Considering developing a subdivision

[savman]

First, let me explain a little about my situation. I am 27 years old, single, college educated and I am a partner in a construction company. (I specialize in concrete curb and gutter, but I have a background in all facets of general site construction) I live an hour south of Atlanta GA in a town population ~26,000, county pop ~60,000.

Two things are occurring that should lead to tremendous growth in the area. First, continued sprawl from metro Atlanta. Nothing new here, cheap land, availability of infastructure, interstate access, yada yada. Essentially, we are on the periphery of what I would consider a reasonable commute, so I view this as a significant but not exceptional source of growth. Secondly, Hyundai is building a North American manufacturing facility in my county. It will employ ~2900 people when it begins production in 2009. The median salary will be ~50,000 annually. Also, an additional ~2600 jobs will be generated when the mainline suppliers begin operations in support of the plant. We are talking about ~5500 jobs directly created by the building of this plant in a county that employs ~11,000.
KIA facility

Simply put: I am in the business of building roads, I forsee a need for more housing in the area, and I have access to capitol. I have intended this post as an introduction. Ideally, we can disucss in more detail ideas and eventually I can post about the progress of my development. All comments and questions are welcome.

[savman]

Here is a link to an article which forecasts the need for 13000 more housing units in my county over the next five years.
http://www.sb-d.com/issues/fall2006/...idor/index.asp

[AMerv]

Is there a certain phase of the development your looking to control or do you want to expand your horizons with overall development?

[ddollevoet]

A similar question to AMerv - how far along do you want to take the process? Buy land, prep land, build houses, sell houses.... Do you want to do it all or would you buy the land and sell it to a builder?

[savman]

First, let me apologize for the delay in my response. I am not exactly near a computer most of the day and sometimes I just run out of time at night.

As for the question, I want to sell the lots in packages to builders. For one I have a full time day job with my own business and building houses is time intensive. Secondly, I would have to access a lot more capital and to be honest it would stretch me to thin for comfort. Lastly, there really just isnt that much money in spec homes. There is a lot of risk involved and individuals are forced to compete against production builders who are building 100+ homes a year. I am not saying money cant be made in spec housing, Obviously there is some or I wouldnt be able to sell to local builders; but from a risk/reward and oppurtunity cost standpoint, I dont think it is a great play.