Can I keep the existing home and create additional housing?
A LOOK INSIDE THE WORK
Evidence you can read.
Decisions you can explain.
See how we organize a property question into findings, assumptions, and a practical next step. Your report is scoped to your property and the decision you need to make.
Illustrative examples
These previews demonstrate our reporting approach. The scenario and financial inputs are fictional. They are not a completed client report, a property valuation, a market forecast, or an approval to build.
EXAMPLE 01 / ZONING & OPPORTUNITY
What could this property become?
A useful zoning review connects the rules to a decision. It also makes the remaining questions visible.
SMART GIRL DEVELOPMENTSReal Estate Development & AdvisorySAMPLE FORMAT
ILLUSTRATIVE RESIDENTIAL INFILL SCENARIO
Retain the home.
Investigate the possibilities.
An owner wants to understand whether an existing home and additional residences could share a site. No real parcel, zoning district, or unit entitlement is represented in this example.
Early investigation. Development yield has not been established.
Confirm the parcel, zoning, and site constraints before commissioning a detailed design.
Questions that shape the recommendation
Land & access
Can a survey establish usable area, setbacks, easements, and a workable access arrangement?
Policy & approvals
What does current zoning allow, and how does the proposed use relate to adopted land-use policy?
Infrastructure
What must be confirmed about water, sewer, stormwater, and emergency access?
EXAMPLE DECISION NOTE
Proceed with a defined research scope. Compare an option under existing zoning with any option requiring a change. Keep unit counts provisional until the necessary site and regulatory checks are complete.
What a scoped zoning report can include
Site & parcel profile
Parcel identity, area, ownership or site-control questions, existing improvements, and the owner’s objective.
Zoning & policy context
Current zoning, adopted land-use policy, overlays, existing approvals, and the source and date of each finding.
Development options
Compare options under existing zoning with options requiring further approvals. Identify what has not yet been established.
Potential approval path
The relevant review bodies, application dependencies, public engagement, and issues for preliminary staff discussion.
Constraints & precedent
Flag site access, utilities, topography, title questions, and relevant nearby decisions. Prior approvals do not ensure the same result.
Recommendation & next steps
A concise decision, supporting reasoning, outstanding questions, and the next responsible person or investigation.
For a Nashville zone change, Planning Commission makes a recommendation and Metro Council considers the bill through three readings. The specific path depends on the request. Read Metro’s process ↗
Request a zoning research scope ↗EXAMPLE 02 / DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY
Does the plan hold up?
A budget should show where its numbers come from and what happens when those assumptions change.
SMART GIRL DEVELOPMENTSReal Estate Development & AdvisoryFICTIONAL INPUTS
A FOUR-HOME TEACHING EXAMPLE
The numbers.
And the room for change.
Assume 4 homes at $650,000 each. These invented figures explain the method; they do not establish what can be built or sold on any Nashville property.
| Land acquisition | $400,000 |
|---|---|
| Construction | $1,400,000 |
| Design, permits & other soft costs | $260,000 |
| Financing & carrying costs | $100,000 |
| Sales & closing costs | $100,000 |
| Contingency allowance | $140,000 |
| Total assumed cost | $2,400,000 |
ILLUSTRATIVE BASE CASE
- Gross sales
- $2,600,000
- Project surplus
- $200,000
- Margin on gross sales
- 7.7%
Surplus equals gross sales minus the listed development costs. It is before entity-level income taxes and partner distributions, and is not cash received or a return on invested equity.
Test the downside before relying on the upside.
| Scenario | Gross sales | Total cost | Surplus / loss | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative base case | $2,600,000 | $2,400,000 | $200,000 | 7.7% |
| Sale prices 10% lower | $2,340,000 | $2,400,000 | -$60,000 | -2.6% |
| Construction cost 10% higher | $2,600,000 | $2,540,000 | $60,000 | 2.3% |
| Both changes together | $2,340,000 | $2,540,000 | -$200,000 | -8.5% |
WHAT THIS EXAMPLE REVEALS
A 10% reduction in assumed sale prices turns a $200,000 surplus into a $60,000 loss. A real review would investigate comparable sales, scope-specific cost estimates, financing terms, and timing before treating the base case as credible.
What a scoped feasibility review can include
Program & assumptions
Proposed use, unit count, schedule, site-control position, and the evidence or estimate behind each input.
Market & cost evidence
Relevant comparable properties, current project-specific estimates, and clearly dated sources.
Approval dependencies
The outstanding zoning, design, infrastructure, and permit questions that could change cost, timing, or yield.
Budget & scenarios
Sources and uses, expected timing, contingency, downside tests, and the agreed financial measures.
Decision memo
A reasoned recommendation to proceed, revise, investigate further, or pause, with the conditions behind it.
Research depth, model detail, specialist inputs, delivery dates, and fees are agreed in writing. These reports are separate from the $250 introductory review.
Discuss a feasibility review ↗EXPLORE THE REAL WORK
From examples to experience.
Our selected project stories show actual drawings, Jessica’s role, and documented milestones. Proposal studies and completed work are identified separately.
LET’S DEVELOP.
What decision do you need your report to answer?
A property address helps. A good question is enough to begin.