I am not sure about you, but I feel like I can’t go anywhere without hearing about green building.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for innovating the process to conserve the environment.  I just can’t help but wonder how long the “Green Movement” will last and what part will stick around for the long term.

Environmentally friendly is not a new concept.  I can remember when recycling was introduced and when I used recycled notebook paper for the first time.  How about the grandmother who wraps the presents with newspaper, isn’t that “green?”  Granted, many resources that have been widely taken for granted are becoming more expensive and in time may just disappear.  Thus we have a need to come up with new technologies and innovations for things like energy, but isn’t that what we have always done?  We have a problem and find a solution.

I attended a local development event recently and a heavy debate erupted as to whether or not the costs of green building could be recouped in an office building.  On one hand, you have the developer saying it is almost impossible to rent at a higher rate.  The tenants do not understand the costs savings, nor can they see a discount or savings on their bill each month that would equal the amount of increased rent.  On the other side are developers who say they can’t lease their space to large fortune 500 companies or the government without meeting the green building certifications. 

So, is green always more expensive?  Not necessarily says Peter Morris.  Morris states that reasonable levels of sustainable development can be incorporated into most building types at little or no additional cost.  In a report published by Buildings, the average return on the initial investment  for a LEED-certified building is 2.6 years.  The LEED-certified buildings also had annual net savings of more than $170,000.  LEED-certified is the lowest LEED level a building can earn. 

I have always heard the lower the level, the lower the investment cost.  Just in case you are wondering, according to Beth Anderson to obtain LEED-silver, the building would cost an additional 3.5%, gold would be an additional 4.5% and platinum would be an additional 11.5%.  What are the benefits of pursuing a higher level of LEED designation?

A study performed in California yielded results of the following energy savings based on current LEED buildings.

Is it worth pursuing the higher LEED levels?  I believe that is still up for debate but there are many facts that support building a certified or silver LEED building results in costs savings in energy.  With the increase of fuel costs, everyone is looking for ways to save on energy.  Another fact that has fueled the demand for LEED buildings is the occupancy rates.

Occupancy rates, as well as rental and sales rates, are typically higher in a LEED building (or energy efficient) versus a building that is not energy efficient.  In the last two years, there has been a 70% increase in the rent charged per square foot in LEED buildings.  The increase represents a premium of 36% over a non-LEED building (AIA.org). 

Consumer buy-in has become a major factor in the green movement.  LEED buildings also have a 4.1% higher occupancy rate than the non-LEED buildings.  The chart below highlights some of the difference between LEED and non-LEED as well as Energy Star and non-Energy Star.

 Does this mean you should go green?  I think that decision rests very much in how you want to serve the market.  The estimated green construction for this year will only amount to about 2% of the total construction for the year, but by 2010 it is estimated to be as much as 10%.  In dollars, that would be equivalent to $29 to $57 billion (CNN Money).

No matter what side of the fence you are on, I feel that LEED is here to stay.  Over time, the requirements or rules may change, but some form of our current Green Movement will remain.

In the July 2008 issue of Sustainable Land Development Today is an article by Dan Beardslee titled How to Hire a Competent Surveyor. Dan makes a number of outstanding points that parallel our own white paper The Land Developer’s Guide to Working with Surveyors. Dan makes two great observations that those of us in the profession know well:

1. It’s not easy to tell the difference between a good and bad surveyor.
2. Good surveys and bad surveys often look the same.

Why is it so hard to judge the good from the bad? Simple, good quality is not about appearances it’s about the experience, knowledge and behavior of the surveyor you choose.

Dan’s article lays out five key points to consider in hiring a surveyor.

1. Is the Surveyor Licensed by the State?

All 50 states and several US Territories require individuals and companies that provide surveying services to be licensed by the state. State licensure typically requires three components

1. Education
2. Experience
3. Examination

Florida is on the leading edge of the current industry trend of requiring surveyors to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in surveying. However, only about 10 percent of the licensed surveyors in Florida have a degree or any formal surveying education (the other 80 percent have been “grandfathered” or allowed to continue their existing practice). College educated surveyors have a distinct advantage in today’s technology driven survey industry.

Dan’s article focuses on the qualifications of the licensed surveyor. While these are very important, surveyors have largely become managers of the survey team—field and office technicians who actually perform the work. For that reason it is vital that you look at the qualifications of the entire team. The National Society of Professional Surveyors certifies the competence of survey technicians through the “Certified Survey Technician” program. Find a firm that requires their staff to be certified.

2. Is the Surveyor a Member of the State Surveyor’s Association?

As a past-president of the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society, I’m a big believer in professional involvement. During the 12 years I served as a volunteer in the association it was clear that the men and women I served with were among the best in the industry. Look not just for membership, but active involvement as an indicator of professional expertise.

3. Does the Surveyor Appear Competent?

I know I said that it’s not about the appearances. It is impossible to differentiate based on appearance alone, but they can be an indicator of the professional’s own values and business expertise. Use appearance as one factor of many.

4. It’s Important that the Surveyor Operate a Strong Business

I couldn’t agree more. Many surveying firms are “one-man-shows.” While I have no objection to a professional who chooses to practice alone, I worry about the clients who are relying on him. I’ve seen real money lost by clients when sickness or even death prevent the surveyor from completing the work. I detail one such real-life story in my white paper.

5. Are the Services Expensive?

Dan’s final point is to look at the cost of the service. While you certainly want to get the best value for your dollar, Dan (and I) believe that the old rule “you get what you pay for” applies to surveying as it does to every thing else. You don’t need to hire the most expensive firm, but the cheapest one may not be right either. A secondary point here, is to ALWAYS use a written contract. Many surveyors do business on a handshake.

While I think a handshake is a great sign of trust, I also know that communication between people is hard. A contract is a simple way to lay out in plain language what the surveyor will do, what he won’t do, what you’ll do and how much it will cost. Getting written proposals from surveyors also gives you a chance to see exactly what each firm will do for you. It will help you compare real costs.

I’ve got a number of other recommendations in my white paper The Land Developer’s Guide to Working with Surveyors it’s available for free by clicking here.

I’d love to hear your successes and challenges in hiring and working with surveyors. Please leave a comment below.

If you are like most business people, you have probably been sent an invitation to a site called LinkedIn. Then, if you are like the majority of us, we delete the link thinking, “Oh no not another site that I have to sign-up on.” So, you are probably reading this right now, going yep…that is me. Why should I register on the site, normally sites like that just send me junk and fill my inbox with worthless email?

I can tell you from firsthand experience, there are plenty of sites out there that want you to register and then send you spam 50 times a week. LinkedIn is not one of them. LinkedIn is a powerful networking site, creeping up on popular social networks like MySpace and Facebook. The benefit about LinkedIn is that it is entirely business focused. So, are you interested yet?

What Can LinkedIn Do for Me?

I have been asked the above question more times than I can probably count. My answer to everyone is always, “LinkedIn is a great way to find people. We all go through life never really knowing everything about our work colleagues (sometimes even our friends). LinkedIn has allowed me to read someone’s business history in a single screen. The site also helps me understand who they know and network with.”

Some interesting facts you probably did not know about LinkedIn:

• The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is forty-seven.
• The average number for Harvard Business School grads is fifty-eight, so you could skip the MBA, work at Google, and probably get most of the connections you need. Later, you can hire Harvard MBAs to prepare your income taxes.
• People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.
• All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees.(Kawasaki, Guy. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html)

Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn

1. Building your Reputation. LinkedIn is a great tool for people to outline their experience, accomplishment, organizations and network. Too often I have seen incomplete profiles. A crucial element to get LinkedIn to work for you is to make sure your profile is 100% complete. Include all your previous employers, groups you belong to, your “advertisement”, websites and other important information. LinkedIn is also becoming a place where employers find candidates, so if you are job hunting, this may be the place for you.

2. Find Qualified Candidates. Ever struggled looking for an employee? If you are like me, it is a love hate relationship. I want to find the best candidate because it will benefit the company, but weeding through all the applicants can be exhausting. Well, how about using your network to find employees? For my last two positions, I hired individuals that came recommended, yes I said recommended, from my network on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a great job posting board, which is also very inexpensive. Even if you don’t want to field unknown candidates, you can send out an email to all your connections.

3. Find New Connections. Have you ever felt like sometimes you see the same people at the networking events? Would you like to meet new people? Use LinkedIn and do a search. For example, let’s say I want to meet Architects. I just go to LinkedIn and type in Architects in the search box. LinkedIn will search my contact’s contacts and return the results. The best part is it shows me how I am connected to the person, which can then be used for introductions. I ask Joe Smith to introduce me to his friend the Architect. LinkedIn also provides results of what they call 3rd degree friends. Essentially, your contact has a contact that knows the architect. It seems complicated, but it is a great way to expand your network and your friend’s network. Try a search, see what happens. LinkedIn also has introductions, a tool they offer to give you an introduction to a person you want to meet.

4. Increase your Google Ranking. Ever wondered how people’s names come up so high up on Google searches? I do not have the secret Google formula, but I can tell you a well written LinkedIn profile earns a high rank on the page. The not so lucky are the people with common names, like Joe Smith, but, the more you have information like LinkedIn (or Blog articles), the better your Google ranking.

5. Make your meeting go smoother. I was once introduced to a contact who knew all about me before I ever met him. He even went on to tell me who we knew in common….talk about ice breaker. All he did was search for me on LinkedIn and viola….all my history and information. I have to admit, from a bird’s eye perspective it sounds a bit creepy, but sitting in the meeting it was not. I was actually relieved to have something in common with the person. He, of course, told me he had viewed my LinkedIn profile, which took all the creepiness away. I thought after that meeting, what a great way to learn about someone, search for them on LinkedIn.

6. Ask for or Give Advice. In the question and answer section of LinkedIn, users can post questions and answer questions. For example, if you are a computer hardware expert, you would scroll through and try to answer questions relating to your specialty. What does this do? Well, it builds your credibility as an expert in your field. On the other hand, have a question you want some peer advice on? Ask the LinkedIn users. I have scrolled through the Answers section many times and I am always pleased with the responses I have read, always very professional.

7. Scope out Competition, Customers, Partners. I, like most people, use Google or another search engine to see what information I can find out about my market. The market includes your customers, competitors and partners. LinkedIn is a great tool for research. I especially like it because you can usually see where a person worked previous to their current position. Knowing that information provides a much more in-depth picture about the person or company. Another key advantage is to see what groups your customers or potential customers belong to.

8. Groups. LinkedIn just added a new tool to search groups. The groups range from networking groups to Alumni groups to Company groups. Groups can be a great tool for networking. For instance, I am a member of the Alumni group where I went to college. The group is quite large, but I can search within the group for prospective clients, partners or competitors. I use the group as a common thread when trying to talk to or meet with people. For example, “Joe I see that you are a member of XYZ Alumni group, so am I, what did you study?” There are many different ways to use the groups and their members as leads into conversations. As a plus, when you join a group you can show the group on your profile. The benefit could be others see the group and find they have a common thread with you.

9. Recommendations. LinkedIn has created a system where your contacts can recommend you. I think it is a wonderful tool. Now, when I am searching for a product or service or even a new connection, I can read what other people have to say. I know and you know, we can talk about how great we are till we are blue in the face, but when someone else confirms it……you may have struck gold. Leverage the power of LinkedIn to get recommendations and be sure to give them as well.

10. Help Others. The saying is Give and You Shall Receive. Use LinkedIn to introduce people you think would be a good match. You can easily do introductions to the people with LinkedIn’s inMail. The nice thing about giving a contact more connections on LinkedIn is that no one wants to be the person with the least contacts….so help out a friend and send them a contact or two that makes sense for them. Part of helping others can be helping them use LinkedIn. Most of the people I have met have done very little research on how to use LinkedIn to its full potential.

11. Use it on the go. LinkedIn is configured to be able to use it on your handheld device. While you waiting at the airport, doctor’s office or another waiting area, log into LinkedIn and network from anywhere. Just go to http://m.linkedin.com.

I hope you start getting more from LinkedIn! And while you’re at it, drop me a line at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimalbritton.

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In this episode of the Florida Real Estate Development Podcast, we talk about a recent article about the poor performance of the real estate sales force. To talk about how you can improve the effectiveness of your sales efforts–even in today’s market–we brought in Greta Schulz of Proactive Training and Consulting.

Greta  is the president and CEO of ProActive Training and Consulting. She has been involved in sales, sales management, marketing, and training for over twenty years. She is a columnist in many business publications around the country and a contributing author of  “Masters of Sales” a Wall Street Journal and New York Times Best Seller. Greta is presently writing her own book titled “To Sell is Not to Sell”, a conglomeration of stories and tips in the world of sales.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

In this episode, I interview Tom Wheatley, Vice-President of Business Development at Flagler Bank. Tom talks about the current state of the credit market, what projects are getting funded and how to best approach lenders now.

The Florida Real Estate Journal is reporting a slight up-tick in existing home sales in the three Southeast Florida MSA’s–West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. The report is from Mike Pappas, CEO of the Keyes Company (one of the largest residential realtors in the region).

The gains aren’t huge, but they are gains. Pappas attributes the bump to buyers seeing a bottom in prices. I also think the realization that the cheap money days are ending is motivating buyers to get off the sidelines.

This report is consistent with anecdotal evidence we’re seeing in new home construction in the Southeast Florida market. Let’s hope this blip turns into a trend.

If your sales force only contacted 56% percent of the leads that walked in your door, how would you react?

If you think that number is wrong, you should read the article, Despite Housing Crunch, Some Builders Ignore Prospective Buyers. In the article, Marc Lumpkin explains that in the Denver area, only 56% percent of the prospects that walked into the sales center were asked to fill out a registration card and 16% of the shoppers were not greeted when they walked in the sales center. Sadly, only 1 in 3 of prospects that left information was contacted.

In the days of decreased home sales, why would anyone in the new home business not jump through a hoop to make the sale? I have read many articles where agents have offered, cars, home décor, vacations, free upgrades, club membership and other perks to sell homes. I recently read an article about a woman in Florida who is selling her home along with herself (a marriage proposal). So with all the interesting incentives out there, why would your new home sales agents fail to obtain customer information and then only follow-up with one out of three prospects?

What can you do?

First things first, make sure your sales force understands that the customer is the TOP priority. No matter what they are doing, greeting the customer is top priority. If the sales staff is typically in another area other than where the customer enters, consider hiring a hostess. A person that can greet people, hand out brochures and give a rough tour of the models. I know, you are probably thinking how can I afford to add staff when I have reduced sales? Well, have you ever heard of a department store named Nordstrom’s?

Nordstrom’s understands the service in customer service. Nordstrom’s sales staff will go out of their way to assist a customer. I have heard stories about their sales staff taking used tires, removing other stores security tags (of course the merchandise was paid) and changing sleeves on a shirt. Why do they do this? Because Nordstrom’s understands that a satisfied and happy customer will continue to buy from people that are trusted. Make it “OK” for your staff to go out of their way to win a customer.

Next, get rid of the low performers. Look for a sales force that can sell. During the boom, I saw many people get into real estate because they thought it was easy money. These individuals have little or no selling skills and really do not understand the nature of the business.

Once you have a good sales force, incentivize and reward them. I like this part of the plan the best. Why, because you do not have to pay out anything until they make a sale. Be creative. Figure out what your sales force likes, and each person is different, and use that as an incentive. For instance, Ms. Smith has always wanted to go on a European vacation. You could offer Ms. Smith a 10 day trip to Europe when she sells five $500,000 houses.

Also, make sure you have a method to keep track of the customers that visit your models and ask to see the data weekly. Give incentives to the prospects for leaving their information. Some simple, inexpensive ideas are special ‘deal’ emails, $1,000 upgrade by email or a dinner certificate.

Finally, leave a way for the customer to contact the owner or senior management if they feel they are not receiving the level of service they desire. Yes, you may have a person call you that really should not have, but if you could save one sale from going out the door….isn’t it worth it?

I’ve been consulting with land developers for 14 years now and I’m fed up. I keep seeing bright people get “hood-winked” by their consultants. In this market, I’m surprised that it’s allowed to continue. The costs are hidden, but enormous, maybe that explains it. Or, maybe as an industry we’ve just come to accept it. In any case I think the money wasted by this practice is ridiculous.

“Just Submit it and Take a Comment”

If you’re a developer, you may not have heard that statement before. Those seven little words form the dirtiest secret in land development consulting, and they cost you big money on nearly every project. For 14 years I’ve heard my peers say this and it gets me hopping mad! I heard it again last week and had to write this.

Here’s how it works: A consultant–engineer, surveyor, planner, architect–is stretched too thin to get all of his work done on schedule. He’s got 5 or 10 or 20 clients and projects going at the same time all with different priorities to HIS firm. HIS highest priorities get the attention and the others move forward based on the volume of screaming from the clients.

Usually, the client can be silenced temporarily by submitting a plan to the local government. The client sees this as progress. But, the consultant knows what he submitted is incomplete and will GET A COMMENT (or many comments).

Several weeks go by and the comments finally come. The consultant explains to the client that the municipal reviewers are way out of line and overly picky, and it will take a month to resolve the comments and cost an additional $3,000. And the project goes on the back burner until the client screams again. 

Rinse and repeat.

Sounds like a pretty good deal for the consultants, right?

This practice drives me crazy for two reasons: 1) I was taught early in life that if you’re going to do something, do it right; 2) Working on a team with consultants who do this costs me money, because projects drag on too long and scopes creep larger and larger.

I don’t think this happens at the firm CEO level. It’s the project engineer or surveyor or planner who’s trying to keep up that make the decision to submit an incomplete plan. 

What I’ve done to address this in our firm is set a 1 comment per page performance standard. We haven’t hit it yet, but we’re getting real close. Reality is that you’ll probably never get to zero comments, but when the number per plan page is just a few, you can submit a revised plan for approval (not re-review) within days, not weeks.

Look out for this pattern on your development projects…it’s costing you money.

The latest economic information shows home prices recovering the second half of 2008 as the housing inventory is predicated to fall and the loan market stabilizes. According to Lawrence Yun Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, “Existing home sales could start to show a sustained increase within a few months, unless there are some additional economic problems or excessive inflationary pressure”…

The chart below reflects Florida Sales for February 2008 for single-family homes and condos. The Median Sales price statewide was $198,900 down 16% from February 2007 $237,000. I expect to see a slow upward trend by the third quarter.

For Florida, it is a great time for buyers to buy real estate here because of the excess inventory, affordable interest rates and lower housing prices. Foreign investment in Florida is strong right now because of the weaker U.S. dollar. Property is significantly lower for foreign investors as compared with property prices in certain countries outside of the U.S.

With so many factors in Florida’s favor such as our strong tourism and foreign investment, our desirable climate that attracts retirees and others, increase of jobs throughout the State, including the medical and biotechnology sector, diversity of cultures, our appealing outdoor lifestyle activities, I am optimistic that our real estate market and economy will bounce back.

Sources: National Association of Realtors, Florida Association of Realtors

We’re big believers in the power of maps to communicate to people. After all a picture is worth a thousand words and probably worth ten thousand business reports. We think Google Earth and the technology it’s built on (Geographic Information Systems) are game changers for business. The problem to date has been that these great tools have been hard to use. Worse the pros in the field seem to want to make things too complex. We believe using maps for decision making in business (and government & non-profit, too) can be simple. To demonstrate we put together this tutorial on how maps can be used in an organization for free in a couple of hours.

With the right maps we can answer important business questions such as:

• Do you know where your customers are?
• How much money do they make?
• How old are they?
• Do they have kids?
• Do they own a home or rent?

How much do you really know?

Have you ever done a customer profile? What’s keeping you from doing one? Time…money…don’t know how?

Today, we’re going to put our customers on the map, get to know them a bit better and look at our market area. We’re going to cover the tools you need and where to get them, the map and demographic data that’s available to you and some ideas for how you can use Google Earth in your business. All of the tools and data we’ll talk about today are free so you can do this with your own customer list when you get back to the office.

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