• carrot ad
  • foreclosure 728x90 gif
  • pandadoc 728x90


Today I'm talking with Mike Marshall about land entitlements.

Believe it or not, I didn’t know hardly anything about the concept of getting land entitlements until about a year ago because, for most of my land investing career, I had never done any improvements or development with any of the vacant lots I’d flipped. I just bought them for really cheap, did nothing to them, and then resold them for a higher price.

That’s all good and fine (and there are a lot of advantages of taking that approach), but what if you DO want to develop your land? Or, even if you don’t develop it yourself, but you want to obtain all the necessary approvals from the local government so that the next guy can start developing it – how does this process work?

This is called the entitlement process. Land entitlement is the process where a real estate developer or landowner obtains approval from the local governing body for their development plans.

When a property receives its entitlements, it brings certainty to the equation, so you know a property can be used for a specific purpose and developed a certain way (so you don’t have to buy a property without knowing if you’ll be able to use it for your intended purpose). This certainty actually adds value to the property.

I’m talking with Mike Marshall because he’s an expert in this stuff. With nearly 20 years of experience in the land entitlement space, he knows all about how to entitlements to add value to a property without ever having to touch it. Whether it's subdivisions, change of use permits, zoning changes, or full-scale development, Mike knows how to help investors navigate the regulatory waters on their pathway toward entitlement approval.

Key Takeaways

In this episode, you will:

  • Learn how land entitlements boost property value by clarifying future use, even if you don’t plan to develop.
  • Discover why pre-application meetings with local officials help spot issues and prevent costly mistakes before buying land.
  • Understand the difference between zoning and entitlements, where zoning sets limits and entitlements grant rights to develop.
  • Explore the steps in the entitlement process, from site plan reviews to addressing feedback to meet approval conditions.
  • Recognize the costs of land entitlements, including fees for engineers, architects, and potential rezoning, which vary by area.


Share Your Thoughts

Help out the show!

Thanks again for listening!

About the author

Seth Williams is the Founder of REtipster.com - an online community that offers real-world guidance for real estate investors.

REtipster Club

Discover the REtipster Club

Learn what successful investors aren’t telling you.
Become a member, achieve financial freedom and
make your dream a reality!

Join the Club!
Scroll Up

Welcome to REtipster.com

We noticed you are using an Ad Blocker


We get it, too much advertising can be annoying.

Our few advertisers help us continue bringing lots of great content to you for FREE.

Please add REtipster.com to your Ad Blocker white list, to receive full access to website functionality.

Thank you for supporting. We promise you will find ample value from our website. 

Loading