Talk:Real-estate developer

Self-appointed watchdog

As I'm the one who re-wrote the Real Estate Developer entry into its present form and have been refining it ever since, I just wanted to introduce myself and let everyone know that I'm policing the entry to prevent it being used for gratuitous self-promotion or misinformation. For instance, the external links section is being limited to entries for professional real estate development organizations, informational archives, and similar entities, and links to specific developers or their companies will be deleted if they appear there (but not in the 'Notable Developers' section - so long as the link does go to a notable developer). I will also automatically delete anti-development screeds if they appear (none have yet, but I think that's probably a matter of time).

~Ertyqway

Rather than try to insert a remark into the actual entry, I merely will suggest here in the discussion section that there are other opinions about the current use of the word "developer" than those of graduates of MBA programs throughout the United States. My own view is that Real-estate developers currently and generally ignore the destructive half of their activity in order to better promote the constructive half. This need not always be the case.

-donkeyoti —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.168.225.25 (talk) 05:10, August 25, 2007 (UTC)

That was not the intent, and it will be corrected right away. Humblest appologies. There are a few notables mixed within the (admittedly long) list. If the entry is re-opend to editing, it will be corrected. ~David

Not sure Paul Allen actually qualifies as a "notable developer". He is simply a high-profile individual that has undertaken some real estate ventures of no greater importance or scale than many others not listed. 207.6.233.239 22:17, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Allen's development group, Vulcan, is undertaking the re-development of a large part of the city of Seattle and counts among the better-capitalized development companies in the USA. He was also instrumental in getting both the Experience Music Project and Seahawk Stadium built. That plus his level of fame make him a "notable developer" in my opinion. Whether or not his work has been any good is another question entirely. ~Ertyqway (01/03/2007)

Self-Promotional Links Banned: Not Kidding

There have been several recent cases of people creating self-promotional links in the "Notable Developers" section of the article. I have continued to delete these when I catch them. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT AN ADVERTISING SITE. As a rule of thumb, if a developer hasn't got some sort of national or international attention for something they've done, they're not notable enough to be listed. I can easily check this on Google, so there's not much room for argument (hint: if Google only gives me local news links, online resumes, and corporate marketing blurbs for a listed individual, they don't qualify as notable). If the individual in question already has a Wikipedia article about them (a real one, not a vanity page), then that counts in favor of listing as "notable."

~Ertyqway (09/01/2006)

Discussion on main page

I tried to remove the discussion on the main page. But I can not understand why it has been reverted back. Discussions must be written in the 'Discussion' page only.Kothari.sagar 12:23, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Introduction

I don't agree with the opening intro on this article "...makes improvements of some kind to real property". That is more of a home improvement or property maintenance definition. I think it should start more like "...is a builder of residential and commercial real estate". Don't want to change this without discussion - so here it is, please discuss. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.47.49.83 (talk) 07:15, 22 December 2006 (UTC).

An "improvement" is a commonly accepted real estate and legal term. An improvement may be as subtle as a change in property boundaries as registered with the municipal authorities on title- only on paper and little else. Not all developers actually build. The opening intro is fine. 66.183.217.31 23:43, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree that real estate development includes all kinds of improvement to real property, not just new construction. In support of this position, I refer readers to the November/December 2006 issue of the Urban Land Institute's "Multifamily Trends" magazine, in which a substantial portion of the publication is devoted to the repositioning and "value add" activity of multi-family developers (taking existing buildings and improving them). ~Ertyqway (01/03/2007)

"Building Development" and "Cash Flow"

I have never before heard "building" or "project" development used in the industry to describe different types of developers or developments. It is accurate that development either entails the construction of new buildings/projects on raw land or the redevelopment of obsolete buildings, however, those activities do not create distinctions among companies. Developers are typically self-categorized as residential, commercial, or industrial, though within the last 10 years those lines have been blurred to do the flourishing of "mixed-use" projects such as Atlantic Station in Atlanta. Examples of the different types of development companies include DR Horton and Post Properties of residential, Simon Property Group and General Growth Properties of shopping centers, Duke Realty of Industrial, and Trammel Crowe of office. These can be further subdivided like homebuilding (DR Horton) versus apartment/condo development (Post Properties). Development is also not primarily a cash flow business. In fact, developers are notoriously cash poor, as the capital requirements of any development are usually significant and sometimes at the capacity limit of and developer. Like home buyers, we often push our limits. The cash flow part of the real estate business comes in the ownership and management of a rent-producing development such as an office tower or shopping center. But, ownership and development are quite distinct. So distinct, in fact, that there it is common to find developers that refer to themselves as "merchant builders", which means they sell immediately after they finish construction/leasing instead of getting permanent financing for ownership. ~phillimj

Improvemnts

I don't quite know where to put it. this was the closest I could find. There's no page explaining Improvements in Real Estate terms that I could find. There's a page on home improvement, that mostly deals with DIY and is homeowner cetered (which is o.k. given the title) and there's a bit mentioned in Property tax and in Property law, but what I'm missing is a page that would deal with things like: If a company installs a new loading bay in a propery they rent would this be considered a fixture? What improvements require permits? What improvements have to be removed when a tennant moves out? What improvements are desirable for commercial investors because of e.g. tax benifits? If an improvement generates extra income/ value who's entitled to benefit from it (owner/tennant)? etc. etc. I think having the commercial angle on one page might be a good idea. (Anyone who'd like to start??) If there already is one under a different title, please put a couple of links in from the Real Estate and Property pages. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.171.253.215 (talk) 00:09, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

real estate license

Hello, Four years ago i went to a Pa. real estate academy to further my education for an up-coming business of mine. I passed the school exams and the State and National exams. I never took my license out of escrow, my question is, is my license still valid? I know that we are to further our selves every three years by attending 14 hours of schooling. Thank you, Sean71.181.178.138 (talk) 15:09, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Missing Section

What happened to the section on "Where developers come from"? I think, because there is no "normal" entrance into this business, that section is critical to this article. It was well-written and concise and, if there is a general consensus, it should be re-entered. Dionix (talk) 16:42, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Done.Dionix (talk) 16:49, 10 July 2008 (UTC)