this.

The quick answer to your question is that a developer will sell to anyone who is willing and able to buy.

The extended answer depends on what type of project you are developing. If it is small 3 or 4 unit apartment buildings then local investors may likely be your target market. If you are thinking of 200 unit apartment complexes then your target market would expand to a regional or national apartment management / developer.

Your best bet might be to look around at the different types of projects that you are thinking about developing that are for sale and contact the listing agent. Usually they have a big sign with their name plastered all over it. One question to ask is who are they marketing to. If you tell them that you plan to develop and sell in the future they should jump at the chance to help especially if you keep them thinking you will list with them when you are ready to sell.

Since this is residential and it appears that it has already been subdivided, (based on the cul-de-sac and utilities being in) I would check with the county building department or the planning department first to make sure all of the development permits were obtained.

A bank may want to see a lot survey or a copy of the recored plat showing the property lines and any easements if they exist.

Judging by your question of "if it is buildable" makes me think the developer just laid and road down and didn't do much grading to get the building sites ready. If it is a low lying area that has water puddling up then you may need to check for wetlands. If it is next to a ditch or small stream then it may have floodplain over it.

That may not be the answer you were looking for because "Is it buildable" means different things to different people and to me I look at everything including; easements, soil conditions, wetlands, utilities, storm water drainage, etc. but then again we are developing apartment complexes and not building a single family residence. If you have something specific that concerns you please let me know.

Thanks Dusty!

I think October is going to be a big month for me as far as marketing myself goes and I am very excited about getting into real estate sales at this time. I realize that sounds crazy given the current situation, but I tend to look at the upside to everything and right now those with cash can buy cheap and when the credit crisis turns around those that have been waiting will start to buy again.

Thanks to you and also thanks to BiggerPockets for being a great website.

The US is pretty vague in your request. There are national franchise companies like ReMax and Century 21 and they have many, many offices. If it is truly an agent that you are looking for, I would ask that you be more specific in your desired area of the US. At the very least a state then we could narrow your search down to a city or region within that state.

A week and a half ago I passed my real estate sales test. Next week I will be associated with a broker...

...So bring on the sellers that want to sell and the investers that want to buy.

I work for a multi-family developer and we always hold our properties. We have been developing since the late 70's and in that time have only sold one property.