Developers unite blog

Purchasing a new construction home in a homeowners association can be time-consuming to manage just within your own four walls. But, take the time to learn and understand what your developer should and should not be doing during the crucial homeowners association turnover period. “Turnover is a process, not an event and it can take a few months or many years” stated Shirley Feldmann, founder of Association Advocates, Inc., which specializes in consultation and project management services for homeowner associations. A unique service they offer is in critical step of when a developer turns the association over to the homeowners and their management team, either professional or self-managed.

The majority of association homeowners have not been involved in this process, unlike the developer which goes through the process on every project they build or convert, this repetitive knowledge gives the developer an edge up on naive associations. That’s why is it important to have a professional management company as your advocate to make sure the rights and obligations of all parties are taken into consideration. A pro-active stance by an association can save the time, headaches and financial resources of it’s members and management team down the road.

Although it varies by state law, associations typically must be turned over to the homeowners when around fifty-percent of the units have been closed by the developer. Some developers attempt to delay the turnover, because of inefficiencies or inadequacies of the project might be discovered by the new homeowners. Timing is crucial, you don’t want the developer to turn over the association near one hundred percent closed, before you know it, they have moved out and on to the next project. Feldmann adds:” To ensure a proper turnover, new home buyers should: Understand developer obligations, note legal time frames, determine board responsibilities and start-up protocols, review the association’s budget and make appropriate changes, decide if they want to hire a management company or self-manage, and determine when and how to hire other professionals including an attorney, engineer, and an accountant.”

While most developers are reputable, although they view each project from strictly a business perspective, while homeowners can be more emotionally involved. Approaching the turnover from a professional standpoint can eliminate stress and confusion for all parties involved. Recently I became aware of a conversion project that the developer (a first-timer) didn’t pull all the building permits, had numerous liens and building code violations against the building, this was discovered nearly two years after the first closings. These problems caused mortgage underwriters for buyers of the first resale’s to decline loaning money on the building. And, the monthly assessments more than doubled to pay the expenses of architects, engineers, and property managers to untangle this mess.

Online resource: www.AssociationAdvocatesInc.com

I. Unreturned Phone Calls

Software development is an intellectual exercise, and you are half the team. If your developer isn’t returning calls, then he’s working blind at best.

II. Frequent Miscommunication

If he’s taking calls, but doing the work wrong, then you need to rethink your relationship. Granted, everyone occasionally misunderstands - he can’t read your mind or vice versa - but if it’s a habit, then you need to either change how you communicate or change who you are communicating with.

III. Bugs cost you more than the software

You should be able to budget your projects accurately - if it costs more to get the software working then it does to write it, then your budget becomes a guess. Find a developer than can make price estimates and stick with them.

IV. Frequent system downtime.

Is your system down as often as it is up? You shouldn’t be riding a productivity rollercoaster - when things break, your developer should fix them ASAP. If not, find a new one.

V. New features getting more expensive.

Are new features getting more expensive and taking longer? You might be building on a shaky foundation. If your current developer didn’t create your software, and just maintains it, talk to him about writing a new codebase before continuing. If not, think about finding someone that can write maintainable software.

VI. It’s not my fault!

If your developer won’t take responsibility, then you need a new one. Responsibility is different from blame - he might or might not be responsible for any given bug. (Software breaks for lots of reasons - one of my clients had an electrician short an ethernet cable across a wall socket, destroying a critical server in the process.) A responsible developer, though, fixes the problems when the happen, even when the client is at fault.

Web design, as the name implies, pertains to the creation of sites in accordance to shape, lines, color, and texture. It considers the theme of the web page as the top priority. It recognizes the importance of the look and feel of the web site and how the visitors will perceive it to be.

The web designer concerns himself mainly on the aesthetic presentation of the web page and puts the viewer’s appreciation on top of everything else. A viewer’s interaction with the web page is always top priority. It is the web designer’s job to entice viewers and to keep them coming back to the web site.

Web development, on the other hand, has more to do with the creation of a website without consideration to design. It takes part in the planning and execution of a web page that are not in line with the design such as encoding in HTML. A web developer concerns himself mainly on the functionality of a web page. His top priorities include the time and effort put into creating and maintaining a web site. In addition, the web developer figures out how viewers will go about and use the website.

When people log on to website, they expect to get what they need. For web developers, providing them exactly what they need is enough. But then again, it is always better to surprise viewers and leave them in awe.

More people are inclined to think that web developers are smarter and better. It is important, then, to keep in mind that technical know-how and practicality can only go so far. Although it is significant to obtain information as quickly and conveniently as possible, a monotonous and bland website cannot simply do the trick for the customers.

A cool, innovative web design brings in the viewers and the millions of hits. There are millions of websites out there and a whole lot of information to disseminate. The challenge is to make your message stand out and be heard. And this is where web design manifests its magic. Web design provides a personal or a company website a chance to over deliver.

Web design and web development are both crucial in the creation of a website. One simply cannot function completely without the other so to compare them and to try to defend which is more important is pointless. They are two very different yet interdependent fields.

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed the great advantages of modular home building in terms of time, costs, and efficiency savings for both the builder-developer and the home buyer. Part 2 of this article will discuss other advantages of modular homes.

There are many advantages to the modular home building market that will benefit both the home buyer and the builder-developer. We’ve already discussed how the builder-developer can save money by avoiding weather-related days and by buying materials in bulk. And, by having all of the laborers supervised together, the builder-developer can control the quality and consistency in the homes.

These advantages transfer to the home owners by allowing the builder-developer to offer homes built with quality for a lower cost at a more frequent rate. A builder-developer can build out his property with quality built homes in a shorter period of time. And the buyer can have peace of mind in knowing that his home has been built with the same quality materials as a traditionally built home.

The buyer can also rest in knowing that his modular home is viewed by his financial institution in the same way as a traditionally built home, meeting the same construction code regulations and zoning laws. This allows many home buyers to qualify for home loans that fit within their budgets and offer competitive interest rates.

Since modular homes are inspected frequently during the total construction process, and quality-control is highly regulated, the home buyer can rest assured that his home with offer lower maintenance costs and energy efficiency, which will keep down his day-to-day expenses.

These advantages make the modular home appealing to home buyers who are looking for a quality home that won’t break their budgets. Therefore, a builder-developer can build out his property knowing that he will have many qualified buyers competing to buy his homes.

Another advantage for the builder-developer is the ability to offer customization to his home buyers. Modular homes can be built from specific plans from the builder as well as custom plans that the buyer can provide. And by using the latest in computer technology, any plan can be changed further to the customer’s satisfaction.

Modular home plans cover all types of homes in all sizes, from vacation and starter homes to immaculate executive homes and even multi-family homes. Many builder-developers are also using the modular building process for professional office building development. The possibilities are limitless.

With all these advantages for the builder-developer, it’s easy to see why so many are moving to the modular home building market. Don’t you want to be a part of the fastest-growing home building process in the country?

1st Impression Publishing (2006)ISBN 9780977086603Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (8/07)

While at first glance “The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer” may look like a classroom textbook, you don’t need to read very far into it to realize it is much, much more. Roland Hughes has managed to write a comprehensive guide on the OpenVMS operating system and a variety of the tools, languages, and databases used, as though he was standing over your shoulder mentoring you through the process. In addition to source code, best practices, and tips and tricks, aimed at saving the novice developer hours of frustration, Roland also includes critical historical information on various applications. This information transfer is critical to the success of the IT industry and consequently the success of all companies whose systems are impacted by the historical trends in application development!

“The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer” covers the fundamentals of OpenVMS, including hardware and software, as well as some tips on choosing an editor, and then starts the reader off with some hands-on exercises that build throughout the book. Also included are some end-of-chapter exercises (with answers included at the end of the book) to ensure the reader has grasped the key elements of the chapter.

The chapters that follow cover various tools, languages, and databases for developing applications on the OpenVMS platform. Beginning with DCL and Utilities, moving through DEC, FMS, CMS, CDD, FORTRAN, COBOL, C/ C++, covering Object and Text libraries, as well as Message Utility, Mail and Phone, describing MySQL and RDB databases, and ending with a chapter on the authors observations on the IT industry. Each chapter includes an overview, a discussion of functionality, and other relevant historical information, tips, tricks, best practices, and much more, and then works through several programming examples and exercises (source code provided). Many of the exercises walk the reader through the same process with the various languages, providing an appreciation of the trade-offs between them. Where more advanced functionality is available, Hughes provides a high level overview of what the additional functionality can provide.

“The Minimum You Need to Know to Be an OpenVMS Application Developer” should be on the desktop of anyone new to the OpenVMS platform and on the bookshelf of those seasoned veterans looking for a comprehensive reference book. Hands-on programming throughout the book provides a highly effective learning tool, and the best practices, advice, and knowledge transfer from the author gives the reader the unique feeling that they are sitting down next to a mentor, being coached through the tricks of the trade!

Land subdivision is a bit like helping Mom slice up her beautiful Apple Pie; it’s all so easy, when, like Mom, you’ve done it a few times. So let’s see if we can get the ingredients for a land subdivision correct so you can do it right first time, OK?

Every city or town in the free world has a Town Plan and it comprises, not surprisingly, of plans or maps, usually with lots of different colors all over them, but also lots of words explaining what the colors mean as well as lots of Rules that tell you what you can do with land.

The colors indicate different zonings that your elected Council has decided upon. So say, Residential housing may be Yellow; high density housing like units, condos may be Pink; and industrial Orange, whatever. So you can see at a glance how the town plan is subdivided into land use categories.

Just as you can’t build a house anywhere you like, you can’t have a farm or a factory in the middle of a residential area either. So the first thing you must do is find out what is the ‘Zoning’ of the land you own or are thinking of buying. Getting land Rezoned is another issue altogether.

Let’s assume your land is zoned for residential housing. The Town Plan will tell you all the requirements you have to undertake for land subdivision. It will tell you the minimum Lot size allowed in a residential subdivision. It will tell you the distance in feet or metres you have to Set-Back each lot from the road, either internal and/or external, as well as the side boundaries of your land.

Now all that seems a bit complicated, but don’t worry, there are professional land subdivision experts who will do all this work for you. Depending in what part of the world you come from, you will engage either an Engineer in the USA or a Land Surveyor in Australia, New Zealand, UK or Ireland to prepare you land subdivision plan.

Always engage one who does their main work in your area, because these are the professional where local knowledge is very important. They will know about soil conditions in your area, because they may have done several land subdivisions in the area already and completed soil testing.

They will also know about the provision of utilities like water supply, electricity, gas, telephone. All of these impact on the cost of your development. For example, if water reticulation is not available on your road frontage and the nearest water supply is a mile away, then you may have to pay for the cost of piping water that distance.

It is vital you know this information before you commit yourself to land subdivision costs and so the Engineer or Land Surveyor are very important not only at your investigation stage, but also when you proceed with the land subdivision planning application preparation and lodgment with your Local Authority. These guys will do all that work for you.

So what does all that add up to?

Yes, you should go the Local Authority in your area of the world that handles Town Planning and study their Town Plan. You may even be able to get a photo copy of that area of the plan that concerns your land. Read the local By-Laws about the type of land subdivision you plan to do.

Next, if you don’t have a recommendation as to which Engineer or Land Surveyor to use, do as I suggest in my e-book, Residential Development Made Easy, go and interview several of them in your area. Remember, as you are low on experience, the interview is your opportunity to find someone with whom you feel comfortable on a personal level.

Do they ‘talk down’ to you and treat you as though you’re a mug? Are they information givers? Do they explain things to you? What land subdivision are they currently working on? Where is their most recently completed land subdivision?

You don’t have the expertise in the profession, so use you own instincts. When you find one that suits you, Do Not start off your relationship, by attempting to haggle over the professional fees he proposed to charge you. If you have interviewed several professional you will know the range of fees charged, BUT you do not know the extent or range of work the firm has to carry out.

So to haggle with a professional based on such skinny information, tells the professional that they should avoid you by a mile. I have developed over $1.2 Billion worth of real estate and have never in my life haggled over a professional fee and the reason is simple.

First: I believe everyone is entitled to a profit from their endeavors, provided they do a good job.

Second: If you land subdivision financial feasibility study is so marginal that you have to save a few thousand dollars by screwing the fees of your professional consultants, then either you have a bad development or you are just a bad employer.

Third: I believe in incentive. I prefer to pay a guy more than he asks. Guess how he performs for me as opposed to clients who don’t.

Software development jobs offer great opportunities for young professionals who managed to find them. Software developers in the United Kingdom get to work on great projects while earning a living. Depending on the market sector they are working within, a software developer can find the right balance between intrinsic and financial rewards. However, graduates and young professionals need to find these jobs first before they can think about earning a living and doing what they love. Hunting for software developer jobs is more difficult than it sounds for a number of reasons.

One reason why the job hunt for software developer jobs is so difficult is the availability of job listings to international applicants. UK graduates and young professionals interested in software development may find a great listing on their favourite job site. However, odds are that hundreds or thousands of applicants around the world have already seen the same listing. Applications flood into hiring managers and many talented professionals can be lost in the shuffle. In order to avoid getting lost amongst the avalanche of job applications, professionals need to streamline their application and CV to be eye catching.

Another reason why software development jobs are tough to find is that many companies utilize recruiting agencies to find the right candidates. Most recruiting agencies develop exclusive relationships with their software clients, which mean that the positions they recruit for are only available through the recruiter. As such, it is imperative for software development aspirants to work with recruiting firms to find their first professional job. Using a recruiting firm not only eliminates some of the competition of more general resources but most firms are able to help software developers become more skilled in the workplace through professional development.

Software development applicants also need to deal with the high standards for every position in the industry. Software development companies, no matter which market sector they work within, face tough competition from regional and international firms. As such, software professionals need to be highly skilled and ready to begin their jobs from day one. However, graduates and young professionals can break down these barriers in two ways. Graduates who seek temporary work while they are looking for their career track job will not only be able to pay the bills but gain the experience needed to impress hiring managers. As well, attending corporate-sponsored events will get candidates in front of recruiters who help make hiring decisions.

There are two sides to a feasibility study and in an earlier article I discussed the cost side of the format and:

Now Let’s Discuss The Income Side

Without the Sales Income, All You’ve Done Is Spend Money, And Anyone Can Do That.

So that we are clear in what I am going to define for you, let me say that there are two forms of Income.

We shall be dealing with Sales Income, in this article, which in our case will consist of large amounts of money being received as a developer in exchange for the property units we have created.

The other form of income in a feasibility study, is Rental Income and will be addressed at another time when I write an E-book on Commercial Development.

Sales Income

Because of the make up of our feasibility study sheet, there will be no deductions from out Gross Sales Income, because we have allowed for those costs on the Cost Side of our feasibility study.

Items such as sales commissions for sales agents and various marketing costs have already been allowed for previously.

Now I have seen some formats of feasibility study, which deducts marketing costs from the Gross Sales Income to produce a Net Sales Income.

It achieves nothing - “all costs are costs” and they should be put on the cost side of the feasibility study, which is what I do and have always done.

When Can You Get Your Hands On The Sales Income.

Getting the sales income into your account is very important, yet many people never ask the question as to what the procedure is “exactly” in their neck of the woods.

Get to your Conveyance Expert and have them give you a schedule of events “with an estimate of time for each stage.”

This information is important in preparing your cash flow feasibility study format, as it results in reducing your interest cost.

So by knowing this information at the beginning of a development investigation, you are adding a little bit of “certainty” to the early stages of your feasibility study.

Let me give you an example:

At the end of the construction phase the builder moves off site, there are a whole range of things that have to occur, any or all of which can delay, settlement taking place and so delay you getting the Sales Income.

Some of these things are:

? Architect’s inspection of the entire project.

? Architect preparing a Defects List.

? Builder calling back subcontractors to correct defects.

? Architect’s final inspection.

? Architect issues Completion Certificate

? Surveyor (engineers in some countries) does final measurement of the individual residential accommodation units and compares to Unit Plan that is included in the Sales Contract.

? Preparation of the Final Unit Plan (as used by conveyance office) for settlement.

? Lodgment of the Unit Plan with the Titles Office.

? Registered Title Issued by the Titles Office.

Can you see that any delay in these items will impact on the settlement date and also on your interest calculation in your feasibility study?

Body Corporate / Management Plan

It is hard to keep up with all the different names that are used around the world for the Legal Entity that runs the complex of units you have developed, however your legal advisor will let you know.

Just as out Towns, Cities and States need Rules & Regulations for all its citizens to live in harmony, so too does a small complex of units, condos, apartment etc.

What ever it is called in your part of the world, is necessary for you to engage a legal advisor to prepare one for you, which will include the preparation of a Budget to which you, as the developer, will have to pay in a certain amount of money.

The reason I am giving this brief explanation on Body Corporate / Management Plans is because at Settlement you will get back some of the money you put in to get the Budget off the ground.

In addition you will have paid the Local Council, Utility etc other amounts of money that cover a set period of time. Once again you will get some of this money back at Settlement. They are generally referred to as “Adjustments at Settlement” and act as a reduction on the cost side of your feasibility study.

So What’s Next?

Remember I told you earlier about the Unit Plan that was lodged with the Titles Office, well has it issued yet? Phew - we just got it today - great!

Now your conveyance expert has to let the Buyers’ representative know in writing that you are ready to settle.

In addition the buyers have to let their individual Finance Lenders know to have the Mortgage Documents completed on time and finally a date has to be agreed on which all these differing parties can meet and settle.

Now I don’t want you to be concerned about all this stuff, but I do want you to know about it, so that you can understand and manage (yourself) and others who have to do all this work for you. Blowing your Top (blood pressure up) achieves nothing.

But understanding, on your part, achieves a great deal. Blowing your top, when you haven’t taken the trouble to find out, makes you look foolish and unprofessional, to the professionals you have engaged to do the work for you.

So Do I Get The Money Now Or Is There More Colm?

Well, the Lender Gets the money actually - yep, the lender gets his Capital Debt and Interest paid off first. And when there is no debt, all the rest is yours. That is, your equity is returned to your account and that lovely Profit, you worked so hard to get.

If you do a lot of freelance business writing, you may be thinking about expanding your market to include developing content for corporate training. But you will find that your client contacts for training projects have backgrounds, concerns, expectations, and methods that may differ from what you have encountered in your other business writing work.

When you have your first client conversations about training development projects, the following four “who” questions will help you avoid some ugly surprises.Who will design the training? The structure of training is just as important as the specific words, images, and tools that are used to deliver the message. Decisions about what content is needed, the flow of information, and delivery formats (text, media, activities, etc.) all have to be made before the actual writing starts. You must know if you’re expected to handle that instructional design, if they’ve already done it, or if a third party will focus on that part of the process. (And if you are doing it, you have to decide whether you have the necessary skills and knowledge, or whether you need to partner with someone else to provide that service.)Who will review and approve the content? Every writing project has some kind of review and approval cycle, but if you haven’t developed training before, you may not be prepared for how complicated review can get in this niche. Training content often goes into much more detail than, say, a sales letter or a marketing piece. That means that internal “subject matter experts” (or SMEs) — people like clinicians, engineers, lawyers, software developers — may microscopically examine everything you write. While excellent at understanding technical details, they may not very good at explaining them, and they are often reluctant to omit any fine details from the content, even when those fine points don’t help people learn and change. You must be acutely aware of the review process if your estimated timeline and budget are going to be anywhere near the mark.Who will deliver the training? Are you developing content for professional trainers, experienced presenters, or for regular employees and supervisors who may not have highly polished facilitation or presentation skills? This has a major impact on how specific and detailed your instructions to the presenters or facilitators must be. As the training experience of the people who are responsible for the training goes down, your time and cost to provide them with training tools will go up. (And even if the project is an online course or a self-study packet, someone will be responsible for providing guidance and answering questions, so this issue still applies.)Who is paying for it? As with many business writing projects, it is common to have two masters. You will probably work with a committee that directly oversees the design, development and implementation of the training, and you have to keep them happy. But an entirely different set of people within the company may be providing the funds for the project, and you have to keep them happy, too. Over the years, I have seen very similar projects that were paid for by human resources, by legal, by a variety of specific operations departments, by marketing, and so on. Even though the content of those projects was more or less the same, the expectations and assumptions around the projects were clearly influenced by whose pocketbook we were dipping into. Knowing who is paying the bills can give you some insight into the results they hope to achieve, and can ensure you aren’t caught unawares by the expectations of the “silent partner” in the room.Training development is a rewarding field, and a great opportunity for professionals with well-developed writing skills. If you’re thinking of adding this market to your portfolio, these key “who” questions will improve your chances for early success.? 2007 Best Training Practices — Will Kenny

One of the more difficult aspects of house hunting can be demystifying the different terms developers and realtors use to describe a style of home. Here are some common terms widely used in Southwest Florida real estate listings.

Condominium/Condo

A condominium is a complex or building consisting of many living units, which are each owned by individuals. The common areas of the complex or building, such as the parking lot, the land and the amenities built on the land, are jointly owned by the unit owners. A condominium also refers to the specific unit in the complex or building. In contrast to townhouses, condos are typically one floor and do not include any individual land ownership.

Pros

? Less expensive than single family homes

? Low maintenance lifestyle - easy to clean and keep-up

? Maintenance fees cover common area maintenance including roof repair and replacement, exterior maintenance

? Often includes amenities such as a community pool

Cons

? Noise from neighbors through shared walls

? Association fees and politics

? No associated land ownership

? One-floor

Townhouse or Townhome

Characterized by two-story construction, a townhouse is one of a row of homes sharing a common wall or walls. Differing from condominiums, townhouse ownership does include individual ownership of the land. There can also be common elements, such as a central courtyard, that would have shared ownership.

Pros

? Less expensive than single family homes

? No neighbors above or below

? Often includes a small fenced yard

? Low maintenance lifestyle - fees cover common area maintenance, including roof repair and replacement, exterior maintenance

? Often includes amenities such as a community pool

Cons

? Noise from neighbors through shared walls

? Homeowners’ association fees and politics

? A townhome or townhouse will typically have a small yard or no yard

? Might have common stairwells

Carriage Home or Coach Home

Both terms are commonly used but describe essentially the same offering — a dwelling with an attached garage. Many times the garage is on the ground floor and living is on the floors above the garage. Carriage or coach homes can also be on a single level and have an adjacent garage. The term “Carriage House” refers to a building from the days when transportation required horse carriages. A carriage or coach house was a sort of garage in which the horse and carriage were stored, separate from the house.

Villa

The term villa used to conjure up images of a luxurious country home on extensive grounds. According to Wikipedia, the term has now evolved to describe a detached or semi-detached suburban home that is free-standing in a landscaped plot of ground, as opposed to a ‘terrace’ of joined houses. The villa concept lives on in Florida, Southern Europe, and Latin America as being associated with a prestigious social position and lifestyle.