Land Acquisition Vice President

Meritage Homes Corporation; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Meritage Homes Corporation is seeking a seasoned VP of Land Acquisition to identify, analyze and negotiate land deals for the division to support residential construction. You will lead the Land Acquisition Department, manage budgets and project pipelines, and partner with division leadership to ensure underwriting assumptions and approvals are met across zoning, entitlements and permitting.

You will build and sustain relationships with landowners, brokers and lenders, drive market analysis, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA strongly preferred.
• Degree in Business Management, Finance, Economics, Construction Science or Real Estate preferred.
• Seven years of real estate acquisition and negotiation experience, preferably in the homebuilding industry.
• Strong management capabilities with experience in managing people, department operations, budgets and pro‑formas, and a track record of managing and growing a strong team.
• Strong background with financial models/analysis.
• Proficient with expertise Microsoft Windows Office Applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word.
• Strong budgeting and project management skills.
• Ability to translate market data into community concepts.
• Understanding of and ability to negotiate complex legal documents.
• Strong Oral/Written Communication and Interpersonal, and Customer Services skills; ability to communicate effectively with a high degree of professionalism.
• Ability to forge meaningful and productive relationships and serve as the face to the organization with C‑level executives, bankers, government agencies/officials, in‑house counsel and other legal representatives.
• Ability to adapt, adjust and negotiate under changing circumstances and in stressful situations.
• Excellent negotiation skills and tenacity to complete deals.
• Frequent interactions with a wide variety of internal and external contacts, with all levels of authority and responsibility.
• Ability to react and respond favorably, manage conflict and resolve problems in a professional manner.
• Team Player and demonstrated ability to work within cross‑functional teams.
• Sound judgment and a high level of integrity with the ability to address sensitive and confidential information and make good decisions under pressure.
• Results‑oriented, accurate, with keen attention to detail.
• Self‑directed; takes initiative, proactively addresses problems; can work with minimal oversight.
• Analytical; with the ability to give, receive and interpret information to determine the root problem and ring issues to a successful conclusion.
• Organized and flexible with the ability to multi‑task, prioritize projects and meet deadlines, often with interruptions, changing circumstances, in a fast‑paced work environment.
• Thrives in changing environment and maintains a positive attitude.

Responsibilities

• Create a vision and lead the Land Acquisition Department, including department operations and budgets and projections of new projects to Division President and Director of Finance.
• Recruit, hire, evaluate, train, develop and retain productive and highly engaged land acquisition department team members.
• Create an annual strategic land plan defining geographic, product and pricing goals to guide acquisition efforts and support the Company’s overall strategic plan.
• Analyze markets and sub‑markets and the division’s current land positions in order to identify gaps and strategic areas for concentrating future land acquisitions and evaluating the overall technical and financial feasibility of a potential project.
• Maintain knowledge of market activities, trends and opportunities and generate prospective land deals through networking with industry and local contacts, brokers, title companies, developers, other builders, land sellers, and others.
• Oversee all potential new projects for the division including aggressively searching for new land parcels, negotiation with sellers, due diligence, and preparation of Corporate Approval Package.
• Prepare letters of intent and respond to requests for qualifications in a competitive bid situation.
• Assist Land Development with project “pro‑forma” creation and refinement, including determining current agency fees, construction costs, site development costs, development and construction durations, absorption rates for home sales, and proposed land cost.
• Responsible for land purchases within the division. Responsible for real estate closings and financings, including negotiating, reviewing and/or drafting land banking documents.
• Oversee contract review with in‑house and outside counsel, manage all contract negotiations, and contract execution.
• Review survey/title issues and other reports to determine liabilities of potential acquisitions.
• Assist in the presentations before municipal decision‑making bodies and other government entities.
• Responsible for the preparation of deal summaries and land tracking report for corporate management and Division President.
• Create and foster relationships with land owners, land brokers, title companies, lenders, municipalities, other homebuilders, and lot developers.
• Manage the Lot Takedown Summaries for accurate reporting of lot purchase activity.
• Assist Division President / Homebuilding in developer related issues after Initial Closing.
• Work with Division President on Balance Sheet Management by selling or renegotiating real estate assets.

Skills

Real estate acquisition

Negotiation

Leadership

Budgeting

Financial modeling

Market analysis

Relationship building

Strategic planning

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

MBA

Business Management

Finance

Economics

Construction Science

Real Estate

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

Responsibilities

The VP of Land Acquisition is responsible for identifying, analyzing, negotiating and acquiring new land and lots for the division in accordance with the organizational strategy and business plan. Additionally, the VP of Land Acquisition will collaborate with the Division leadership to ensure all underwriting assumptions for land acquisition including, but no limited to: phases of zoning approval, municipal approvals, entitlements, permitting, platting, design and construction necessary for the land and lots to be used for residential construction are reasonable. In addition to maintaining and fostering relationships with key players in the market, incumbent is responsible for providing and maintaining up to date data on current and prospective land deals, related market and sub‑market data, proformas, deal status, and for maintaining budgets and the staff necessary to accomplish the responsibilities of the function.

Essential:

• Create a vision and provide leadership to the Land Acquisition Department, including department operations and budgets and projections of new projects to Division President and Director of Finance.
• Recruit, hire, evaluate, train, develop and retain productive and highly engaged land acquisition department team members.
• Create an annual strategic land plan defining geographic, product and pricing goals to guide acquisition efforts and support the Company’s overall strategic plan.
• Analyze markets and sub‑markets and the division’s current land positions in order to identify gaps and strategic areas for concentrating future land acquisitions and evaluating the overall technical and financial feasibility of a potential project.
• Maintain knowledge of market activities, trends and opportunities and generate prospective land deals through networking with industry and local contacts, brokers, title companies, developers, other builders, land sellers, and others.
• Oversee all potential new projects for the division including aggressively searching for new land parcels, negotiation with sellers, due diligence, and preparation of Corporate Approval Package.
• Prepare letters of intent and respond to requests for qualifications in a competitive bid situation.
• Assist Land Development with project “pro‑forma” creation and refinement, including determining current agency fees, construction costs, site development costs, development and construction durations, absorption rates for home sales, and proposed land cost.
• Responsible for land purchases within the division. Responsible for real estate closings and financings, including negotiating, reviewing and/or drafting land banking documents.
• Oversee contract review with in‑house and outside counsel, manage all contract negotiations, and contract execution.
• Review survey/title issues and other reports to determine liabilities of potential acquisitions.
• Assist in the presentations before municipal decision‑making bodies and other government entities.
• Responsible for the preparation of deal summaries and land tracking report for corporate management and Division President.
• Create and foster relationships with land owners, land brokers, title companies, lenders, municipalities, other homebuilders, and lot developers.
• Manage the Lot Takedown Summaries for accurate reporting of lot purchase activity.
• Assist Division President / Homebuilding in developer related issues after Initial Closing.
• Work with Division President on Balance Sheet Management by selling or renegotiating real estate assets.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree required. MBA strongly preferred.
• Degree in Business Management, Finance, Economics, Construction Science or Real Estate strongly preferred.

Experience:

• Seven years of Real Estate acquisition and negotiation experience, preferable in the homebuilding industry.
• Strong management capabilities with experience in managing people, department operations, budgets and pro‑formas, and a track record of managing and growing a strong team.
• Strong background with financial models/analysis.
• Proficient with expertise Microsoft Windows Office Applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word.
• Strong budgeting and project management skills.
• Ability to translate market data into community concepts.
• Understanding of and ability to negotiate complex legal documents.
• Strong Oral/Written Communication and Interpersonal, and Customer Services skills; ability to communicate effectively with a high degree of professionalism.
• Ability to forge meaningful and productive relationships and serve as the face to the organization with C‑level executives, bankers, government agencies/officials, in‑house counsel and other legal representatives.
• Ability to adapt, adjust and negotiate under changing circumstances and in stressful situations.
• Excellent negotiation skills and tenacity to complete deals.
• Frequent interactions with a wide variety of internal and external contacts, with all levels of authority and responsibility.
• Ability to react and respond favorably, manage conflict and resolve problems in a professional manner.
• Team Player and demonstrated ability to work within cross‑functional teams.
• Sound judgment and a high level of integrity with the ability to address sensitive and confidential information and make good decisions under pressure.
• Results‑oriented, accurate, with keen attention to detail.
• Self‑directed; takes initiative, proactively addresses problems; can work with minimal oversight.
• Analytical; with the ability to give, receive and interpret information to determine the root problem and ring issues to a successful conclusion.
• Organized and flexible with the ability to multi‑task, prioritize projects and meet deadlines, often with interruptions, changing circumstances, in a fast‑paced work environment.
• Thrives in changing environment and maintains a positive attitude.