Purchasing Land Question (Newark, Bear: real estate, houses, buying)

[southamboy]

I was hoping to get some insight on where may be a good area to purchase land as an investment. I was thinking either northern delaware or Newark area. Price range is $50 - $75K, hoping to get .2 acres or so. Is this out of the question, especially in Newark area (near Univ of Del)?

Any ideas on which areas may serve as good investment opportunities? I ultimately want to purchase the land to build on it and live there. My wife and I visit friends all the time and really like the area.

thanks...

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by southamboy

I was hoping to get some insight on where may be a good area to purchase land as an investment. I was thinking either northern delaware or Newark area. Price range is $50 - $75K, hoping to get .2 acres or so. Is this out of the question, especially in Newark area (near Univ of Del)?
Any ideas on which areas may serve as good investment opportunities? I ultimately want to purchase the land to build on it and live there. My wife and I visit friends all the time and really like the area.
thanks...

Land is scarce up that way, and expensive. Are you speaking of 'walking distance' to U of D? Even 2/10 of an acre is hard to find. I would suggest contacting a Realtor of your choice.

[SXMGirl]

There are two lots available in the Kirkwood section of Bear. One is on Wood Road and is one acre. It has been on the market for over a year and was originally selling for $123K. The other is in Rolling Meadows, FSBO, and also one acre. It also has been on the market for a long time.

[FelixDLS]

Purchaseing land may be a very difficult thing to do. In my experiance I have had to do lots of research about different areas that I was interested in. I personally started with researching statistics about population growth in different areas and moved down the list. There are many factors involved when buying land as well, you should definitely consider your financial situation and what you would like to do if you were to buy a property.
There are many different sites that have great explanations about certain areas of the United States for example I used some kind of Genesis site for the research on the statistics and different land selling websites.

[crisndeefromde]

Originally Posted by southamboy

I was hoping to get some insight on where may be a good area to purchase land as an investment. I was thinking either northern delaware or Newark area. Price range is $50 - $75K, hoping to get .2 acres or so. Is this out of the question, especially in Newark area (near Univ of Del)?

Any ideas on which areas may serve as good investment opportunities? I ultimately want to purchase the land to build on it and live there. My wife and I visit friends all the time and really like the area.

thanks...

also when you come across land that you are interested and it has been on the market for a while you really really need to do your own research on it as well as good advice from a real estate person on the property in question. flood zones (you'd be surprised), deed restrictions, city or county restrictions....can really come into play even it is just a piece of dirt that you want to sit on long term to flip in the future for an investment. Some of the hotest acreage right now is down at the beach.

[jskirwin]

Originally Posted by crisndeefromde

also when you come across land that you are interested and it has been on the market for a while you really really need to do your own research on it as well as good advice from a real estate person on the property in question. flood zones (you'd be surprised), deed restrictions, city or county restrictions....can really come into play even it is just a piece of dirt that you want to sit on long term to flip in the future for an investment. Some of the hotest acreage right now is down at the beach.

Crisndeefromde is absolutely right. Since you are considering parcels in well-developed areas you'll have to consider why they haven't been developed in the first place. In my neck of the woods up in Brandywine Hundred a large piece of land sat idle for years because there wasn't easy access to water or sewer. Finally a developer on an adjacent parcel decided to run the pipes, and the plot finally sold because it could tie in.

I'm not an professional investment advisor, but my limited knowledge of real estate says that buying and holding land is generally a bad investment unless a) you are going to develop it yourself or b) it's an area that will soon be developed. Ask yourself: is land in demand - especially at a time when decent houses are sitting on the market for want of buyers?

There are lots in Brandywine Hundred available - but not in your price range (about double from a quick search at Remax). However with the right agent and the current market who knows? Maybe you could make it work. Good luck whatever you decide.