Be a Successful Residential Land Developer [Paperback]

R. Dodge Woodson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Complete Construction | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Cash in on profitable land development opportunities Anyone can take advantage of the opportunities in land development with the step-by-step advice in R. Dodge Woodson’s A-Z primer, Be a Successful Residential Land Developer. This shrewd guide tells you how to find prime properties that are true diamonds in the rough, and thoroughly explains the key engineering issues that determine whether or not you’ve got a good deal: surveys, grading, water availability and drainage, utilities, traffic, and more. You learn how to: *Tie up and control land with very little cash and plenty of escape clauses *Tap into both conventional and creative financing sources *Get favorable bids from subcontractors *Deal with zoning and code enforcement issues *Reduce neighborhood resistance and handle boards of appeal *Put together a professional team and effectively supervise the project *Develop post-development marketing and sales plans *Much, much more

Editorial Reviews

Review

"More than any other book on the subject, I would recommend this one." -- Barbara Colley, P.E., author of Practical Manual of Land Development

From the Back Cover

Learn how YOU can become a player in the hot market for new housing

You don't need a fortune or years of real estate experience to become a successful residential land developer. This shrewd, up-to-the-minute guide shows you how to find and acquire prime properties that are true diamonds in the rough. You'll learn the factors that determine whether you've got a good deal: engineering surveys, grading, water availability and drainage, utilities, traffic, and more. And once you've chosen your land, you'll discover what you need to do at every stage to make your project succeed. With the step-by-step advice of real estate expert and contractor R. Dodge Woodson's failure-proof primer, anyone can learn to exploit the opportunities in land development. Reflecting today's advantageous financial land development climate, Be a Successful Residential Land Developer shows you how to:

* Tie up and control land with very little cash and plenty of escape clauses
* Tap into conventional and creative financing sources
* Apply powerful Internet tools to leverage information
* Get favorable bids from subcontractors
* Deal with zoning, environmental, and code enforcement issues
* Reduce neighborhood resistance and handle boards of appeal
* Put together a professional team and direct the project
* Develop a marketing and sales plan for your new home(s)
* Much, much more

INSIDE RESIDENTIAL LAND DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS
Why Should I Get into Land Development? * Can I Really Do It? * The Development Team and Selecting the Viable Project * Finding Hidden Treasure * Tying Up Land without a Full Commitment * Having Your Experts Do Preliminary Checks * Going over the Ground from Top to Bottom * Planning on Paper * Storm Water Drainage * Deciphering the Dirt * Water Requirements * Land Lost and Cost for Roads * Flood Zones * Location, Location, Location * Plans and Specifications * Getting Development Bids * Sales Projections * Financing * Zoning * Closing Your Land Deal * Insurance and Subcontractor Needs * Rolling Out the Big Rigs and Site Supervision * Keeping Your Project on Time and on Budget * A Marketing Plan and Sales Team * New Projects --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071341609
• ISBN-13: 978-0071341608
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,162,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

R. Dodge Woodson (Brunswick, ME) has over 20 years' experience as a home builder, contractor, master plumber, and real estate broker. He is the author of many McGraw-Hill books, including Be A Successful Building Contractor 2/e, and National Plumbing Codes Handbook 2/e.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intro to development that could be half as long, August 14, 2003

By 

Charlie Langston (Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Be a Successful Residential Land Developer (Paperback)

A fairly useful overview that describes the issues a developer has to address, but not much about how to address them. For some reason the author tends to repeat himself. He says something and then restates it. He makes the same point twice.

He also tends to be rather vague: "Some aspects of site supervision can be dealt with in many ways. Some ways are more cost-effective than others." The book is full of statements like this.

I have found the book useful to help me identify issues that I need to think about, but if you are looking for answers--this book isn't for you. It should be titled, "What to Expect as a Land Developer."

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing, December 4, 2001

By 

Richard Sherwood (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Be a Successful Residential Land Developer (Paperback)

I am more than half way through the book and am finding it difficult to continue. The author continues to list the steps of the development process, but with each step he fails to explain how to perform each step or give case examples of how it was done in a particular development. Instead he says "you can hire a professional to do this step if you like." If you do not know how to perform a function, and you hire a professional to perform it for you, a) how can you make any money? and b) how can you be sure that your professional is performing the function correctly? So far this book has been a major dissapointment.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed reader, May 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Be a Successful Residential Land Developer (Paperback)

This is the worst 'How To' book I have ever read...The author never makes a definitive statement about anything. Instead he says you could do this or that, hire someone or do it yourself, blah blah blah. He rambles on about the same subjects repetitively to fill up the pages. I feel like I have not learned anything of any use after reading the entire book. What a major disappointment!