property development business plan sample

Property Development Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Property Development Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their property development companies.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a property development business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Property Development Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your property development business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Property Development Company

If you’re looking to start a property development business or grow your existing property development company, you need a business plan. A proper property development business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your business to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Property Development Companies

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a property development company are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for property development companies.

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How to write a business plan for a property development company.

If you want to start a property development company or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your property development business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of property development business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a business that you would like to grow, or are you operating property development businesses in multiple markets?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the property development and real estate industry.
• Discuss the type of property development business you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target market.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of business you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of property development businesses:

• Single-family detached housing : these types of property developers build free-standing residential buildings for sale.
• Multifamily housing: these types of property developers build apartment buildings, condos, and mixed-use developments.
• Developing and Subdividing Lots: these types of property developers purchase property, either developed or undeveloped, and clear it and prepare it for sale to builders.
• Commercial buildings: these types of property developers build and manage commercial buildings such as shopping centers or offices.

In addition to explaining the type of property development company you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the property business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of properties developed, reaching X percentage of vacancy/occupancy, reaching X amount of revenue, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the property development industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the property development industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your property development business plan:

• How big is the property development industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your property development company? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your property development business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: individuals, families, and small businesses.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of property development business you operate. Clearly, families would respond to different marketing promotions than businesses, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other property development businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes realtors, foreclosure markets, rental housing, or companies purchasing and remodeling their own building. You need to mention such competition as well.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of property development company are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide finance packages?
• Will you offer amenities or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a property development company, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of property development company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you specialize in single-family detached housing, mixed use developments, or shopping centers?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the project types and/or services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your property development company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your property development business located in a business or industrial district, or is it a standalone office surrounded by models? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your property development marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday Short-Term Processes

In this section, include all of the tasks involved in running your property development business, including answering calls, meeting with potential customers, performing construction, showing properties, etc.

Long-Term Goals

Your long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to sell your Xth home, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your business to a new city.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your property development business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing property development businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your management team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a property development business or successfully running a construction project management firm.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you develop 5 or 25 properties per quarter, and/or offer property management services? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your property development business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a property development business:

• Cost of construction equipment and supplies
• Cost of contract labor
• Cost of office space and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your model properties’ blueprints or a breakdown of development types you offer.  

Writing a business plan for your property development company is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the property development industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful property development business.  

Property Development Company Business Plan Template FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my property development business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your business plan.

How Do You Start a Property Development Business?

Starting a property development business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Property Development Company
• Create Your Property Development Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Property Development Company
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Property Development Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Property Development Company with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Property Development Company
• Buy or Lease the Right Property Development Equipment
• Develop Your Property Development Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Business
• Open for Business

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OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to hire someone to write a business plan for you from Growthink’s team.

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A Sample Property Development Business Plan Template

A property development company is a company that is involved in buying land, financing real estate, building, or having builders build and develop projects for commercial purposes. Property development companies renovate and re-lease existing buildings, purchase raw land, and sell developed land or parcels to others. They are involved in developing a property from beginning to end.

A report released by the National Association of REALTORS® shows that over 5.64 million existing homes were sold in 2020. Also, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 822,000 newly constructed homes were sold in the same year. In 2019, 64.9 percent of families owned their primary residence, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances.

Steps on How to Write a Property Development Business Plan

1. executive summary.

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. is an American-based and licensed real estate cum property development company. Our head office will be located in a standard and centrally located facility in the heart of New York City, New York.

We will engage in property development projects for a wide range of clients. We will work towards becoming one of the largest property development companies in New York and the whole of the United States of America. Jason Theodora is the founder and CEO of Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc.

Company Profile

A. our products and services.

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will be involved in;

• Houses and housing estate developments
• Apartments and other residential developments
• Commercial developments
• Industrial developments
• Other developments (Investment Properties)
• Real estate consultancy and advisory services

b. Nature of the Business

Our property development company will operate the partnership business model. We will work with investors who are willing to partner with us to grow their investment portfolios in the real estate market.

c. The Industry

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will operate under the real estate sales and brokerage industry.

d. Mission Statement

Our mission is to be at the forefront of buying property and partnering with landowners, then develop a plan for what to build or rebuild on that property. We will bring in investors and predict how much money the new homes or businesses will bring in.

e. Vision Statement

Our vision of to be listed among the top three property development companies in the whole of New York.

f. Our Tagline (Slogan)

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. – The Genius of Property Development!

g. Legal Structure of the Business (LLC, C Corp, S Corp, LLP)

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will be formed as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).

h. Our Organizational Structure

• Chief Executive Officer
• Project Manager
• Company’s Lawyer/Secretary
• Admin and HR Manager
• Head of Construction and Renovation
• Business Developer/Sales and Marketing
• Customer Service Executive/Front Desk Officer

i. Ownership/Shareholder Structure and Board Members

• Jason Theodora (Owner and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer) 51 Percent Shares
• Hilary Kings (Board Member) 14 Percent Shares
• Harrison Williams (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• Rachael Abraham (Board Member) 10 Percent Shares
• Stella Norman (Board Member and Sectary) 10 Percent Shares.

SWOT Analysis

A. strength.

• Ideal location for property development (thriving real estate market)
• Highly experienced and qualified employees and management
• Access to finance from business partners
• Robust relations with property owners and properties investment moguls
• Good returns on investment for investors.

b. Weakness

• Financial Constraints
• Our business will be competing with well-established property developers and other home remodeling companies
• Inability to retain highly experienced and qualified employees longer than we want

c. Opportunities

• New York is a thriving market for property development companies and the real estate industry.
• Good support structure for property development companies.

i. How Big is the Industry?

The market size, measured by revenue of the real estate sales and brokerage industry is put at $156.2 billion in 2023 hence it will be safe to safe the industry is amongst the biggest industries in the United States of America.

ii. Is the Industry Growing or Declining?

All available data points to the fact that the real estate and brokerage industry is growing. The market size of the industry is expected to increase 0.4 percent in 2023.

iii. What are the Future Trends in the Industry

The real estate sales and brokerage industry is changing, and players in the industry are improvising. No doubt, technology and climate change (the go green initiative) will change the landscape of the industry going forward.

iv. Are There Existing Niches in the Industry?

No, there are no existing niche ideas when it comes to the property development business. This is because the property development line of business is a subset of the real estate and brokerage industry.

v. Can You Sell a Franchise of your Business in the Future?

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. has plans to sell franchises in the nearest future and we will target major cities with thriving real estate markets in the United States of America.

• The arrival of new property development companies within our market space
• Unfavorable government policy and regulations.
• Community resistance
• Liability problems
• Continuously changing consumer demands especially as it relates to style and design of properties et al.

i. Who are the Major Competitors?

• New World Development Co. Ltd
• Wheelock and Company
• AvalonBay Communities
• Greystar Real Estate Partners
• Wood Partners
• Mill Creek Residential
• Continental Properties Company, Inc.
• Trammell Crow Company
• The JBG Companies
• Lowe Enterprises
• Simon Property Group
• General Growth Properties
• SITE Centers
• Kimco Realty Corp
• Brixmor Property Group
• Panattoni Development Co.
• McDonald Development Co.
• USAA Real Estate Co.
• LaSalle Investment Management
• Gibraltar Syndication & Development Company

ii. Is There a Franchise for Property Development Business?

Well, for now, there are no known franchise opportunities in the property development business.

iii. Are There Policies, Regulations, or Zoning Laws Affecting Property Development Business?

Yes, there are county or state regulations and zoning laws for the business. Zoning laws are found in virtually every municipality in the United States, affecting land use, lot size, building heights, density, setbacks, and other aspects of property use.

In addition to that, it is important to state that in the United States, government agencies and departments routinely grant variances to rules and regulations. Often, you only have to fill out a short form. In other cases, your request may have to be publicly heard before your city council, zoning board, or other body. Please check with your zoning or planning department to find out what options are available to you.

Marketing Plan

A. who is your target audience.

i. Age Range

Our target market comprises adults above 18 years old who have the finance to do business with us.

ii. Level of Educational

We don’t have any restriction on the level of education of those we are ready to work with as investors or buyers of the properties we develop.

iii. Income Level

The income level of those we are looking to do business with will be between $70,000 and above $124,000.

iv. Ethnicity

There is no restriction when it comes to the ethnicity of the people we are looking to partner with.

v. Language

There is no restriction when it comes to the language spoken by the people we will partner with.

vi. Geographical Location

Anybody from any geographical location will be welcome to partner with us or do business with our company.

vii. Lifestyle

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will not restrict any investor or client from partnering with us or doing business with us based on their lifestyle, culture, or race.

b. Advertising and Promotion Strategies

• Host Themed Events That Catch Attention.
• Tap Into Text Marketing.
• Make Use of Bill Boards.
• Share Your Events in Local Groups and Pages.
• Turn Your Social Media Channels into a Resource
• Develop Your Business Directory Profiles
• Build Relationships with players in the real estate and brokerage industry.

i. Traditional Marketing Strategies

• Marketing through Direct Mail.
• Print Media Marketing – Newspapers & Magazines.
• Broadcast Marketing -Television & Radio Channels.
• OOH Marketing – Public Transits like Buses and Trains, Billboards, Street shows, and Cabs.
• Leverage direct sales, direct mail (postcards, brochures, letters, fliers), tradeshows, print advertising (magazines, newspapers, coupon books, billboards), referral (also known as word-of-mouth marketing), radio, and television.

ii. Digital Marketing Strategies

• Social Media Marketing Platforms.
• Influencer Marketing.
• Email Marketing.
• Content Marketing.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing.
• Affiliate Marketing
• Mobile Marketing.

iii. Social Media Marketing Plan

• Start using chatbots.
• Create a personalized experience for our customers.
• Create an efficient content marketing strategy.
• Create a community for our target market and potential target market.
• Gear up our profiles with a diverse content strategy.
• Use brand advocates.
• Create profiles on the relevant social media channels.
• Run cross-channel campaigns.

c. Pricing Strategy

When working out our pricing strategy, Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will make sure it covers profits, insurance, premium, license, and economy or value and full package for each property,

In all our pricing strategy will reflect;

• Cost-Based Pricing
• Value-Based Pricing
• Competition-Based Pricing.

Sales and Distribution Plan

A. sales channels.

Our channel sales strategy will involve using partners and third parties—such as referral partners, affiliate partners, strategic alliances in the real estate and brokerage industry, and freelancers to help refer clients to us.

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will also leverage the 4 Ps of marketing which are place, price, product, and promotion. By carefully integrating all these marketing strategies into a marketing mix, we can have a visible, in-demand service that is competitively priced and promoted to our customers.

b. Inventory Strategy

The fact that we will need the required building materials means that Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will operate an inventory strategy that is based on a day-to-day methodology for ordering, maintaining, and processing items in our warehouse. We will develop our strategy with the same thoroughness and attention to detail as we would if we were creating an overall strategy for the business.

c. Payment Options for Customers

Here are the payment options that Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will make available to her clients;

• Payment via bank transfer
• Payment via credit cards
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via mobile money transfer
• Payment via bank draft

d. Return Policy, Incentives, and Guarantees

At Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc., we develop properties and the nature of products (properties) we offer does not accommodate return policy, but we will guarantee our investors of good returns on their investment (ROI). Our Operating Margin targets for housebuilders across the economic cycle will be placed at 15-20 percent on Gross Development Value (GDV).

e. Customer Support Strategy

Our customer support strategy will involve seeking customers’ feedback. This will help us provide excellent properties, return on investment (ROI) and customer service to all our clients and investors, it will help us understand their needs, experiences, and pain points. We will work with effective CRM software to be able to achieve this.

Operational Plan

Our operational plan will cover capacity planning, location planning, layout planning, quality planning, and methods planning.

Overall, we plan to expand our revenue by 50 percent in the second year and the plan will include a marketing, sales, and operations component. The operations component of the plan would include attracting grants and fundraising strategies that will enable us to boost our properties and service offerings.

a. What Happens During a Typical Day at a Property Development Business?

• The office is open for the day
• Documentation and other administrative works are conducted throughout the day
• Marketers go out in the field to market our properties and services
• If there is an ongoing property development project, the required team and machinery are sent to the field to carry out the project.
• The team and machinery return to base (office) after the day’s job
• Report for the day is written and submitted to the required authority
• The office is closed for the day.

b. Production Process (If Any)

There is no production process when it comes to the property development business.

c. Service Procedure (If Any)

No, there are no defined service procedures for a property development business.

d. The Supply Chain

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will rely on key players in the real estate and brokerage industry to refer business deals to us. So also, we have been able to establish business relationships with wholesale supplies of building materials.

e. Sources of Income

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. make money from;

Financial Plan

A. amount needed to start your property development company.

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. would need an estimate of $4.5 million to successfully set up a property development company in the United States of America. Please note that this amount includes the salaries of all our staff for the first month of operation.

b. What are the Cost Involved?

• Business Registration Fees – $750.
• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – $7,300.
• Marketing, Branding and Promotions – $5,000.
• Business Consultant Fee – $2,500.
• Insurance – $5,400.
• Rent/Lease – $200,000.
• Other start-up expenses including, commercial satellite TV subscriptions, stationery ($500), and phone and utility deposits ($2,800).
• Operational Cost (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $100,000
• Start-up Inventory – $15,000
• Store Equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $4,750
• Furnishing and Equipping – $80,000
• Liquid Cash for Execution of Projects: $3.5 million
• Website: $600
• Miscellaneous: $2,000

c. Do You Need to Build a Facility? If YES, How Much will it cost?

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will not build a new facility; we intend to start with a long-term lease and after 5 years, we will start the process of acquiring our facility.

d. What are the Ongoing Expenses for Running a Property Development Company?

• Transportation cost
• Cost of building materials and supplies
• Utility bills (internet, phone bills, signage and sewage et al)
• Salaries of employees

e. What is the Average Salary of your Staff? List the Job Position and their proposed salary based on industry rate and your startup capital

• Chief Executive Officer – $85,000 Per Year
• Project Manager – $72,000 Per Year
• Head of Construction and Renovation – $70,000 Per Year
• Company’s Lawyer/Secretary – $68,000 Per Year
• Admin and HR Manager – $45,000 Per Year
• Business Developer/Sales and Marketing – $42,000 Per Year
• Accountant – $40,000 Per Year
• Customer Service Executive/Front Desk Officer – $30,000 Per Year.

f. How Do You Get Funding to Start a Property Development Company

• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
• Raising money from investors and business partners
• Sell shares to interested investors
• Applying for a loan from your bank/banks
• Pitching your business idea and applying for business grants and seed funding from, government, donor organizations, and angel investors
• Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends.

Financial Projection

A. how much should you charge for your service.

At Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. our fee will be based on the location and type of property we want to develop.

b. Sales Forecast?

• First Fiscal Year (FY1): $3.5 million
• Second Fiscal Year (FY2): $5 million
• Third Fiscal Year (FY3): $9 million

c. Estimated Profit You Will Make a Year?

The ideal profit margin we hope to make at Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will be between 16 and 20 percent on development costs.

d. Profit Margin of a Property Development Company

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will collect developer fees that will range from 5 to 10 percent aside from making profits off every property sold.

Please note in planning our property development project, we will make sure that the bottom line shows a suitable return for the money and effort we put into it.

Growth Plan

A. how do you intend to grow and expand .

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. will grow our property development company by first opening other offices in key cities in the United States of America within the first five years of establishing the business and then will start selling franchises from the sixth year.

b. Where do you intend to expand to and why? (Geographical locations)

Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. plans to expand first to Los Angeles – California, San Francisco – California, Chicago – Illinois, Washington, D.C., Boston – Massachusetts, Miami – Florida, Seattle – Washington, Dallas – Texas, and Philadelphia – Pennsylvania.

The reason we intend to expand to these geographic locations is the fact that available statistics show that the cities listed above have the highest real estate market in the United States. New York has the highest real estate value in the country at $2.8 trillion.

The founder of Vintage Group© Property Development Company, Inc. plans to exit the business via family succession. We have placed structure and processes in place that will help us achieve our plan of successfully transferring the business from one family member to another and from one generation to another.

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A Sample Property Development Business Plan Template

Are you about starting a real estate development company? If YES, here is a complete sample property development business plan template you can use for FREE. Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a property development business.

We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample property marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for property development businesses. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

Why Start a Property Development?

It is therefore no doubt that housing is one very essential ingredient to life. The moment one is able to find a place of abode, there comes a form of huge relief. It is for that reason that the need for the government of different parts of the world to provide basic shelter for its citizens cannot be over flogged.

Every day there are an avalanche of people who dive into the property development business because they know how lucrative this trade is and how money spinning it becomes when one is able to get a hang of it. This is why those who have scaled through the teething stage of the business know that adequate planning is one of the hurdles that just must be scaled so as to get things right.

1. Industry Overview

The property development industry falls into the real estate category and it is indeed a very large industry that has the potential to make entrepreneurs millionaire within a short period of time. Property development industry is a many-sided business that covers all aspect of activities, ranging from acquiring raw lands, to selling or renting or leasing of fully finished and furnished properties.

In essence, developers are responsible for turning ideas into real properties; i.e. they acquire lands, they finance real estate deals, they engage in building projects and they sell, rent, lease and even manage properties on behalf of their clients.

Beyond every reasonable doubt, one of the most profitable, creative and interesting aspect of the real estate industry is property development. As a matter of fact, developers are major players when it comes to determining the prices of properties. Although this type of business venture can be risky, but in order to make it big in the trade as a property developer, you have got to just take calculated risks.

Just like all other investment vehicles, there are potential down sides that you need to look out for as a property developer. One of the major risks in property development is a sudden down turn in the economy. Property development could take a period of two to three years from conception to completion, depending on the size of the project and the cash flow.

As a matter of fact, some projects could even take much longer than that. Because of the time frame involved in developing properties from start to finish, loads of unanticipated things could crop up and it falls in the thick of property cum economy downturn which is not good for the business considering the investment that has gone into the project.

Another factor that is of major concerns and a threat to property development business generally could be cost increase as a result of inflation, currency devaluation as well as economic challenges.

Unforeseen delays from the part of government agencies, litigation and also delays from contractors could lead to substantial cost increase especially if the project is heavily dependent on bank loans. If perhaps during this period there is a change in the supply and demand dynamics of the property sector, the project could as well be affected negatively.

As a property developer, it is very important to be creative, to be able to use your ideas to meet the rapidly changing needs of the society when it comes to properties; you should be able to convert a slum into a beautiful city, if indeed you want to become a major player in the real estate industry.

Over and above, the property development sector is known to be a major contributor in the economy of many nations of the world and the industry is notable for producing some of the richest men in the world.

2. Executive Summary

Solorio’s® Property Development Company is a property development company that will be based in 530 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10033, USA. Our aim of starting this business is to work in tandem with the government of the united states of America to deliver affordable homes and properties for all classes of people in the United States of America.

Our Head Office will be located in New York City, but we will have our branch offices in major cities in all regions of the United States of America. During the first two years of operation we would have set up our offices in the following locations; Las Vegas, Washington, DC, Dallas, Texas and Boston.

Solorio’s® Property Development Company is going to be a self-administered and a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). We will work towards becoming one of the largest owners, managers, and developers of first-class properties (accommodations, public buildings and office properties) in the United States of America.

We are quite aware that property development business requires a huge capital base, which is why we have perfect plans for steady flow of cash from private investors who are interested in working with us. We can confidently say that we have a robust financial standing and we are ready to take on any property development deal that comes our way.

As part of our plans to make our customers our number one priority and to become the leading property development company in New York City, we have perfected plans to work with our clients to deliver projects that can favorably compete with the best in the industry, at an affordable and reasonable price within the stipulated completion date barring any unforeseen circumstance and also to generate great value from any property that we manage (both for our clients and for the company).

Solorio’s® Property Development Company will become a specialist in turning slums into beautiful cities and turning a run –down and dilapidated building into a master piece. And that hopefully will be our brand and signature.

Solorio’s® Property Development Company will be owned majorly by Shannon McKenzie and family. Shannon McKenzie is a property guru that has worked with top Real Estate Companies in the United States of America for many years; prior to starting his own business. Other investors with same investment ideology whose name cannot be mentioned here for obvious reasons are also part owners of the business.

3. Our Products and Services

Solorio’s® Property Development Company will be involved in the core real estate business and because we aspire to become one of the leading property development company in New York City, we have decided to explore every available means of generating money from Property Development. Our business offering can are listed below;

• Developing Properties for our Clients
• Leasing of Properties
• Renting of Properties
• Selling of Fully Furnished Properties
• Selling of Landed Properties
• Leasing of Bare Land
• Manage Properties and Facility for Clients
• Property Makeover Services
• Real Estate Consultancy and Advisory Services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• To deliver affordable and quality properties to all classes of people in the United States of America.
• At Solorio’s® Property Development Company, our mission and values is to help people and businesses in the United States of America and throughout the world realize their dreams of owning properties.

Our Business Structure

Solorio’s® Property Development Company is aiming to be amongst the leading property development companies in New York City, and the only way for us to attain this position is to structure the business for growth and to hire the best hands we can get in the industry.

We want to build a team that will work together towards achieving the company’s goal and also a business with standard structure and processes; a business that runs on auto pilot. In view of the above, we have made provisions for the following positions in our organization;

• Chief Executive Officer

Project Manager

Civil Engineer

• Structural Engineer
• Quantity Surveyor

Land Surveyor

Company’s Lawyer/Secretary

Admin and HR Manager

Business Developer

• Front Desk Officer

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer – CEO:

• Responsible for providing direction for the business
• Creating, communicating, and implementing the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for the day to day running of the business
• Responsible for handling high profile clients and deals
• Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
• Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization
• Reports to the board
• Responsible for the planning, management and coordinating all projects on behalf of the company
• Supervise projects
• Ensures compliance during project executions
• Provides advice on the management of projects
• Responsible for carrying out risk assessment
• Using IT systems and software to keep track of people and progress of ongoing projects
• Responsible for overseeing the accounting, costing and billing of every project
• Represents the organization’s interest at various stakeholders meetings
• Ensures that project desired result is achieved, the most efficient resources are utilized and different interests involved are satisfied.
• Responsible for preparing bids for tenders, and reporting to clients, public agencies and planning bodies
• Ensures that sites meet legal guidelines, and health and safety requirements
• Assesses the environment impact and risks connected to projects
• Responsible for judging whether projects are workable by assessing materials, costs and time requirements
• Draws up blueprints, using Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages
• Discusses requirements with the client and other professionals (e.g. architects and project managers et al)
• Responsible for managing, directing and monitoring progress during each phase of a project
• Responsible for creating building designs and highly detailed drawings both by using the hands and by using specialist computer – aided design (CAD) software
• Working around constraining factors such as town planning legislation, environmental impact and project budget
• Writes and presents reports, proposals, applications and contracts
• Adapts plans according to circumstances and resolving any problems that may arise during construction
• Works with project team and management to achieve a common goal
• Responsible for applying for planning permission and advice from governmental new building and legal department.
• Responsible for undertaking land surveys/measurements using a variety of specialist technical equipment such as theodolites, laser alignment devices and satellite positioning systems et al.
• Responsible for presenting data to clients
• Responsible for producing and advising about construction plans and drawings
• Responsible for advising about technical matters and whether the construction plans are viable
• Responsible for drawing up contracts and other legal documents for the company
• Consults and handles all corporate legal processes (e.g. intellectual property, mergers & acquisitions, financial/securities offerings, compliance issues, transactions, agreements, lawsuits and patents et al)
• Develops company policy and position on legal issues
• Researches, anticipates and guards company against legal risks
• Represents company in legal proceedings (administrative boards, court trials et al)
• Plays a part in business deals negotiation and take minutes of meetings
• Responsible for analyzing legal documents on behalf of the company
• Prepares annual reports for the company
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out staff induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office activities.
• Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s need s, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
• Documents all customer contact and information
• Represents the company in strategic meetings
• Helps increase sales and growth for the company
• Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for the company
• Serves as internal auditor for the company

Front Desk/Customer’s Service Officer

• Receives Visitors/clients on behalf of the organization
• Receives parcels/documents for the company
• Handles enquiries via e-mail and phone calls for the organization
• Distributes mails in the organization
• Handles any other duties as assigned my the line manager

6. SWOT Analysis

In as much as property development business is a very lucrative business, there are loads of investors and entrepreneurs who are interested in owning a business portfolio in the industry, so as such the competition for available business deals will be much.

This is why we invested time and resources to prepare a killer property development marketing plan. Prior to setting up Solorio’s® Property Development Company we employed the services of tested and trusted business and HR consultants to help us conduct critical SWOT analysis for us.

We did this so as to know how to maximize our strength and opportunities and also to look for ways to properly manage our weakness and the threat that we may likely face in the property development industry as a newbie. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Solorio’s® Property Development Company;

Solorio’s® Property Development Company prides itself in the fact that the management team are core professionals and experts in their own chosen fields and they are some of the best in New York City. Despite the fact that we a new property development company, we can confidently say that we have a strong financial strength to handle most of the deals that we will have to handle.

Our weakness could not be farfetched; we are a new property development company, and there is the possibility of clients to think twice before awarding us contracts. Most people would prefer to deal with companies that have been in existence for a long period of time , as against dealing with a new company that they are not sure will deliver as planned.

• Opportunities:

Our business concepts and our mission and vision put us at an advantage in the industry. We are set to not only work with big money bags but also to work with smaller clients whose wish is just to have a roof over their head. Furthermore, we are certain that the location of our business is going to bring multiple business opportunities to us.

Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a property development company are unfavorable government policies, global economic downturn and other big money bags that are major players in the property development industry. There is hardly anything we could do as it concerns this threats, other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

It is no longer news that property development involves various stakeholders with various contributions and responsibilities. In property development you have a synergy involving the property owner, the financier, the property developer and a team of technical experts. The property owner may be an individual or a group and could also be a corporate body.

Before now, the interest of most owners is to sell the property to any willing buyer and move on with their life. However, because of the profitability of the business, there are land owners now who are willing to use their property as a leverage to have an equity stake in the project.

This is a win-win for all the parties since the developer too will use the extra cash savings to accelerate the completion of the project and also to handle other projects. It is obvious that loads of investors are now very much interested in property development business, because it is one of the quickest means of becoming a millionaire and as a matter of fact, it is rare to see a multi – millionaire who does not have a business portfolio in the real estate industry.

One good thing about the property development industry is that it has room wide enough to accommodate as many investors that wants to dive into the industry. We know that we can achieve our business goals and targets in the property development industry in New York City and the United States, which is why we have mapped out our own marketing and sales strategies.

8. Our Target Market

Our target market cuts across people of different classes and people from all walks of life. We are coming into the industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the highly placed people in the country and at the same with the lowly placed people who are only interested in putting a roof under their head.

We are in business to make profits at the same we in business to give our customers the opportunities to own their own properties at an affordable price.

Solorio’s® Property Development Company wants to be known as a company that has the interest of the rich, the middle class and the poor in the United States of America. Below is a list of the people and organizations that we have specifically design our products and services for;

• Families who are interested in renting/leasing or acquiring a property
• Corporate organizations who are interested in renting/leasing or acquiring their own property/properties
• Land Owners
• Properties Owners
• University Campuses (Private Hostels)
• Foreign investors who are interested in owning properties in the United States of America
• The government of the United States of America (Government contracts)
• Managers of public facilities

Our Competitive Advantage

There are major players who have gotten a grip of the property development business in New York, but that does not deter us from entering the trade to build our business to become one of the top property development businesses in New York City. Solorio’s® Property Development Company has a management team members that are considered experts in their own chosen area of specialization.

Our CEO has a robust experience in the real estate industry and he is bringing the experience to help build Solorio’s® Property Development Company to become a top brand as far as property development business is concern. Of course, we are a new company, but we have been able to build our capital base to be able to handle most of the projects that we will bid for and also to acquire properties for the organization.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Solorio’s® Property Development Company is established with the aim of maximizing the profits in the real estate industry via delivering quality and affordable property to our highly esteemed clients. The property business is wide in scope and there are several means of generating income for the company. Below are the sources we intend exploring to generate income for Solorio’s® Property Development Company;

10. Sales Forecast

Prior to launching Solorio’s® Property Development Company we have serious interest in the industry and we have been able to secure some properties that is still under construction. We are optimistic that the projects / properties will be completed within the next two months and we have concluded plans to put the property for lease.

They are office complexes and it is interesting to know that people are already queuing up to rent / lease the available spaces. We are quite optimistic that we will meet out set target of generating enough income / profits from the first month or operations.

We have critically studied the property market and we have examined our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projection is based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions;

• Build/develop at least 2 office complex (3 story building each) within the first 12 months of operation
• Manage a minimum of 5 properties for clients within the first 6 months of operations
• Sell a minimum of 20 hectares of land within the first 12 months of operation
• Develop at least one estate within the first 24 months of operations
• Provide advisory and consultancy services for a minimum of 1 client per month
• Handle a minimum of 12 building makeover projects within the first 12 months of operations

N.B: Please note that we could not put a specific amount to the projection because the prices may differ for different services and for different clients. Part of our business strategy is to work within the budget of our clients to deliver quality property / properties hence it will be difficult to project what we are likely going to make from such deals.

But the bottom line is that we are definitely going to make reasonable profits from any business deal that we execute. The property market is structured in such a way that property developers will always make profits from any deal they handle.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

Solorio’s® Property Development Company is aware that there are stiffer competition in the property development market in the United States of America, hence we have been able to hire some of the best business developer to handle our sales and marketing.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited based on their vast experience in the industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall goal of the organization.

Our goal is to become one of the leading property development companies in New York City and in every other city where we operate, which is why we have mapped out strategies that will help us take advantage of the available market. Solorio’s® Property Development Company will adopt the following marketing and sales strategies;

• Introduce our business by sending introductory letters alongside our brochures to all the corporate organizations in New York and other States in the US.
• Promptness in bidding for contracts.
• Advertise our business in real estate / properties magazines and websites.
• List our business on yellow pages.
• Attend expos, seminars, and business fairs et al.
• Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver quality housing/ property to them.
• Leverage on the internet to promote our business.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We have been able to work with our consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the hearts of our target market. First and foremost, we want our brand to be visible and well communicated, which is why we have decided to work with different classes of people in the society.

All our publicity materials and jingles are done by some of the best hands in the industry. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise our property development business;

• Place adverts on both print and electronic media platforms (real
• Sponsor relevant TV shows
• Maximize our company’s website to promote our business
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook ,Twitter, LinkedIn, Badoo, Google+ et al
• Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in targeted areas from time to time

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Part of business strategy is to ensure that we work within the budget of our clients to deliver excellent properties to them. We are quite aware that there are major players in the property development industry in the United Stated of America who are not interested in small business deals.

Although our prices may not be outrageously lower than what is obtained in the industry, but we are hopeful that whatever price we bill our customer will be amongst the lowest they can get in the industry. The fact that we are going to be billing our clients lower than what is obtainable in the industry does not in any way affect the quality of our properties.

• Payment Options

Our payment policy is all inclusive because we are quite conscious that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them but at the same time, we will not accept payment by cash because of the volume of cash that will be involved in most of our transactions Here are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;

• Payment by via bank transfer
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our plans without any itches.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

• The Total Fee for incorporating the Business in New York: $750.
• The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license: $5,000
• The Amount needed to acquire a suitable Facility with enough space in New York City (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive): $80,000.
• The Cost for equipping the office (computers, printers, fax machines, furniture, telephones, filing cabins, safety gadgets and electronics et al): $15,000
• The Cost of Launching a Website: $600
• Additional Expenditure (Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions et al): $5,000
• Working capital (investment fund): $3,000,000 (3 Million US Dollar)

Going by the report from our research and feasibility studies, we will need about $3,200,000 (3.2 US Million Dollars) to set up a property development company in New York City. In property development business, the larger your capital base, the greater the opportunities you can access and the more profits you will make.

Despite the fact that we have a working capital of 3 Million US Dollar, we have been able to create a business relationship with our banks so as to easily access loans when the need arises.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Property Development Company

• The CEO Dr. Shavonne McPherson will generate 20 percent of the start – up capital from her personal savings
• 30% of the capital will be generated from partners and investors
• 50% of the capital will be sourced from banks

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

Solorio’s® Property Development Company was established with the aim of building a company that will outlive the founders and partners. Part of the vision of the company is to handover the baton of the company from one generation to another generation; hence we have perfected our plans to put the right structures in place that will aid our succession plan.

We are quite aware that the growth of any business depends solely to the business deals or sales they execute per financial year. We will continue to give our marketing team all the supports they would need to continue to deliver and meet all set targets and corporate goals.

Lastly, we will not relent in taking calculated business risks when it comes to investment and taking on new business challenges and new business frontiers.

Check List/Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check: Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of All form of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Renting of Office Facility in New York City: Completed
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating capital from the CEO and Business Partners: Completed
• Applications for Loan from our Bankers: In Progress
• Writing of business plan : Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents (Tenancy Agreements et al), and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
• Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
• Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility face lift: In progress
• Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the business (Business PR): In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with key players in the industry (networking and membership of relevant real estate bodies): Completed

More on Real Estate

How to write a business plan for a property development company?

Creating a business plan for a property development company is an essential process for any entrepreneur. It serves as a roadmap that outlines the necessary steps to be taken to start or grow the business, the resources required, and the anticipated financial outcomes. It should be crafted with method and confidence.

This guide is designed to provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary for creating a property development company business plan, covering why it is so important both when starting up and running an established business, what should be included in your plan, how it should be structured, what tools should be used to save time and avoid errors, and other helpful tips.

We have a lot to cover, so let's get to it!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a property development company?

• What information is needed to create a business plan for a property development company?
• What goes in the financial forecast for a property development company?
• What goes in the written part of a property development company business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my property development company business plan?

Having a clear understanding of why you want to write a business plan for your property development company will make it simpler for you to grasp the rationale behind its structure and content. So before delving into the plan's actual details, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of the primary reasons why you'd want to create a property development company business plan.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

Running a small business is tough! Economic cycles bring growth and recessions, while the business landscape is ever-changing with new technologies, regulations, competitors, and consumer behaviours emerging constantly.

In such a dynamic context, operating a business without a clear roadmap is akin to driving blindfolded: it's risky, to say the least. That's why crafting a business plan for your property development company is vital to establish a successful and sustainable venture.

To create an effective business plan, you'll need to assess your current position (if you're already in business) and define where you want the business to be in the next three to five years.

Once you have a clear destination for your property development company, you'll have to:

• Identify the necessary resources (human, equipment, and capital) needed to reach your goals,
• Determine the pace at which the business needs to progress to meet its objectives as scheduled,
• Recognize and address the potential risks you may encounter along the way.

Engaging in this process regularly proves advantageous for both startups and established companies. It empowers you to make informed decisions about resource allocation, ensuring the long-term success of your business.

To anticipate future cash flows

Regularly comparing your actual financial performance to the projections in the financial forecast of your property development company's business plan gives you the ability to monitor your business's financial health and make necessary adjustments as needed.

This practice allows you to detect potential financial issues, such as unexpected cash shortfalls before they escalate into major problems. Giving you time to find additional financing or put in place corrective measures.

Additionally, it helps you identify growth opportunities, like excess cash flow that could be allocated to launch new products and services or expand into new markets.

Staying on track with these regular comparisons enables you to make well-informed decisions about the amount of financing your business might require, or the excess cash flow you can expect to generate from your main business activities.

To secure financing

Whether you are a startup or an existing business, writing a detailed property development company business plan is essential when seeking financing from banks or investors.

This makes sense given what we've just seen: financiers want to ensure you have a clear roadmap and visibility on your future cash flows.

Banks will use the information included in the plan to assess your borrowing capacity (how much debt your business can support) and your ability to repay the loan before deciding whether they will extend credit to your business and on what terms.

Similarly, investors will review your plan carefully to assess if their investment can generate an attractive return on investment.

To do so, they will be looking for evidence that your property development company has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand why it is important to create a business plan for a property development company, let's take a look at what information is needed to create one.

Need a convincing business plan?

The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

Information needed to create a business plan for a property development company

You need the right data in order to project sales, investments and costs accurately in the financial forecast of your property development company business plan.

Below, we'll cover three key pieces of information you should gather before drafting your business plan.

Carrying out market research for a property development company

As you consider writing your business plan for a property development company, conducting market research becomes a vital step to ensure accurate and realistic financial projections.

Market research provides valuable insights into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies, and other key factors that can significantly impact the commercial success of your business.

Through this research, you may uncover trends that could influence your property development company.

You may discover that potential buyers are increasingly interested in energy-efficient homes, or that they could be more likely to prioritize convenience and smart home features. These trends could potentially be revealed through market research for your property development company.

Such market trends play a significant role in forecasting revenue, as they offer valuable data about potential customers' spending habits and preferences.

By incorporating these findings into your financial projections, you can present investors with more accurate information, helping them make informed decisions about investing in your property development company.

Developing the sales and marketing plan for a property development company

As you embark on creating your property development company business plan, it is crucial to budget sales and marketing expenses beforehand.

A well-defined sales and marketing plan should include precise projections of the actions required to acquire and retain customers. It will also outline the necessary workforce to execute these initiatives and the budget required for promotions, advertising, and other marketing efforts.

This approach ensures that the appropriate amount of resources is allocated to these activities, aligning with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and capital expenditure requirements of a property development company

Whether you are starting or expanding a property development company, it is important to have a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) in order to ensure the success of the business.

Both the recruitment and investment plans need to be coherent with the timing and level of growth planned in your forecast, and require appropriate funding.

A property development company might incur staffing costs such as wages for builders, architects, engineers, and project managers, as well as administrative staff, to ensure the property development process runs smoothly. Equipment costs could include a fleet of vehicles for transportation, excavation and building equipment, computers and software for planning and design, and furniture for office spaces.

In order to create a realistic financial forecast, you will also need to consider the other operating expenses associated with running the business on a day-to-day basis (insurance, bookkeeping, etc.). 

Once you have all the necessary information to create a business plan for your property development company, it is time to start creating your financial forecast.

What goes into your property development company's financial forecast?

The objective of the financial forecast of your property development company's business plan is to show the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business over the next 3 to 5 years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a property development company are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

Your property development company forecasted P&L statement enables the reader of your business plan to get an idea of how much revenue and profits your business is expected to make in the near future.

Ideally, your reader will want to see:

• Growth above the inflation level
• Expanding profit margins
• Positive net profit throughout the plan

Expectations for an established property development company will of course be different than for a startup. Existing businesses which have reached their cruising altitude might have slower growth and higher margins than ventures just being started.

The projected balance sheet of your property development company

Your property development company's forecasted balance sheet enables the reader of your plan to assess your financial structure, working capital, and investment policy.

It is composed of three types of elements: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: represent what the business owns and uses to produce cash flows. It includes resources such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: represent funds advanced to the business by lenders and other creditors. It includes items such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers), taxes due and loans.
• Equity: is the combination of what has been invested by the business owners and the cumulative profits and losses generated by the business to date (which are called retained earnings). Equity is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Your property development company's balance sheet will usually be analyzed in conjunction with the other financial statements included in your forecast.

Two key points of focus will be:

• Your property development company's liquidity: does your business have sufficient cash and short-term assets to pay what it owes over the next 12 months?
• And its solvency: does your business have the capacity to repay its debt over the medium-term?

The projected cash flow statement

A cash flow forecast for a property development company shows how much cash the business is projected to generate or consume.

The cash flow statement is divided into 3 main areas:

• The operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the operations (running the business)
• The investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.)
• The financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to investors and lenders

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to ensure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

It is also a best practice to include a monthly cash flow statement in the appendices of your property development company business plan so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The initial financing plan - also called a sources and uses table - is an important tool when starting a property development company.

It shows where the money needed to set up the business will come from (sources) and how it will be allocated (uses).

Having this table helps understand what costs are involved in setting up the property development company, how the risks are distributed between the shareholders and the lenders, and what will be the starting cash position (which needs to be sufficient to sustain operations until the business breaks even).

Now that the financial forecast of a property development company business plan is understood, let's focus on what goes into the written part of the plan.

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The written part of a property development company business plan

The written part of a property development company business plan plays a key role: it lays out the plan of action you intend to execute to seize the commercial opportunity you've identified on the market and provides the context needed for the reader to decide if they believe your plan to be achievable and your financial forecast to be realistic.

The written part of a property development company business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your property development company's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your property development company's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

In your property development company business plan, the second section should focus on the structure and ownership, location, and management team of your company.

In the structure and ownership part, you'll provide an overview of the business's legal structure, details about the owners, and their respective investments and ownership shares. This clarity is crucial, especially if you're seeking financing, as it helps the reader understand which legal entity will receive the funds and who controls the business.

Moving on to the location part, you'll offer an overview of the company's premises and their surroundings. Explain why this particular location is of interest, highlighting factors like catchment area, accessibility, and nearby amenities.

When describing the location of your property development company, you could highlight the benefits of the area's economic potential. You might point out the area's access to transportation hubs, as well as potential for growth in local businesses. You could also emphasize the potential for strong returns on investment, given the area's potential for growth and development. Additionally, the area could offer a diverse array of amenities and activities that could attract potential buyers and renters. Finally, you could point out the area's potential for further growth, emphasizing the potential for long-term returns.

Finally, you should introduce your management team. Describe each member's role, background, and experience.

Don't forget to emphasize any past successes achieved by the management team and how long they've been working together. Demonstrating their track record and teamwork will help potential lenders or investors gain confidence in their leadership and ability to execute the business plan.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your business plan should include a detailed description of the offerings that your company provides to its customers. 

For example, your property development company might offer services such as construction, remodeling, and interior design. Construction services could include the building of new homes, garages, and other structures, while remodeling services could include the renovation of existing homes, kitchens, or bathrooms. Interior design services could help customers choose the right furniture, colors, and style to fit their needs. These services could help customers create their dream home or improve an existing property.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the types of customers you are targeting and how customers can buy them.

4. The market analysis

When presenting your market analysis in your property development company business plan, you should detail the customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and any regulations that may apply.

The goal of this section is to help the reader understand how big and attractive your market is, and demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of the industry.

You should start with the demographics and segmentation subsection, which gives an overview of the addressable market for your property development company, the main trends in the marketplace, and introduces the different customer segments and their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

The target market section should follow and zoom on the customer segments your property development company is targeting, and explain how your products and services meet the specific needs of these customers.

For example, your target market might include young professionals looking to purchase their first property. These customers are likely to be aged between 25-35, have a steady income, and are looking for a good quality property at an affordable price. They may be looking to invest in a property development project with a potential to increase in value over time.

Then comes the competition subsection, where you should introduce your main competitors and explain what differentiates you from them.

Finally, you should finish your market analysis by giving an overview of the main regulations applicable to your property development company.

5. The strategy section

When writing the strategy section of a business plan for your property development company, it is essential to include information about your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

The competitive edge subsection should explain what sets your company apart from its competitors. This part is especially key if you are writing the business plan of a startup, as you have to make a name for yourself in the marketplace against established players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you intend to remain profitable while still offering competitive prices to your customers.

The sales & marketing plan should outline how you intend to reach out and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones with loyalty programs or special offers. 

The milestones subsection should outline what your company has achieved to date, and its main objectives for the years to come - along with dates so that everyone involved has clear expectations of when progress can be expected.

The risks and mitigants subsection should list the main risks that jeopardize the execution of your plan and explain what measures you have taken to minimize these. This is essential in order for investors or lenders to feel secure in investing in your venture.

Your property development company could face a number of risks. For example, there may be a risk of a downturn in the housing market, which could reduce demand for the properties you develop. Additionally, there could be a risk of unexpected costs arising during the development process, which might mean that projects cannot be completed as originally planned.

6. The operations section

In your business plan, it's also essential to provide a detailed overview of the operations of your property development company.

Start by covering your team, highlighting key roles and your recruitment plan to support the expected growth. Outline the qualifications and experience required for each role and your intended recruitment methods, whether through job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your property development company's operating hours, allowing the reader to assess staffing levels adequately. Additionally, mention any plans for varying opening times during peak seasons and how you'll handle customer queries outside normal operating hours.

Then, shift your focus to the key assets and intellectual property (IP) necessary for your business. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, make sure to include them in this section.

You could have physical assets such as land or buildings that the property development company may own. Additionally, the company might have intellectual property like brand names, logos, or trademarks associated with the company. These could be used to distinguish the company’s services and products from its competitors.

Lastly, include a list of suppliers you plan to work with, detailing their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, and contract duration. Investors are interested in understanding why you've chosen specific suppliers, which may be due to higher-quality products or established relationships from previous ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will present the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of what goes in your property development company business plan, let's look at the solutions you can use to draft yours.

What tool should I use to write my property development company's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main solutions for creating a property development company business plan:

• Using specialized online business plan software,
• Outsourcing the plan to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your property development company's business plan

The modern and most efficient way to write a property development company business plan is to use business plan software .

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

Need a solid financial forecast?

The Business Plan Shop does the maths for you. Simply enter your revenues, costs and investments. Click save and our online tool builds a three-way forecast for you instantly.

Hiring a business plan writer to write your property development company's business plan

Outsourcing your property development company business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are experienced in writing business plans and adept at creating financial forecasts without errors. Furthermore, hiring a consultant can save you time and allow you to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

However, hiring business plan writers is expensive as you are paying for the software used by the consultant, plus their time, and their profit margin of course.

From experience, you need to budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a complete business plan, more if you need to make changes after the initial version (which happens frequently after the initial meetings with lenders or investors).

You also need to be careful when seeking investment. Investors want their money to be used to grow the business, not spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services (and other consulting services such as legal services) needs to be negligible relative to the amount raised.

The other drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself: you just get the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business plan software - which makes it difficult to maintain the document up to date without hiring the consultant on a retainer.

For these reasons, outsourcing the property development company business plan to a business plan writer should be considered carefully, weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside help.

Ultimately, it may be the right decision for some businesses, while others may find it beneficial to write their business plan using online software.

Why not create your property development company's business plan using Word or Excel?

Using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write a property development company business plan is a terrible idea.

For starters, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is very technical and requires both a strong grasp of accounting principles and solid skills in financial modelling.

As a result, it is unlikely anyone will trust your numbers unless - like us at The Business Plan Shop - you hold a degree in finance and accounting and have significant financial modelling experience in your past.

The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the 1990s and early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Also, using software makes it easy to compare actuals vs. forecasts and maintain our forecasts up to date to maintain visibility on future cash flows - as we discussed earlier in this guide - whereas this is a pain to do with a spreadsheet.

That's for the forecast, but what about the written part of my property development company business plan?

This part is less error-prone, but here also software brings tremendous gains in productivity:

• Word processors don't include instructions and examples for each part of your business plan
• Word processors don't update your numbers automatically when they change in your forecast
• Word processors don't handle the formatting for you

Overall, while Word or Excel may be viable options for creating a property development company business plan for some entrepreneurs, it is by far not the best or most efficient solution.

• Having an up-to-date business plan is key to maintaining visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 parts: a financial forecast highlighting the expected growth, profitability and cash generation of the business; and a written part which provides the context needed to interpret and assess the quality of the forecast.
• Using business plan software is the modern way of writing and maintaining business plans.

We hope that this guide helped you to better understand how to write the business plan for a property development company. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a 5 years business plan
• Business plan myths

Know someone who owns or wants to start a property development company? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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Real Estate Development Business Plan

Real estate industry has grown tremendously over the past few years, and we don’t anticipate any significant shifts any time soon. Incredible profit potential, income diversification, and various tax benefits make it an excellent consideration.

Are you looking to start writing a business plan for your real estate development business? Creating a business plan is essential to starting, growing, and securing funding for your business. So we have prepared a real estate development business plan template to help you start writing yours.

Free Business Plan Template

Download our free business plan template now and pave the way to success. Let’s turn your vision into an actionable strategy!

• Fill in the blanks – Outline
• Financial Tables

How to Write a Real Estate Development Business Plan?

Writing a real estate development business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section of the business plan intended to provide an overview of the whole business plan. Generally, it is written after the entire business plan is ready. Here are some components to add to your summary:

Start with a brief introduction:

Market opportunity:, mention your services:, management team:, financial highlights:, call to action:.

Ensure you keep your executive summary concise and clear, use simple language, and avoid jargon.

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2. Business Overview

Depending on what details of your business are important, you’ll need different elements in your business overview. Still, there are some foundational elements like business name, legal structure, location, history, and mission statement that every business overview should include:

About the business:

• The name and type of your real estate development company: mention whether you are a development company focusing on residential, commercial, resort & hospitality development, or industrial development. Maybe, you offer a mix of some of these services—so mention it.
• Company structure of your real estate business, whether it is an LLC, partnership firm, or something else.
• Location of your property development company and why you selected that place.

Mission statement:

Business history:, future goals:.

This section should provide an in-depth understanding of your real estate development business. Also, the business overview section should be engaging and precise.

3. Market Analysis

Market analysis provides a clear understanding of the market in which your real estate development business will run along with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. Your market analysis should contain the following essential components:

Target market:

Market size and growth potential:, competitive analysis:, market trends:, regulatory environment:.

Some additional tips for writing the market analysis section of your business plan:

• Use a variety of sources to gather data, including industry reports, market research studies, and surveys.
• Be specific and provide detailed information wherever possible.
• Include charts and graphs to help illustrate your key points.
• Keep your target audience in mind while writing the business plan

4. Products And Services

The product and services section of a property development business plan should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

List the services:

• Create a list of services your development business will offer, including construction and project management, architectural designing and planning, property acquisition, financing services, etc.
• Describe each service: Provide a detailed description of what it entails, the time required, and the qualifications of the professionals who will provide it. For example, a project manager is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of a project.

Emphasize safety and quality:

Overall, a business plan’s product and services section should be detailed, informative, and customer-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

Develop your unique selling proposition (USP):

Determine your pricing strategy:, marketing strategies:, sales strategies:, customer retention:.

Overall, the sales and marketing strategies section of your business plan should outline your plans to attract and retain customers and generate revenue. Be specific, realistic, and data-driven in your approach, and be prepared to adjust your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

When writing the operations plan section, it’s important to consider the various aspects of your business processes and procedures involved in operating a business. Here are the components to include in an operations plan:

Hiring plan:

Operational process:, equipment and machinery:.

By including these key elements in your operations plan section, you can create a comprehensive plan that outlines how you will run your real estate development business.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of the individuals responsible for running the real estate development business. This section should provide a detailed description of the experience and qualifications of each manager, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

Key managers:

Organizational structure:, compensation plan:, board of advisors:.

Describe your company’s key personnel and highlight why your business has the fittest team.

8. Financial Plan

When writing the financial plan section of a business plan, it’s important to provide a comprehensive overview of your financial projections for the first few years of your business.

Profit & loss statement:

Cash flow statement:, balance sheet:, break-even point:, financing needs:.

Remember to be realistic with your financial projections and provide supporting evidence for your estimates.

9. Appendix

When writing the appendix section, you should include any additional information that supports the main content of your plan. This may include financial statements, market research data, legal documents, and other relevant information.

• Include a table of contents for the appendix section to make it easy for readers to find specific information.
• Include financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. These should be up-to-date and show your financial projections for at least the first three years of your business.
• Provide market research data, such as statistics on the size of the real estate development industry, consumer demographics, and trends in the industry.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Provide any additional documentation related to your business plans, such as marketing materials, product brochures, and operational procedures.
• Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the information they need.

Remember, the appendix section of your real estate development business should only include relevant and essential information supporting your plan’s main content.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

This real estate development business plan sample will provide an idea for writing a successful real estate development plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready real estate business plan to impress your audience, download our real estate development business plan pdf .

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Key Components of a Business Plan

Frequently asked questions, why do you need a real estate development business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful real estate development company. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your real estate business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your real estate business.

How to get funding for your real estate development business?

There are several ways to get funding for your real estate business, but one of the most efficient and speedy funding options is self-funding. Other options for funding are:

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your development business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought options for startups.
• Venture capital – Venture capitalists will invest in your business in exchange for a percentage of shares, so this funding option is also viable.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

Where to find business plan writers for your real estate development business?

There are many business plan writers available, but no one knows your business and idea better than you, so we recommend you write your real estate development business plan and outline your vision as you have in your mind.

What is the easiest way to write your real estate development business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any real estate development business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our business plan software.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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