Manage a real estate development

A development is a layer above your projects: it groups several projects by phase and role, adds the land cost to the budget of those projects, and gives you the consolidated cost of the subdivision. On top of that you track the sale of your units or lots — from available to reserved, sold and deeded — with absorption and margin against that cost, all on one dashboard.

In short

The Consolidated view sets verifiable physical progress against what was paid: if you paid ahead, it tells you by how much money.
The Cash tab projects 13 weeks with what is already payable and the scheduled payments; if capital runs short, it says how much and in which week.
The partners report freezes its first snapshot when you create the link and then one per week: a snapshot is never rewritten, so you can compare week to week.
Packages and Contracts consolidate every project: the same item added up, and how much you have committed with each contractor.
A development groups several projects by phase and role; its consolidated cost is derived from those projects' budgets + the land cost.
Cost to date = land + spent + committed; the Consolidated EAC tells you what the development will close at.
Each unit or lot lives in a status: available → reserved → sold → deeded.
Absorption is units placed (reserved + sold + deeded) divided by total inventory.
The development's margin is the sales value minus the cost: land + the larger of the projects' cost and the prototypes' cost per unit.

1
Create the development
In Developments, tap "New development". Give it a name and, when you edit it, enter the land cost; that amount is added to the subdivision's consolidated cost.
2
Link your projects (by phase and role)
From the development, link your existing projects, specifying their phase and their role (site development, housing, amenity). The consolidated cost builds itself from the budget, the spent amount and the committed amount of each linked project, plus the land.
3
Load the inventory of units or lots
On the "Units and sales" tab, add the prototypes that repeat (for example, Model A Home ×50) and the individual units are created with their identifier, area, cost and list price. To raise or lower prices in bulk, select units (or a whole prototype with its checkbox) and tap “Change price”: by percentage, by amount or to a fixed price; only available units change, reserved and sold ones keep their agreed price.
4
Move the status as you sell
Update each unit from available to reserved, sold and finally deeded, with its client, sale price and date. Once it leaves available, its revenue counts toward contracted revenue; at closing, it counts toward deeded revenue (money that is locked in).
5
Read absorption and margin
The dashboard shows absorption (placed ÷ total) with a bar by status, the sales value, the deeded revenue and the margin with its percentage: sales value − (land + the larger of the projects' cost and the cost per unit). With no linked projects, the margin uses the prototype's cost per unit; with no cost captured at all, it tells you so instead of showing 100%.
6
Review the packages for the entire development
The Packages tab adds up the same item — masonry, structure, finishes — across all linked projects. Each row carries the spread between the most expensive project and the cheapest one: if it goes over 15% it flags it for you. That is where you negotiate once for the whole subdivision instead of project by project, and where you catch that one block is being built more expensively than the rest.
7
Look at your exposure by contractor
The Contracts tab groups by who is building, not by project. You see how much you have committed to each contractor across the whole development and on how many projects they work. Below the total you see what percentage of the construction budget is already under contract: what is left is what still has no owner and no locked-in price.
8
Compare physical against financial progress
In the Consolidated view, above the metrics, is the comparison: verifiable physical progress (weighted by the amount of each item) against financial progress (spent over budget). If you paid ahead of the verified work, the alert tells you how much money the gap is worth — the same comparison appears in miniature on every project in the phases, so you can see which one causes it. Below, the EAC breaks down where the development will close (original budget, approved changes, land and committed surplus), and a panel of at most 5 alerts only talks about what moves money or dates.
9
Project cash 13 weeks ahead
The Cash tab does not forecast: it adds what is ALREADY payable (approved net billings and unpaid invoices) against the scheduled inflows with a date (payment plans of the units sold and the partner or loan contributions you record). The week-by-week running total tells you whether it is enough — and if not, how much capital is missing and in which week the lowest point arrives.
10
Share the partners report
With the Report button you create a private link and set the partners’ emails and the cadence (weekly or monthly). The first snapshot is frozen as soon as you create the link and then one every week — figures that are never rewritten — and the report shows the latest snapshot, the change against the previous one, sales (absorption, sold, collected and receivable), physical vs financial progress over time and the breakdown by project. If no project is linked yet but you are already selling, the snapshot covers sales. The email only carries the summary and the link.

Frequently asked questions

Why is a contractor working on several projects highlighted?

Because it cuts both ways. Concentrating volume with one contractor gives you leverage to negotiate a better price, but it also concentrates risk: if that contractor fails, it is not one project that stops, it is every project they are on. Seeing it before you sign the next contract is exactly the point.

Can I edit the packages or the contracts from the development?

No, and that is on purpose. These two tabs are consolidated read-only views: creating and editing live in each project, which is where they have context. Here you see the whole picture to make purchasing and contracting decisions, not to enter data.

Where does the development's consolidated cost come from?

It is derived from the linked projects: it adds up their budget (the spent amount and the committed amount) and adds the land cost you entered in the development. You do not type it separately; it is recalculated from the projects.

What does each unit status mean?

Available: still for sale. Reserved: held by a client. Sold: with a signed purchase agreement. Deeded: closed, the revenue is now money that is locked in. Absorption counts reserved, sold and deeded as placed.

How is the margin calculated?

It is the sales value of the units (sale price, or the list price if it has not sold yet) minus the cost: the land plus the larger of the linked projects' cost and the cost per unit captured on the prototypes. Taking the larger avoids counting the same construction twice. Since both sides live in Matterial, it shows up live as you go.

What if I only do the site development for a developer?

You can run that project like any other and, if the developer uses Matterial, link it to their development with the site development role. You are not required to handle sales if your role is only to build.

Why is the partners report frozen weekly?

So it can be compared. If the report were recalculated live, the snapshot a partner saw last week would say something else today and the "trend" would mean nothing. The first snapshot is frozen when the link is created and then one every week, never rewritten; history only exists from the moment it starts being captured — it cannot be rebuilt backwards.

Is the 13-week cash view a forecast?

No, on purpose. It only adds real commitments: debt that is already payable on the outflow side, and scheduled payments with a date on the inflow side. Anything scheduled without a date is shown separately and does not inflate the curve. If you want an inflow to count, give it a date.

What does the "to approve" status on a contract mean?

That there is executed work (the item is progressing) that nobody has billed yet: the work is ahead of the paperwork and a payment is coming your way. The opposite is "overpaid": the money is ahead of what was approved.

Manage a real estate development

In short

The Consolidated view sets verifiable physical progress against what was paid: if you paid ahead, it tells you by how much money.
The Cash tab projects 13 weeks with what is already payable and the scheduled payments; if capital runs short, it says how much and in which week.
The partners report freezes its first snapshot when you create the link and then one per week: a snapshot is never rewritten, so you can compare week to week.
Packages and Contracts consolidate every project: the same item added up, and how much you have committed with each contractor.
A development groups several projects by phase and role; its consolidated cost is derived from those projects' budgets + the land cost.
Cost to date = land + spent + committed; the Consolidated EAC tells you what the development will close at.
Each unit or lot lives in a status: available → reserved → sold → deeded.
Absorption is units placed (reserved + sold + deeded) divided by total inventory.
The development's margin is the sales value minus the cost: land + the larger of the projects' cost and the prototypes' cost per unit.

Create the development

In Developments, tap "New development". Give it a name and, when you edit it, enter the land cost; that amount is added to the subdivision's consolidated cost.

Link your projects (by phase and role)

From the development, link your existing projects, specifying their phase and their role (site development, housing, amenity). The consolidated cost builds itself from the budget, the spent amount and the committed amount of each linked project, plus the land.

Load the inventory of units or lots

On the "Units and sales" tab, add the prototypes that repeat (for example, Model A Home ×50) and the individual units are created with their identifier, area, cost and list price. To raise or lower prices in bulk, select units (or a whole prototype with its checkbox) and tap “Change price”: by percentage, by amount or to a fixed price; only available units change, reserved and sold ones keep their agreed price.

Move the status as you sell

Update each unit from available to reserved, sold and finally deeded, with its client, sale price and date. Once it leaves available, its revenue counts toward contracted revenue; at closing, it counts toward deeded revenue (money that is locked in).

Read absorption and margin

The dashboard shows absorption (placed ÷ total) with a bar by status, the sales value, the deeded revenue and the margin with its percentage: sales value − (land + the larger of the projects' cost and the cost per unit). With no linked projects, the margin uses the prototype's cost per unit; with no cost captured at all, it tells you so instead of showing 100%.

Review the packages for the entire development

The Packages tab adds up the same item — masonry, structure, finishes — across all linked projects. Each row carries the spread between the most expensive project and the cheapest one: if it goes over 15% it flags it for you. That is where you negotiate once for the whole subdivision instead of project by project, and where you catch that one block is being built more expensively than the rest.

Look at your exposure by contractor

The Contracts tab groups by who is building, not by project. You see how much you have committed to each contractor across the whole development and on how many projects they work. Below the total you see what percentage of the construction budget is already under contract: what is left is what still has no owner and no locked-in price.

Compare physical against financial progress

In the Consolidated view, above the metrics, is the comparison: verifiable physical progress (weighted by the amount of each item) against financial progress (spent over budget). If you paid ahead of the verified work, the alert tells you how much money the gap is worth — the same comparison appears in miniature on every project in the phases, so you can see which one causes it. Below, the EAC breaks down where the development will close (original budget, approved changes, land and committed surplus), and a panel of at most 5 alerts only talks about what moves money or dates.

Project cash 13 weeks ahead

The Cash tab does not forecast: it adds what is ALREADY payable (approved net billings and unpaid invoices) against the scheduled inflows with a date (payment plans of the units sold and the partner or loan contributions you record). The week-by-week running total tells you whether it is enough — and if not, how much capital is missing and in which week the lowest point arrives.

Share the partners report

With the Report button you create a private link and set the partners’ emails and the cadence (weekly or monthly). The first snapshot is frozen as soon as you create the link and then one every week — figures that are never rewritten — and the report shows the latest snapshot, the change against the previous one, sales (absorption, sold, collected and receivable), physical vs financial progress over time and the breakdown by project. If no project is linked yet but you are already selling, the snapshot covers sales. The email only carries the summary and the link.