For land acquisition teams operating in large, fast-moving markets, organisation and speed are everything.
The larger the geography, the harder it becomes to track potential sites, manage deal information, and stay ahead of new opportunities. Without the right systems in place, valuable leads can quickly become buried across spreadsheets, documents, and disconnected tools.
That’s the challenge facing many homebuilders across the United States today.
We recently spoke with John Buzzy, Land Acquisition Manager at PulteGroup, about how his team uses LandTech to manage opportunities across one of the largest and most competitive housing markets in Florida.
From consolidating their workflow into a single system to gaining new visibility into development activity, John explains how LandTech has helped bring structure and efficiency to the land acquisition process.
Managing Land Opportunities Across a Large Geographic Market
Southwest Florida represents a significant operational footprint for land teams.
The region spans multiple counties and rapidly growing markets, requiring acquisition teams to monitor opportunities across a wide area.
As John explains:
“The Southwest Florida market is relatively large compared to most. We stretch out from Manatee County, which is the general Tampa area, all the way to Marco Island, which is the southernmost point of Collier County.”
This creates a territory that stretches for more than a hundred miles.
“Overall, we're stretching out over 120 miles along I-75 - a large, stretched-out area.”
For teams responsible for identifying and evaluating sites across such a wide geography, maintaining a clear overview of opportunities becomes essential.
The Challenge of Managing Information Across Multiple Tools
Before implementing LandTech, PulteGroup’s land team relied on several different tools to track potential opportunities.
Like many acquisition teams, the process had evolved organically over time.
“Before using LandTech, we used three ways to track sites we were interested in. One, old-school pen and paper. Two, using Google Earth. And effectively a Google document to share and upload information based on the site.”
Each tool served a specific purpose, but the fragmented system made it difficult to maintain a consistent view of opportunities.
Information about a single site could exist in multiple places, creating inefficiencies and increasing the risk of important details being missed.
One Central System for Land Opportunities
Since adopting LandTech, PulteGroup has moved away from this fragmented approach.
Instead of juggling several different tools, their team now manages opportunities within a single platform.
According to John, the biggest advantage has been LandTech’s CRM functionality.
“The CRM is by far the biggest benefit. As opposed to having three or four different vessels for collecting or storing information, we're really able to rely on one central location.”
Having a centralised system allows the team to capture more detailed information about each opportunity.
“We can store and track information such as broker information or intentions for the site for future use, even if they're not an active client.”
This makes it easier to revisit opportunities over time and maintain valuable market intelligence.
The system also helps the team prioritise the most promising sites.
“We can also prioritise and tier deals.”
For acquisition teams reviewing dozens of opportunities at any given time, the ability to organise and prioritise opportunities can significantly improve decision-making.
A Platform That Scales With Your Team
One of the key advantages John highlights is how easily the platform adapts to different workflows.
Rather than requiring teams to overhaul their entire process from day one, LandTech allows users to start simple and gradually expand how they use the system.
“Getting started with LandTech was a breeze for our team.”
Initially, the PulteGroup team focused on a straightforward use case.
“We started off with a more fundamental approach of storing and uploading sites that we had on the system.”
Over time, they discovered new ways to leverage the platform’s capabilities.
“What we’ve found is that you grow with the program and get as much use out of it as you want.”
John also emphasises how intuitive the platform is for new users.
“Onboarding is simple, it's fluent, it's clear - there's no wasted space. It's clear and gives us exactly what we're looking for.”
This ease of use has helped the team quickly integrate LandTech into their daily workflow.
Instant Access to Critical Site Information
When evaluating potential development sites, land acquisition teams often start by analysing a few key constraints.
For PulteGroup’s Southwest Florida team, three factors are particularly important during early-stage site assessments.
“Whenever we get a site and we're looking at it for the first time, the path forward for us always includes the presence or lack of wetlands, the current zoning, and the future land use.”
These factors play a critical role in determining whether a site is worth pursuing.
“These are the three most critical items for us to determine whether a site is worth pursuing.”
LandTech allows the team to access this information immediately during their initial review.
“With LandTech, this information is available in real time and is 100% accurate. It's really reliable.”
Having immediate access to these datasets helps the team filter opportunities more efficiently and focus their attention on the most viable sites.
Gaining a Competitive Advantage Through Development Data
In addition to evaluating individual sites, land teams must constantly monitor broader development activity across their market.
Understanding where other builders are in the entitlement process can reveal new opportunities.
John highlights LandTech’s ERP tracking as one of the most valuable features for this purpose.
“One feature we've found really useful is the ERP tracking.”
This information helps the team understand how projects are progressing across their region.
“For us in our market, it's an incredibly valuable tool to determine seller motivations, where builders are at in the process of their development, and if there's a potential opportunity for us to invest.”
Real-time visibility into development activity can also reveal opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
“Right now we're seeing a lot of permits with specific developments come back to market.”
Being able to track this activity as it happens provides an important strategic advantage.
“Being able to see real-time applications being withdrawn or denied gives us an advantage. It's incredibly beneficial for us.”
Because the data is updated frequently, the team can act quickly when new opportunities emerge.
“The fact it's updated so regularly gives us an added bonus and a competitive advantage over some of our competition.”
A Collaborative Partnership with the LandTech Team
Technology alone isn’t enough to improve workflows. Ongoing support and collaboration also play a critical role in helping teams get the most from a platform.
For John, the responsiveness of the LandTech team has been a standout aspect of the experience.
“The customer service and support we've received since using LandTech has been one of our favorite parts of this process.”
Whenever questions or issues arise, the response has been immediate.
“The feedback we've gotten on smaller issues relating to the software has been immediate.”
More importantly, the PulteGroup team feels their input has helped shape the product over time.
“We feel like our feedback has been heard and even embedded into the program.”
This collaborative approach makes LandTech feel less like a typical software vendor and more like a long-term partner.
“Our feedback is treated seriously and it's made our jobs much easier.”
As John puts it:
“We feel like LandTech is our partner that works with us in the same way we're looking to work with them.”
Watch the Full Testimonial
To hear John explain how his team uses LandTech across Southwest Florida, watch the full testimonial video.
To watch the full testimonial video, go HERE.
See How LandTech Can Support Your Land Acquisition Strategy
LandTech helps homebuilders, developers, and land acquisition teams:
- Identify and track site opportunities across large geographic markets
- Manage land acquisition pipelines in one central system
- Access critical site data instantly during early-stage evaluations
- Monitor development activity and entitlement progress in real time
If you'd like to see how LandTech could support your land acquisition strategy:
Book a demo or get in touch with our team today.
LandTech is the land acquisition platform built exclusively for US homebuilders. To learn more or book a demo, visit landtech.us.
