Executive Summary
Hunter Quinn Homes, a regional home builder across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida, revolutionized its land acquisition process by implementing Locate Alpha as part of its expansion strategy.
The result: enhanced deal sourcing efficiency, accelerated market entry, and streamlined investment committee processes across all markets.
Key Results
Consolidated expensive subscription services into one platform.
Accelerated new market analysis and expansion decision-making
Enhanced raw land discovery and contact enrichment.
Investment committee decisions are made more quickly and backed with data.
Enabled single land acquisition managers to cover more territories.
The Challenge
Hunter Quinn faced operational challenges in their expansion strategy across the Southeast:
Fragmented Research Tools: Teams were juggling multiple expensive subscription services, each with restrictions that hampered their expansion plans. "The fact that geographic limitations do not hem me in, and I can get surface-level detail without paying huge annual subscriptions for markets I may not even enter - I really appreciate that."
Inefficient Raw Land Sourcing: Traditional methods for identifying raw land were time-intensive and often led to dead ends. Unclear ownership records created research bottlenecks, forcing teams to spend excessive “windshield time" on sites that didn't meet investment criteria.
Manual Market Analysis: Each new market expansion required weeks of manual research. Land acquisition managers spent a significant amount of time compiling demographics, zoning details, school scores, and comp data from multiple platforms before making assessments.
Investment Committee Inefficiencies: Preparing deal packages for the land investment committee required manual data compilation, often discovering deal-breaking issues late in the process.
The Solution
Hunter Quinn implemented Locate Alpha as their unified land acquisition and market analysis platform, transforming their expansion methodology.
Key Implementation Areas
Comprehensive Land Intelligence
Built-in property ownership data enrichment
Combined zoning overlays with detailed municipal code access
Centralized demographics, flood zones, and development constraints
Streamlined Market Entry Process
Single-platform market analysis.
Rapid competitive landscape assessment and comp analysis
Rental market data.
Current BTR (Build-to-Rent) Communities, as well as future supply.
Enhanced Investment Committee Support
Standardized deal package creation with all-encompassing market data
Quick identification of deal obstacles early in the process
Data-backed storytelling
Results & Value Creation
Operational Efficiency Gains
Accelerated Deal Sourcing: "We're more efficient because we know more about a property before we make initial contact. It's really good to have different pieces that we've used different services for compiled in one place."
Reduced Windshield Time: Teams now arrive at properties with a deeper understanding, eliminating wasted time and focusing their efforts on viable prospects.
Enhanced Skip Tracing Success: The contact enrichment system accurately connects teams with property owners, transforming dead-end leads into active negotiations.
Strategic Market Expansion
Faster New Market Assessment: "One person in a land acquisition manager role can get a lot more gallons per mile" when evaluating new markets like Knoxville or other expansion targets.
Competitive Advantage in Deal Timing: Being first to contact property owners in secondary markets provides "outsized benefit" in securing favorable terms before properties become widely marketed.
BTR Market Intelligence: Access to rental market data enables creative deal structuring, such as the three-phase project where townhome rental analysis helped secure a more competitive land acquisition offer.
Organizational Integration & Adoption
Cross-Functional Value Creation: While land acquisition teams are the primary users, other departments benefit from the research presented in deal packages.
Natural User Adoption: "The people that work for me that use it, they're not using it because I told them to. They're using it because it works for them."
Cost Optimization: Eliminated multiple expensive subscription services while gaining broader coverage and deeper analytics.
"I would be surprised if you couldn't answer 12 out of the first 15 questions I might ask about a prospective raw land deal on Locate Alpha. You've got zoning, demographics, retail chain stores, wetlands, flood zones, new developments, building permits - all those first couple of questions that give you the hot or cold feeling as to whether this warrants more homework."
"It's the Swiss Army knife... having a ton of information in one place."
Workflow Transformation
Executive Impact & Strategic Value
CEO-Level Strategic Benefits: The platform's efficiency gains support the company's expansion strategy, enabling faster market entry decisions and more effective resource allocation across markets.
Stewardship & Cost Management: Consolidating subscriptions while deepening analytics strengthens cost management and operational stewardship.
Scalable Growth Foundation: Efficiency gains enable expansion without increases in headcount, creating sustainable growth.
Looking Forward
The success of Hunter Quinn Homes demonstrates how the right land acquisition platform can accelerate regional expansion while improving analytical depth and cost efficiency. By consolidating research workflows into a unified system, growing builders can achieve competitive advantages in deal sourcing and market entry.
The company continues to explore advanced features, such as batch site analysis for evaluating multiple opportunities simultaneously and integrated CMA sharing capabilities for enhanced stakeholder communication.
For more information on how Locate Alpha can accelerate your land acquisition and market expansion strategies, please contact our team to arrange a customized demonstration tailored to your specific growth objectives.
