Product Description

Veteran construction contractor, and building trades authority, R. Dodge Woodson shows how to profitably transform raw land into housing. This practical guide covers every phase of the land development process as well as essential business practice fundamentals.

NEW TO THIS EDITION: finding and selling property via the Internet, more information on finance and insurance issues, the latest in land ordinances and runoff issues and EPA requirements

Contents: 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 Costs for Roads * Flood Zones * Location, Location, Location * Plans and Specifications * Getting Developer Bids • Sales Projections * Financing * Zoning • Closing Your Land Deal * Insurance and Subcontractor Needs * Rolling Out the Big Rigs and Site Supervision * Keeping Your Projects on Time and on Budget * A Marketing Plan and Sales Team * New Projects

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #473473 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 359 pages

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

About the Author
R. Dodge Woodson (Brunswick, Maine) holds the real estate license of Designated Broker. This is the highest classification of professional real licensure available. Woodson is the president and owner of Expert Realty Services, Inc., in Brunswick Maine. He bought his first piece of speculative land in 1974 and has been a progressive land developer in Virginia and Maine for the last 29 years. He has succeeded with both individual plots and large parcels that he subdivided. With nearly 30 years of experience as a residential land developer, Mr. Woodson has developed a process that makes failure virtually impossible.

Customer Reviews

Intro to development that could be half as long
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."

Dissapointing
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.

Disappointed reader
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!