I have waterfront land but no money to develop it. Who should I find to help me create an income from it.
I'm looking for contacts as to who could provide me credible information as to how I would go about developing an eco friendly resort or real estate development on a 100 acre freehold property I have in Fiji. I don't live in Fiji though (in Australia) but have friends and family over there. I am a low income earner so don't have any money myself to be able to do something, but have vision and ideas. Would be grateful for any advice to point me in the right direction. Please ask if you want more information.
[{"id": "e0qyryf", "text": "Income with no improvement is gonna be tough. At there taxes? What is your carry cost? ", "replies": [{"id": "e0qzo5x", "text": "No land taxes. It is unencumbered and doesn't cost us anything. Not sure what you mean by 'carry cost'.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0r0rh1", "text": "So Fiji has no property taxes?, sweet. You should Airbnb a basic campsite or something.  Cost of carry would be property taxes, debt service, trash pick up, that\u2019s about it, cost to you... You could put solar or wind out but you already said that you were broke as fuck with no ability to invest. So the short answer is that you can\u2019t expect to make money if you don\u2019t invest anything. Sell that shit and let someone else put it to work. That\u2019s why property taxes should exist in Fiji. Are you a fucking aristocratic Royal trustafarian or something? ", "replies": [{"id": "e0r2kt2", "text": "Basically it's my inheritance as my great, great, great grandfather was one of the first Colonial settlers in Fiji and bought up a few parcels of land. I'm not unwilling to invest in it, it's just my circumstances suck (low income debt cycle) and utilising the land over in Fiji is one way I'm hoping to be able to change my circumstances.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0r0wbp", "text": "Without any capital infusion from you, it's going to be tough. If the land is desirable there may be some developers who would want to partner with you; they will fund the development while you contribute the land. Depending on the valuation of the land, usually the land owner gets a minority stake. \n\nAnother option would be to enter a long term lease to someone who will develop the land, with the term of the lease being long enough to be attractive. \n\nI am not sure if the big commercial real estate agencies have offices in Fiji, they probably operate out of Australia. Perhaps reach out to the big ones over there and talk to their investment services. ", "replies": [{"id": "e0r20x3", "text": "Yes, partnering with somebody was what I was thinking of, but don't know who to get in touch with or who is reliable to carry it out long term (had some interest but didn't go any further due to financing or lack thereof from me...)\n\nLong term leases are like 99 years in Fiji, so that is an option which a lot of the current resorts have with the indigenous Fijians or other land holders (including [the resort](http://nukubati.com/) just across the water from my land), so that is another option, but then I would likely get no say as to what is built (correct me if I'm wrong).", "replies": [{"id": "e0r4ayk", "text": "Reach out to the big brokerage houses. You are correct that this is your best outcome with minimal capital outlay. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "e0r5fvk", "text": "Apart from current zoning as imposed by the local government (if any), you could specify the land uses in your lease contract. \n\nGetting in touch with the big agencies such as CBRE or Colliers in Australia would be your best option for now, you could at least get some ideas from them on how to monetize your property. If it is a desirable waterfront property and if the tourism industry in Fiji is trending upwards then I do not think you will have a hard time raising interest.", "replies": [{"id": "e0r5nhe", "text": "Thanks. I will look up their information and try to get in contact.", "replies": [{"id": "e0r6f2r", "text": "Most of the big brokerages like CBRE or Colliers are more concerned about sales than a scenario like this. \n\nYou need a boutique brokerage with connections to developers. We're based out of LA and have a number of connections to Chinese, US, and Canadian developers. I'd be happy to talk to you and see how we can have you retain ownership of the land while being able to profit from it. ", "replies": [{"id": "e0r6jvs", "text": "Cool, can you pm me your contact details?", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "id3hx95", "text": "Hey Jared, i just sent you an message with questions i had about living in Fiji. Id love to hear your insight. Your Aus/Fijian life sounds very interesting!", "replies": [{"id": "id3r09n", "text": "I only got this reply, no other message.", "replies": [{"id": "id3r839", "text": "Ok! I just resent the message:)", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0r4pws", "text": "Are you Nigerian at all?", "replies": [{"id": "e0r5m03", "text": "Ha ha. Nope. Genuine Fijian / New Zealander living in Australia.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0ri9w4", "text": "Get a ground lease for 99 years, have the payments be tied to the value of the property wait till someone defaults on it and take it back.", "replies": [{"id": "e0rih3x", "text": "Hmmm, and if it takes them 98 years to default? /s", "replies": [{"id": "e0silqz", "text": "You get paid rent of like 5% of value for 98 years", "replies": [{"id": "e0sl7vd", "text": "As the land doesn't have anything on it currently I believe building something on it will make it much more attractive and more valuable, rather than just leasing the land by itself. I believe there is a lot of potential in its development so I'd rather explore that first, but yes, leasing the land only is still an option.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0rivne", "text": "Build docks. Rent them, use money to put floating restaurant on docks. Then take profits to do what you planned. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e0wc494", "text": "Real Quick, NEVER do a ground lease for more than 50 years.  Any major financial firms and lenders don't really view anything at 50+ years as being different than owning it in fee.\n\nBe careful if you ground lease your land, if it's a subordinated ground lease then if your developer goes BK the lender will take your land as well!  If it's an unsubordinated ground lease your lender can still elect to retain control of the property until the entire term of the ground lease has ended!\n\nBeing on the shores of an island your land could be worth anything from a ton to almost nothing depending on the soil conditions on your property.  If it's weak soil you might not even be able to build on it without spending tens of millions in site work (if it can be done at all) because of the cost to import soil, compaction, and potential need for piles.\n\nThat being said, this is a massive property for Fiji!  I hope it works out!\n\nThis is also definitely NOT advice, just something to think about and research further.", "replies": [{"id": "e0x2rok", "text": "Thanks, I appreciate the input. We've got good soil (red volcanic soil) and it's not difficult to grow or build on it!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e1fiu6m", "text": "**Update:**  I am going to meet with an interested commercial building company early next week that is based in Australia and Fiji. Bonus is that the head office is just a few suburbs over from me so it will be good to discuss things face to face. Any tips as to what information I should take or questions I should ask. It's kind of a get together and discuss options and possible future steps. Here's hoping things are positive...", "replies": [{"id": "e2evkrx", "text": "Well, nothing much has happened and I haven't had much of a response moving forward, so still looking...", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "e2caurv", "text": "Contact Cardinal Investments. They are doing major development in Fiji. Check it out on their portfolio: [http://www.cardinalinvestments.com/portfolio/](http://www.cardinalinvestments.com/portfolio/)", "replies": [{"id": "e2cye71", "text": "Thanks! I'll definitely reach out to them. Cool to see they are actually doing things on the same island as my property. Do you have any affiliation with them?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "e2evm0s", "text": "Unfortunately they have no capital left and enough on their plate. :(", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]