It’s a two way street. Property owners ask us questions, yet architects and planners have a few of our own.

Each week at Online Line Land Planning, we have our skype telecon to share leads and support each other in securing new work. Because of the unique nature of our internet business approach, we constantly have new property owners throughout the world with whom we have never met or worked with before - so pre-qualifying them quickly and efficiently is especially important.

We are excited about each potential opportunity, willing to put forth the time and effort to answer questions, provide advice and information to determine if there is a match between us. In many cases, we get offered the assignment which could be doomed from the start. Here’s why.

Disappointment for us begins when we realize that the property owner is not really prepared. We know this because we have casually mixed in four key questions throughout our casual, conversation that helps build the initial relationship, but in the end we must reveal our honest opinion.

To begin, we need an affirmative answer for all of the following. If one ‘yes’ is missing, it’s over.

1. Do you own the land now?

Answers such as, "We’re in escrow", "We have several candidate sites" and "Our partner is the government" all spell quick trouble.

2. Do you have the money to do the project?

"We are selling our non-strategic properties to fund this", "We have a line of credit with our bank", "It’s a joint venture between us and several other parties", "The money is coming from overseas investors" mean that this project has a limited chance of moving forward.

3. In general, do you have any idea for the property before contacting us?

This is about passion. Property owners may change their direction completely once we begin, but answers such as "That’s why I’m paying you" or "Let’s see some good ideas and I’ll tell you if I like them" show a lack of commitment.

4. Do you have a good team on your side to get this done?

We rely on good communication and feedback to get our work done expeditiously. If we hear, "My secretary will get you what you need", "I’m in town every other week so I’ll handle this myself," or "I’m hiring a project manager soon", you can bet frustration will set in quickly for everybody.

The best course of action may be to advise the property owner to wait until all four questions can be answered in the positive. It may hurt us a bit in the short term but we’ve found that property owners almost always respect us for being candid and generally will come back more prepared than before.

A fifth question is looming, especially in today’s tumultuous economy, which we feel still needs more research before it make the list. In the meantime, we ask silently on the property owner’s behalf, "Is the timing right?" On a few occasions, the four questions were answered to our satisfaction and yet the project stalled, wasn’t sold or took a longer than expected to get absorbed into the marketplace.

At Online Land Planning, we will continue to ask these four key questions at the earliest stages, so that we know if we can add value when necessary at the start or instead, advise property owners to be better prepared before we spend their money.


Rick Abelson
Director - Online Land Planning
www.onlinelandplanning.com