Great post Rock....and I would add...
I think that the developer needs to assess the market and ask himself if the demand is there for another golf course vis-a-vis the demand for more housing.
Our area is saturated with public golf courses now...there's simply not enough demand to build another. I doubt we will see another in the next 2-3 years...
On the other hand, our housing market continues to stay strong. I have a friend who is a 'production builder' - meaning he builds dozens of homes at once...nicest fellow you would ever meet...very humble and does not know what a four letter word is...
I learned a lot from him. Frankly his background is banking, and while at a bank doing real estate lending, he developed a formula for mass housing development that is very successful.
When we were at the beach he told us of a phrase used by homebuilders...
"Build for the classes and eat with the masses. Build for the masses and eat with the classes."
The upshot: you can build one expensive custom home at a time and make a little $$ or you can build a lot of mass production homes for the average homebuyer and make a lot more....
His next project is interesting...he is going to buy the land on which a Private Club sits and convert it into housing...the club is struggling because there are so many better public courses here than their course...they aren't making it and are selling out of desperation.
Then, a perfectly good public course here just closed after only 10 years of operation. They couldn't make it because there was so much competition. Who is buying the land??
Another real estate developer who is going to put houses on the acerage...I think the heyday of making money on golf course development has past its peak. Yes some will still make $$ on it, but I think it has passed its prime....
