Subdivision question~ (King: gated, for sale, condos)

[andybuildz]

I know "gated communities"...that's obvious but subdivisions I wonder about. I see a lot of SD's have land for sale anywhere from a plot of land up to dozens of acres. For some reason I tend to think that a SD will end up costing a lot more money than just a piece of land bought from a private owner. Is that a correct assumption..or not?
I also tend to think that in a SD there are a LOT more rules to follow?
Are there advantages to SD's. Pros/cons?

The only advantage I can think of in a SD is that someone isn't going to develop a trailer park or a strip mall next door to you.
One of the concerns I have in buying property is that there's next to no restrictions as to what someone can build next to you. I looked at a piece of gorgeous property just 15 minutes north west of A'ville and completely surrounding it were condos/apts going up...gulp. Now that the listing is getting older I notice the seller added to the comments that on this beautiful piece of property (12 acres-ish) you can put up ( I forget the exact wording) dozens of homes. Who else would buy it now?

So whats the story on subdivisions?
Thanks
andy

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by andybuildz

I know "gated communities"...that's obvious but subdivisions I wonder about. I see a lot of SD's have land for sale anywhere from a plot of land up to dozens of acres. For some reason I tend to think that a SD will end up costing a lot more money than just a piece of land bought from a private owner. Is that a correct assumption..or not?
I also tend to think that in a SD there are a LOT more rules to follow?
Are there advantages to SD's. Pros/cons?

The only advantage I can think of in a SD is that someone isn't going to develop a trailer park or a strip mall next door to you.
One of the concerns I have in buying property is that there's next to no restrictions as to what someone can build next to you. I looked at a piece of gorgeous property just 15 minutes north west of A'ville and completely surrounding it were condos/apts going up...gulp. Now that the listing is getting older I notice the seller added to the comments that on this beautiful piece of property (12 acres-ish) you can put up ( I forget the exact wording) dozens of homes. Who else would buy it now?

So whats the story on subdivisions?
Thanks
andy

Andy, the general advantage to subdivisions is that water, sewer and electrical lines have all been put in place for you already. When you buy raw land and have to put these things in for yourself it can be quite costly. So buying from just one owner can actually be more expensive. In addition, as you already noted, a subdivision will have rules as to what can and can't be built there - to protect everyone's investment. Again with raw land you never know what will be built right next door to you. To answer your question, a developer would buy that property now. You as an individual homeowner would want to buy something large enough so that whatever went in next door wouldn't be visible from your home at least, but the developer doesn't care about that - he's looking at what he can build that will give him the best return on his money. So don't shoot the idea of a "subdivision" down just yet - it does offer you a degree of protection many find valuable.

[andybuildz]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Andy, the general advantage to subdivisions is that water, sewer and electrical lines have all been put in place for you already. When you buy raw land and have to put these things in for yourself it can be quite costly. So buying from just one owner can actually be more expensive. In addition, as you already noted, a subdivision will have rules as to what can and can't be built there - to protect everyone's investment. Again with raw land you never know what will be built right next door to you. To answer your question, a developer would buy that property now. You as an individual homeowner would want to buy something large enough so that whatever went in next door wouldn't be visible from your home at least, but the developer doesn't care about that - he's looking at what he can build that will give him the best return on his money. So don't shoot the idea of a "subdivision" down just yet - it does offer you a degree of protection many find valuable.

Thanks,
Yeh, I sorta knew that much. I wondered though what the negatives were more than anything I 'spose. If anyone had any negative experiances with SD's. Septic and all utilities I know can really add up. "Some" privately sold properties do have some of the utilities and some have wells or some kind of water source close by...some don't. Depends on the piece of property. I tend to look for a piece of property with a crap house on it thinking that all I care about is that the water/septic and utilities are in place....and even still, I know that doesn't 100% assure you they're in great shape. I know.
I also know most SD's also have the roads in....at least up to the property.

I just wonder what powers the SD's have over you aside from the laws I do like....like not allowing a Burger King to go up next door to you....although some people might like that...lol.

I guess you have to weigh out what you're paying for in a SD. How much extra you're paying for things already in place vs having to do it yourself. I tend to end up doing everything myself..ugh...although I am getting better at letting others do some of the things for me besides the obvious. I'm not equipted to drill a well for instance...hmmmm...Ebay?? LOL...nahhhhh.

It's just that when I figure out the dollars and cents it almost always seems to pay off doing most things I'm capable of myself...although as I get older I sure do like having others do for me to some degree. It's just that when I figure out I'm paying $5000 for something that'd take me 2 weeks to do I start thinking why I'd pay someone else...unless I could make more money on the outside doing something easier which usually isn't the case.