Randy Benderson Explains How Real Estate Development Goes Beyond Design

If you want to be involved in real estate development, be that residential or commercial, you must have an in-depth understanding of market trends. Good developers like Randy Benderson understand what customers expect and need, and they find properties and opportunities that meet those. They continuously monitor the news and are the first to pick up on a big scoop that involves real estate, seeing it as an opportunity to strike a good deal and embark on a new project. Real estate developers generally don’t work on their own, but rather as part of an organization that represents different investors. Hence, understanding individual investors’ expectations is also of key importance.

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Randy Benderson Shows that Real Estate Is so Much More than Design

A lot of people think that, when they invest in a real estate development project, the real issue of importance is that of the architectural design. In reality, however, a lot more issues matter. Take, for instance, a retail project in Phoenix. Such a project starts by looking at market conditions:

• Is there a demand for more retail properties and, if so, where?
• What types of stores are current looking for locations? There is a big difference between a mom and pop store and a huge Wal-Mart, for instance.
• Are there current zoning restrictions in place on existing plots of land?

These are just some of the questions that they must answer, and that is before the architects are even brought in to work on the design! Then, there is the fact that the answers to these questions vary tremendously, with huge differences being noticed even between relatively close geographical areas, such as Tampa Bay and Sarasota.

One trend that seems to be particularly popular as of late is that of condominiums and high rise residential buildings. There seems to be a trend in which people are tired of being suburban, instead wanting to move back into the city itself. They want to cut down on their commuting time, and they want to live in the heart of where everything happens. But the big question then becomes whether these types of properties can be developed before there is yet another change in expectations. Those types of future predictions are also key elements of the job of a real estate developer.

Clearly, there is a lot more involved in real estate development than picking a plot of land and putting a building on it. Real estate developers have made and shaped this country, but they have done so by looking at what it is that people actually want to see developed. They do not simply put a new retail park on a plot of land and hope for the best. That would be impossible considering the millions, if not billions, of dollars involved in these projects. Rather, real estate developers are almost like fortunetellers, understanding what is likely to happen by the time their development project can be completed. Design, as such, is of secondary importance at best.

Author: Anwar Hossain