Be a Successful Residential Land Developer

asked by alexis on November 29, 2006 8:28 AM

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

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Reviews

Elementary discussion of land development. Lacks detail and interest.
the accompanying "checklists and forms" are not in a format that can be manipulated. Nothing is in Word as the description suggests, all in PDF format. Not useful at all.

reviewed by ozone on November 29, 2006 7:14 PM

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Lets face it......if you know anything at all about developing land, the absolute critical item is actually finding a piece of property that makes sense to wast time pursuing. I bought this book hoping to find some insight into ways of "finding" that elusive "good fit" property that maybe I have not thought of. Nothing new here, just some odball potential sources of finding property that just waste your time

reviewed by porsche on November 29, 2006 7:30 PM

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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."

reviewed by versed on November 29, 2006 7:32 PM

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Woodson doesn't tell the reader how to survey, do his/her own drawings, tell how to design a curb and gutter system. I didn't expect him to! He does walk you through how to get started on the path to be a land developer, including who and/or where to go for the details you will need to get further information, as well as the long list of subjects and details the potential developer needs to consider and explore.

reviewed by ronmiller on November 29, 2006 7:32 PM

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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!

reviewed by 90210 on November 29, 2006 7:33 PM

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add a new book!