Real-estate developer
A real estate developer (American English) or property developer (British English) makes
improvements of some kind to real property, thereby increasing its value. In legal form the developer
may be an individual, but is more often a partnership, limited liability company or corporation.
However anyone involved as a principal in such transactions is a property developer by occupation.
There are two major categories of real estate development activity: land development
and building development (also known as project development).
Land developers
Land developers typically acquire natural or "unimproved" land (often referred to as englobo land, raw
land, real property with no improvements or infrastructure) and "improve" or alter it
with utility connections, roads, earth grading, covenants, and entitlements. Infrastructure improvement
provides a base for further development of built improvements. Covenants define the context in which
future development of built improvements may take place (often in the form of deed restrictions on
particular parcels: a sort of "private zoning code" limited only to those properties). Entitlements are
secured legal permissions from regulatory bodies (typically in the form of permits, but sometimes in
the form of re-zoning or planned unit developments). Once these improvements have been made to
the raw land, it is typically subdivided and sold piecemeal at a profit to individuals or building
developers.
Building developers
Building developers acquire raw land, improved land, and/or redevelopable property in order to
construct building projects. The buildings are then sold entirely or in part to others, or retained
as assets to produce cash flow via rents and other means. Some building developers have their own
internal departments for designing and constructing buildings (more common among larger
developers), while others subcontract these parts of the work to third parties (typical of small
developers).
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Contractor:- One that agrees to furnish materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for
construction work.
contractor: one who agrees to purchase materials for and construct buildings at arranged price and time
period
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Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing
activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of
raw landand the sale of improved land or parcels to others. Developers are the coordinators of the
activities, converting ideas on paper into real property.[1]
Real estate development is different from construction, although many developers also construct.
Developer Louis Lesser drew the distinction in a 1963 New York Times article, "Developing is the key
word. 'We don't build ourselves', Mr. Lesser stresses. 'We buy the land, finance the deal, and then we
have the best builders build under bond at a fixed cost.'"[2]
Developers buy land, finance real estate deals, build or have builders build projects, create, imagine,
control and orchestrate the process of development from the beginning to end.[2] Developers usually
take the greatest risk in the creation or renovation of real estate—and receive the greatest rewards.
Typically, developers purchase a tract of land, determine the marketing of the property, develop the
building program and design, obtain the necessary public approval and financing, build the structure,
and lease, manage, and ultimately sell it.[1] Developers work with many different counterparts along
each step of this process, including architects, city planners, engineers, surveyors, inspectors,
contractors, leasing agents and more
Land development
Further information: Land development
Purchasing unused land for a potential development is sometimes
called speculative development.
Subdivision of land is the principal mechanism by which communities
are developed. Technically, subdivision describes the legal and
physical steps a developer must take to convert raw land into
developed land. Subdivision is a vital part of a community's growth,
determining its appearance, the mix of its land uses, and its
infrastructure, including roads, drainage systems, water, sewerage,
and public utilities.
In general, land development is the riskiest but most profitable
technique as it is so dependent on the public sector for approvals and
infrastructure and because it involves a long investment period with
no positive cash flow.
After subdivision is complete, the developer usually markets the land
to a home builder or other end user, for such uses as a warehouse or
shopping center. In any case, use of spatial intelligence tools mitigate
the risk of these developers by modeling the population trends and
demographic make-up of sort of customers a home builder or retailer
would like to have surrounding their new locations.
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