Land Acquisition (Residential Land Feasibility & Deal Analysis)

The Role

This is a finance role that doesn't stay at a desk. You'll build the financial case for a land deal, walk the ground it sits on, and help negotiate the terms it gets bought under.

As a Land Acquisition Associate, you own the analysis that determines whether we buy a piece of land - and you're also the person that is out finding the land and helping to negotiate for it. You'll build the feasibility case: net margin, IRR, market and competitive analysis, comparable sales, and the full due diligence picture. Then you'll help present it to our Asset Management Committee, and if it's approved, you'll also help take it through negotiation and closing.

Every neighborhood we build starts with a deal someone underwrote and closed. Do this well and more families can afford a place of their own.

This is roughly a 50/50 split between analysis and the field. Half of it is desk work in Excel. The other half is broker calls, landowner conversations, contract negotiation with attorneys, and walking parcels and subdivisions in whatever weather the day brings. If you want a pure analyst seat, this isn't it. But if you want to learn how homebuilding actually makes money, there's no better place to do it. 

What You'll Do

Feasibility & Financial Analysis

• Build the financial case for potential acquisitions — net margin, IRR, and sensitivity to price, cost, and pace assumptions
• Perform market analysis and comparable market analyses (CMAs) to test pricing and demand in the submarket
• Track competitor locations, product offerings, price points, and land acquisition costs
• Assemble and help present Feasibility Reports to the Asset Management Committee for deal approval

Due Diligence

• Coordinate with Sales, Purchasing, Design, Finance, and Legal to work through soils and environmental reports, subdivision and lot-fit analysis, zoning, legal and title review, entitlement status, plat and improvement plans, and development status
• Identify deal risks early and quantify what they cost

Building the Lot Pipeline

• Source and analyze public and private data to identify vacant and under-utilized parcels, and track their zoning, ownership, and availability
• Cultivate relationships with land brokers and landowners
• Build and maintain the lot inventory through strategic acquisitions

Negotiation & Closing

• Negotiate letters of intent, pre-acquisition agreements, purchase contracts, and amendments with landowners and attorneys
• Schedule and manage lot takedown commitments to keep closings on time
• Monitor land agreements so that buyer and seller obligations are satisfied before closing

Subdivision Compliance

• Review subdivisions against approved improvement plans and purchase agreement terms
• Coordinate with developers to complete outstanding work

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Real Estate, or a related field strongly preferred. (Minimum: high school diploma or GED.)
• Strong Excel skills and genuine comfort with financial modeling
• The judgment to look at a deal and say no
• Willingness to be out of the office regularly and to negotiate directly with brokers, landowners, and attorneys
• Clear, credible communication, you'll help present recommendations to senior leadership early

Also Required

• Access to a vehicle for daily work, a valid driver's license, and auto liability insurance
• Ability to walk and navigate sites in all weather conditions — heat, rain, cold
• Extended periods at a desk and on a computer

Why Land

In homebuilding, land is the path to running the business. The people who understand how a deal gets underwritten, negotiated, and closed are the ones who end up leading divisions. A realistic path from here looks like Associate → Land Manager → Director of Land → VP of Land.

You'll also see the results. The financial model you build becomes a subdivision, and then a street, and then a hundred families' homes.