January 28th, 2013 Guest Lecture
Assignment #3, Task #1

In class on January 28th, we were greeted with a pair of gentlemen who presented their local developments on a new project in the Boonville area. While both of these men have other occupations and interests solely beyond development of the site, they were able to effectively connect many of the concepts we have learned thus far in class and illustrate the scope of a project of this magnitude.

Firstly, the two men who came to present to class were Mike Gentry and Sam Harrison. These men teamed up for this project, but both have careers beyond that of the project. Mr. Gentry is involved extensively in real estate law and Dr. Harrison is a practicing physician and the owner of the land in question.

The project that these men teamed up for involves constructing residential living for multi-generational families and elderly. To do this, there have to be several steps taken to ensure the proper steps are taken to begin construction. Included in this process is rezoning the land from it's previous designation as Ag Exemption to a TIRZ (Tax Incremental Reinvestment Zone). This, of course, requires a different set of property taxes to be paid on the land. In this case, Dr. Harrison used to pay only $148 in property taxes versus the projected $100,000 that will be needing to be paid on it now. In addition, any land that is developed in Texas must be platted. Platting the land simplifies the real property and makes describing the area much easier. This shows the divisions much more clearly and is a necessary part of the development process.

While Dr. Harrison and Mr. Gentry are still involved in this project together, there were several interesting parts that were presented. Of all the things discussed, I found it most interesting the way that the land was procured by Dr. Harrison initially. As he explained it, his grandfather won the land in a poker game in Boonville back when it was more a wild west town. Also, I enjoyed the story about the cemetery being located near the property and the city requiring a study to ensure the integrity of the bodies still buried today.

While this was the first guest lecture of this course, I am looking forward to having more guests present their ideas and their experiences in the world of real estate in the future.