How much of a discount for flag lot? (prices, building, house)
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Is that house back on the market again? Your Zillow link says it's been sold for 8 months?
Certainly, there's about 48 states worth of folks who'd be incredulous at paying $1.8MM for a $400/sqft house with those lot conditions. And based on google maps, looks like there's even another flag lot behind it. I'm guessing that must be a really deep lot - they sold off the back third and the front third, and kept the middle 1/2 acre?
we came close to making an offer on a nice 3 car garage house on a large flag lot which was owned by a real estate agent so presumably she priced it correctly. It was about $780k and other similar homes not on a flag lot we looked at were approximately $800-900k.
Ultimately no discount could persuade me to purchase a home on a flag lot. We like to entertain and parking for guests as well as potential easement/shared driveway issues weren't worth the headache to us. The homes on flag lots are pretty common around here due to "in-fill" type of developments and they do sell in this hot market so others obviously aren't bothered by it.
There is a home on a flag lot in my old neighborhood that was one of the most desirable houses in the subdivision and sold about 10% higher than my comparable house. There was a privacy fence along the east property line of front property that ran the whole length of the driveway to the back house. Behind the home on the flag lot was a lovely creek past the beautifully landscaped backyard and pool.
The frontage of the home is large, has great landscaping and a circle driveway and the home is very private; it cannot be seen from the street. The home in front sits on a pretty high traffic street, too. So in this case the back house is in a much more favorable area within the subdivision. So, flag lot or not, it really would depend on the specifics. I would take privacy over curb appeal any day if there was good access and parking.
We own a flag lot, the only downside we have it that the driveway is very long, we bought a snowblower to handle it. The upper part of the driveway can hold 6-8 cars. I like it for the privacy.
As far as I know, we don't receive a discount in our tax assessment due to the lot.
I spoke with an appraiser in the LA area and he said he probably would not give any discount to the lot as the lot is big enough and there's enough space between the houses. The lack of curb appeal is made up by increased privacy.
Is that house back on the market again? Your Zillow link says it's been sold for 8 months?
Certainly, there's about 48 states worth of folks who'd be incredulous at paying $1.8MM for a $400/sqft house with those lot conditions. And based on google maps, looks like there's even another flag lot behind it. I'm guessing that must be a really deep lot - they sold off the back third and the front third, and kept the middle 1/2 acre?
Personally I think the price is a bit low as ~425 to 450 / sf would be common in the area. That's why I was wondering if the flag lot was likely to have affected the value.
At one point yes it was subdivided into three lots with three houses.
However someone ended up buying the back two lots and bulldozed the small 3rd house and combined the lots so now it is just 2 lots.
I like it. I like flag lots. I like the idea of having a secure property with an entry gate. Plenty of land for what I would need it for. For me I don't see any problems with that kind of home. What I would want is a garage area and I did not see one listed with that home. I would want a 3 to 4 car garage as a minimum if I was in the market for that home. Since this is an older place would building a garage be allowed? Homes in our area that were built in the early 1900's are limited to what you can do to them. Then again they are in full view of the street, also on large lots, but not flag lots. LOL
Real estate is local and varies greatly by location. Personally, I like flag lots and don't feel that road frontage is really any requirement. One benefit of limited road frontage occurs if there is a local assessment for improvements of roads, sewage, water, etc....
Personally I think the price is a bit low as ~425 to 450 / sf would be common in the area. That's why I was wondering if the flag lot was likely to have affected the value
I think this answers your own question, unless other homes that are selling for more have other features that are better.
I don't see many flag lots in my area so I'm not too familiar with them, but the way they're described it certainly wouldn't be my first choice and I think I would want a discount for one. Earlier you mentioned increased privacy...I'm not sure I'd consider a house essentially in my front yard to be very "private"...
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