All Forum Posts by: Ryan G.

I will answer your question in a moment.

What helped me?  Before I started out a decade ago, I tended toward books and information.  While it was helpful, it was nowhere near as helpful as being exposed to people actually doing what I wanted to be doing.  I am nearly positive no course could have ever taken me as far as partners and mentors.

I highly recommend networking and partnering.  Find someone who is doing what you want to do at a higher level than you and make them a part of your life.  This is not an obvious thing for a beginner to figure out, but it is worth starting sooner than later as it takes time.  

Go to local real estate presentations / events / awards (maybe you have a local annual NAIOP awards or a BISNOW breakfast).  Breakfast events are common in my area.  Try searching for events by BISNOW, NAIOP, ULI, etc.  They exist.  Usually a ticket price around $100 for those ones.

Hand out business cards, shake hands, kiss babies.  SELL YOURSELF without being dishonest.  If you have no real estate experience to sell, sell your ambition and prior successes in other fields.  

Practice your personal elevator pitch in the mirror out loud until you feel comfortable saying it.  You might feel silly at first but it makes it much easier to get through when you are talking to a real human being.  Your voice and posture will be calmer and you will think more clearly.  People are less likely to dismiss you this way.

Regarding programs, a half-answer.  I am always suspicious of these education programs.  They give me that 'get rich quick' feel.  

If their program is effective, why are they selling the program instead of working it?  I would want that question answered before purchasing anything.  It is a question of opportunity cost.  It takes time and effort to create and sell these programs.  This is time and effort they could be putting toward the program they are selling.  That suggests that they are either not giving up a lot suggesting their program is not as effective as they might suggest or that it is far more lucrative and/or stable to sell the program.  

The two most likely scenarios:

1) They are driven by non-monetary factors (e.g., mission-driven: want to make the world a better place OR lifestyle: prefer the work of selling a program to the work of executing it) and they are willing to stomach any difference in income, OR 

2) They are making more money selling the program to you than they are working it for themselves.  This does not necessarily invalidate their program, but it is a funny look.

Just my $0.02.  Good luck.

Thank you for the advice, Stuart.  I regret driving past so many of these developments over the years and not having paid closer attention.  I am super comfortable on the engineering side but a good civil is great advice.

I received a response from one of my design/build GCs yesterday.  They recommended we not use them and hold the contracts ourselves as it should involve far fewer contractors than, say, multifamily.  They will be forwarding over a list of contractors they use.

Does anyone know what a typical contractor load-out would look like on a land development deal that will convert raw forested land into a "Ryan Homes" type subdivision?  Broad categories of work that needs to be done:

1. Earthwork/grubbing

2. Utilities.  Electric, gas, water, sewer, data/telco, and storm.

3. Roads.

I am particularly curious about the utility work.  My experience with ground-up commercial real estate either had the utility company, the GC, or the associated contractor doing the work which was often less extensive (with the exception of stormwater).

Who runs electric?  Which contractor does the sewer lines? Plumber? Do they do gas, water, and sewer too? Etc.

Obviously, I need to reach out to some contractors which I am in the process of doing.  Any advice is appreciated.

My firm is looking to branch into land development. We have experience and have had success in the commercial world. From opportunity identification through to disposition. 

The GCs we use on our commercial projects have no interest in the land development (raw land -> lots salable to homebuilder) projects we are looking into. We are talking about residential subdivisions requiring earthwork, utilities, roads, SWM, etc.  Any advice on how to quickly track down a qualified GC in my area with both experience and appetite?