Land Acquisition Manager

About the Company

Meritage Homes is a leading homebuilder focused on delivering energy-efficient and affordable entry-level and first move-up homes across the US. With a 40-year history and over 200,000 homes delivered, Meritage is known for its distinctive style, quality construction, and award-winning customer experience. The company fosters a team-oriented environment that encourages creativity, innovation, and professional growth. Meritage has been certified as a Great Place To Work and is ranked on Fortune’s Best Workplaces listings in Construction, Women, and Parents categories.

Responsibilities

• Analyze markets and sub-markets and the division’s current land positions to identify gaps and strategic areas for future land acquisitions.
• Spend significant time in assigned submarkets identifying development patterns, ownership trends, and emerging opportunities through in-person reconnaissance and relationship-based lead generation.
• Proactively source off-market and early-stage land opportunities through regular fieldwork, site visits, and direct outreach to landowners, developers, and local stakeholders.
• Oversee potential new projects for the division, including identification of parcels, negotiation with sellers, due diligence, and preparation of Corporate Approval Package.
• Review and prepare market data, competitive pricing analysis, and evaluate the overall technical and financial feasibility of potential projects.
• Prepare letters of intent and respond to requests for qualifications in competitive bid situations.
• Review survey/title issues and other reports to determine liabilities of potential acquisitions.
• Assist in presentations before municipal decision-making bodies and other government entities as necessary.
• Maintain knowledge of market activities, trends, and opportunities, and generate prospective land deals through networking with industry contacts, brokers, title companies, developers, builders, land sellers, and others.
• Prepare deal summaries and land tracking reports for corporate management and the Division President.
• Create and foster relationships with landowners, land brokers, title companies, lenders, municipalities, other homebuilders, and lot developers.
• Negotiate and prepare amendments to existing land contracts as necessary.

This role is highly market-facing and requires consistent time in the field identifying, cultivating, and advancing land opportunities.

Requirements

• Three or more years of real estate acquisition and negotiation experience, preferably in the homebuilding industry.
• Strong self-starter mentality with the ability to manage time between fieldwork, relationship development, and internal coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to independently source and advance land deals through proactive outreach and on-the-ground market engagement.
• Experience in land acquisition, preferably in homebuilding; a portion of this experience can be accumulated working with municipalities.
• Knowledge of GIS mapping applications and Google Earth.
• Two years of experience working with municipalities, homeowners, contractors, attorneys, and engineers.
• Working knowledge of zoning and land use practices, development standards, and utility solutions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, with advanced skills in Excel.
• Ability to read and interpret lot plans and plat plans.
• Ability to create and implement work plans, prepare written materials, and articulate goals and action plans.

Benefits

• A work environment that encourages creativity and innovative ideas from every level.
• An organization that lives by its core values every day.
• Team atmosphere where every individual is considered a vital asset.
• State-of-the-art technology to provide an optimal working environment.
• A competitive pay structure.
• Strong benefits package.
• Flexibility in work-life integration.
• Opportunity to further your career in a growing national organization.
• Maintain a competitive drive to be the best.