Developers often use the word “value.” Sometimes they’ll talk about creating value, and other times they’ll talk about extracting value. In land development, a project must add or provide value to be a success.

This seems so obvious, but many less-than-successful developers skip the critical step of defining the value they intend to redeem. In turn their consulting teams assume what value the developer wants to achieve. This circle of ignorance can and does lead to confusion, wasted time and resources, mismatched relationships, and projects that don’t optimize the value the developer wanted.

I once knew a fisherman and developer named Don. He found a community he wanted to both work in and live in, a place filled with natural beauty, plentiful water, great fundamentals for growth, and great fishing of course.

Once upon a time there was a local developer named Doug. He found property he liked and was well-suited to his product. He did his research on the dirt. He hunted for the problems that might be hidden. He purchased this piece of undeveloped land and felt confident.

This is the second installment in my blog series about the Eight Traits of Successful Developers. In the first post I discussed the first two traits: “Successful developers don’t fall in love too soon” and “Successful developers find the problem.” In this post I will discuss how successful developers understand that consultants must be realists rather than optimists – they must be thorough and candid. This trait is third in the series because I believe it helps developers succeed at trait number two.