Real estate development is a business that is constantly
evolving, and people who want to be involved in the development, finance or
supervision of a project need to have a solid grasp on the process and its many
facets. Successful real estate developers not only manage their own
performance, but must work closely with many other professionals from many
disciplines. All along, the developer has to keep a close watch on the almost
constant risks that threaten the viability of the project.
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| Frank Zaccanelli |
If there is any single principle that sums up what real
estate development is all about, it is that it's about adding value to
property. That's it. It is not so much about the location of a property as it
is about the improvements made to it. The developer acquires it and makes it
more desirable than it was before. It might be, for example, a piece of
farmland that is adjacent to a growing community. Generally speaking,
residential properties sell for between five and ten times the price of
agricultural land. So there is great potential for the agricultural land to
yield tremendous profit, but it must first have value added to it. It does not
necessarily mean construction, however. It may be a matter of having the
property rezoned as residential.
There are no shortcuts to becoming a skilled real estatedeveloper. And that means doing your homework; making yourself knowledgeable
enough about an area through market research. Frank Zaccanelli is a veteran
real estate developer who is currently the CEO and Managing Partner of Fiamma,
a real estate investment and development firm in Dallas that targets
residential and mixed-use properties.
