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I'm always looking at real estate sites, and in some subdivisions, the project is not 100% completed; so there are still some vacant lots available. These are my questions:
(1) If a private owner has cleared a wooded piece of property (created a 500-foot dirt road to the main street and cleared 1 acre of land), does that justify tacking on $100+K onto the sale price? Does clearing the land cost that much?
(2) When two adjoining pieces of land are owned by different private parties (one party is selling, but the other is not) and an interested buyer wants both pieces, have there been cases where the party who is not selling has been contacted to see if they would even be interested in selling? Or is it considered intrusive - like a marketing call? "Hello, my name is so and so. I'm calling in reference to your parcel of land ..." And no, I would not be making the call, I would put my realtor up to it if he/she would be so inclined!
(3) Two adjoining parcels of land have access to main roads (one piece of land has an address on Avenue A and the adjoining parcel has an address on Avenue B) - a corner lot type of situation. If the two parcels are owned by the same person, can they choose to build a house that straddles both properties and choose where they want the driveway to go? Either Avenue A or Avenue B?
1. It depends. Cost does not equate value. Did that owner also bring utilities onto the property, creating a site? What is the mrket value of lots vs sites in your area?
2. Yep, nothing wrong with asking.
3. Depends on local laws/codes/zoning/future plans for that piece of property. Check with the town or county.
1. It depends. Cost does not equate value. Did that owner also bring utilities onto the property, creating a site? What is the mrket value of lots vs sites in your area?
2. Yep, nothing wrong with asking.
3. Depends on local laws/codes/zoning/future plans for that piece of property. Check with the town or county.
Hello! Thanks for taking a stab at my questions. I tried to post a response twice, but my data was lost when I got the message "database error."
In response to what you posted:
(1) Yes, it could be that the owner made a few improvements to the land that I'm not aware of, and that is what is pushing the price up.
(2) Good to know that there's nothing wrong with asking if one found themselves in such a predicament.
(3) You're right about checking with the powers that be. You definitely want to get the official word when they say, "You want to do what?! No, you can't do that!"
Well Virgo - I don't know diddly about vacant land questions. I don't think your questions are silly. I hope that you get some good answers.
Well, thank you very much! That's very sweet! I see your name sometimes on the Raleigh Board when I read it. Plus, I remember your ... ahem ... unique encounter with an agent.
I'm always looking at real estate sites, and in some subdivisions, the project is not 100% completed; so there are still some vacant lots available. These are my questions:
(1) If a private owner has cleared a wooded piece of property (created a 500-foot dirt road to the main street and cleared 1 acre of land), does that justify tacking on $100+K onto the sale price? Does clearing the land cost that much?
(2) When two adjoining pieces of land are owned by different private parties (one party is selling, but the other is not) and an interested buyer wants both pieces, have there been cases where the party who is not selling has been contacted to see if they would even be interested in selling? Or is it considered intrusive - like a marketing call? "Hello, my name is so and so. I'm calling in reference to your parcel of land ..." And no, I would not be making the call, I would put my realtor up to it if he/she would be so inclined!
(3) Two adjoining parcels of land have access to main roads (one piece of land has an address on Avenue A and the adjoining parcel has an address on Avenue B) - a corner lot type of situation. If the two parcels are owned by the same person, can they choose to build a house that straddles both properties and choose where they want the driveway to go? Either Avenue A or Avenue B?
Be nice! Don't laught at my questions, please.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
I own a beautiful 5/8ths acre of lake property in south Texas. In 2 years it has doubled in value and I get mostly letters once a month but sometimes a phone call asking if I want to sell. One time the guy that owns the lot next to me wrote me a letter making me an offer and I returned the letter offering him more for his then he offered me for mine. I never heard from him again. That is my retirement property and I am watching it rise in value as my primary home in Nevada has fallen more then $100,000 in the past year.
No land clearing does not cost much. For a quarter acre just to grade it if it has no trees maybe $1500. If it has large trees then maybe $2000 at most but you sell the timber at about $200 or more per tree. If it has no utilities then it is worth less obviously. If you lay out for septic $3500, water tap just a few hundred if it is in the street and electric almost nothing if it is less then 250' away and about $1000 per extra pole they have to install if it is too far away. If you spent $5000 to improve the lot with utilities then it raises the value way way more then your investment. I cant put a figure on it really because it depends on too many factors.
For example back east we bought a raw unimproved half acre for $50,000. We paid about $2000 for all the engineering for the septic and well. $1000 to the surveyer. Electric was at the lot. The area was zoned for one unit per acre. We applied for a variance. Our hardship was we owned a lot that was undersized and no possible way to purchase enough to confom. It was a crooked little town full of corrupt politicos. We used a some hundred dollar bills to grease some palms and one year later we had all approvals and permits to build.
My then partner and I could not agree on the size home to build so instead we sold the lot for $75,000 which included all approvals to build on a 38' X 28' footprint. I guess we made about $18,000 for our work obtaining approvals. There are many people who make a living doing this. Just buying unimproved land and getting all building approvals and installing utilities and selling at great profits. They never build the home. Some do this and design entire tracts/subdivisions and sell them to large known builders. The builders love this because their money is not held up going through the permit process. They can buy today and build tomorrow.
Your 3rd question. If you own 2 lots together that means it is zoned for 2 lots. To change it in any way you must see the local zoning. It may require a
variance which is asking for relief from a hardship. In this case you propably will not get it. Your best bet is to build on the best lot and keep the other as your bank account. Some day you can build on it and sell it for great profit or you can just enjoy having the extra property. When it comes time to sell there are many buyers who seek homes with only the largest lots to look at. But in the mean time do you really want to mow it?
(1) If a private owner has cleared a wooded piece of property (created a 500-foot dirt road to the main street and cleared 1 acre of land), does that justify tacking on $100+K onto the sale price? Does clearing the land cost that much?
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Opinions of Value are derived from reactions in the marketplace, and adjustments for amenities, or lack thereof, are market driven. Therefore, either a detailed comp search in that area, comparing apples to apples, or an appraisal is the only way to determine what the market value of the lot is. As said, cost does not equal value.
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(2) When two adjoining pieces of land are owned by different private parties (one party is selling, but the other is not) and an interested buyer wants both pieces, have there been cases where the party who is not selling has been contacted to see if they would even be interested in selling? Or is it considered intrusive - like a marketing call? "Hello, my name is so and so. I'm calling in reference to your parcel of land ..." And no, I would not be making the call, I would put my realtor up to it if he/she would be so inclined!
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Take the initiative to ask, or have your Realtor ask.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) Two adjoining parcels of land have access to main roads (one piece of land has an address on Avenue A and the adjoining parcel has an address on Avenue B) - a corner lot type of situation. If the two parcels are owned by the same person, can they choose to build a house that straddles both properties and choose where they want the driveway to go? Either Avenue A or Avenue B?
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No, you shouldn't do this without checking lot restrictions and county requirements first. Call or visit the Planning and Zoning Dept. in your county.
A lot of good answers... I have been looking to buy land for over a year and this is what I found out...
1) Land prices are mostly rip-offs.. they are put at ridiculously high prices because the owners can and don't have the motivation to sell quickly. Look at a neighboring lot + house and you find the owner of the lot wants a price equal to the lot + house next to it, even though they are identical size. The 100k+ for clearing? Thats a complete rip-off... even if I cleared a home built on that lot + trees, it still doesn't even cost half that amount... if you like that lot and it is overpriced, you will be overpaying so it depends on you... unfortunately when you buy an overpriced lot, you can't really overprice that lot again because even suckers aren't that stupid...
2) I would have a realtor call and explain the situation to the owner. Perhaps, the owner wants the lot for retirement as well or maybe he might sell when someone interested in the lot asks about it...
3) This is all dependent on the zoning commission... you have to ask and they can deny based on your reasons for adjoining the lots together... its mostly politics and a money issue... and rarely a zoning regulation...
Depending on the trees cleared, often money can be made clearing them. One real nice black walnut tree or something similar, for example, could cover the cost plus some. Of course, a lot of "professionals" will charge you to clear the trees, and even then keep them, making more money. Some will even chip up valuable timber. Absolute foolishness. Always be careful if you're not doing your own land clearing!
How much land to each lot, and what would a lot without any clearing sell for in the area? Unless you're planning on having a big garden, orchard, or some livestock, all that clearing of 1 acre produced was a big lawn to mow. Driveways? Paved could be expensive, but just plain old dirt or gravel is fairly cheap--in either case, no where near $100,000!
With two different lots, it may be possible to combine them into legally one lot, but that depends on the area and any restrictions.
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