things to do before buying land?

Question

I found a half acre lot in an established neighborhood that has my interest. It is one of the last lots for sale in that subdivision.

Should I get a personal realtor to work with the realty company selling the property, or am I ok to negotiate directly?

What are some good things to do or check before purchasing?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

if you are buying in an established neighborhood (where one company is building all the homes), go through them directly for negotiating, if you hire a personal realtor, you will also have to pay their commission, which would negate any savings, I went directly and had no troubles

Before purchasing (if the house is not yet built):
there is not much left to do

During construction:
When our house was being constructed (about 7 miles form previous home), we were over there twice a week making sure that the house was being built properly. For example, you want to make sure that the concrete for the foundation is poured properly, if it is poured when the temp. is too low, it will crack, thus causing problems. We did some other work while the house was constructed, we wanted a dedicated home theater, but wanted to hire a different contractor, we went in and did pre-wiring.
We did notice some problems though, that are tough to catch during construction, the day before they started dry-walling the house, i noticed a lot of trash/waste in the support structure for a knee wall, going the next day early morning, that was already covered. After telling the foreman to open it up, there was even more trash than befor.

All in all, make sure the house is built to YOUR standards, not to theirs.

Answer 2

buying land in an established subdivision , from the developer or another owner would usually be considered a "safe" purchase as real estate deals go. low chance of fraud. you should negotiate yourself, assuming that you know real estate values in your area. when you arrive at a deal, have a lawyer look over it for you.

when inspecting lot, check for drainage problems, wet spots, low spots, find out why it was last lot sold. find out if neighbors have bad reputations. walk off lot or measure lot to see if dimensions appear correct , half acre should be around 21-22000 sq feet. see if trees need to be removed, if leveling work is needed (extra expenses). see if values are increasing, if schools are good, OMG so many things to consider. i could write a book about it.

good luck, real estate is money well spent, USUALLY.

Answer 3

you sort of answered your own question: get a very experienced Realtor that can tell you exactly what "Agency" is to you. you will know immediately if he/she is experienced and good for you when it sounds as though she is like an attorney to you, protecting your interests and secret negotiating tactics instead of sharing your private information with the seller.

i do not think you will have to pay a buyer broker fee for the service. if so, it will not amount to anything more than about $400, but, if she gets a full commission cut at closing, you can put it into your exclusive buyer broker agreement that when you close she refunds it to you.

her expertise will also tell you what things you should check out about the land. it seems as though the area was not ever commercial, but who knows? your Realtor should be able to explain that it is important to find out, since the EPA has certain "due diligence" rules to learn if toxic substances ever seeped into the land. i would not think so based on how you describe the subdivision, but usually there are public records of the land prior to building houses on it.

you are going to want to know the real estate taxes, which is easy for your Realtor to learn. additionally, you need to know if any special assessments are in place or coming into place, and why. that's because most likely, you will take title subject to those special assessments/taxes. but that is negotiable. i'd suggest that you also talk to a real estate attorney just to ask about that.

you will need to know the exact lot dimensions going from the east to the south to the west to the north sides of the parcel, as well as its zoning. zoning tells you what you may do with the land as of this time. sometimes, to effectuate your needs, you have to pay to get an upzoning or a down zoning (easier to go down than to go up). that requires a zoning attorney.

in addition, ask HOW the purchase can be effectuated. i do not mean what price you pay. i mean how you can structure it. vacant land is usually purchased for cash. lenders don't usually lend on vacant land because they have nothing to put a mortgage against.

in land sales, you may be able to purchase under either a "land contract," whereby you make a downpayment to the seller and at closing you get the deed (the best way), but probably it would be via "articles of agreement for deed," which says that you have to pay so much towards the purchase price before the seller releases the deed to you. watch out! that is difficult if you want to build on the land immediately because to get a construction loan, you have to show the deed, free and clear of liens and emcumbrances, to the lending bank. therefore, if you can get the seller to "carry back" some "paper," which means that you give a down payment to them and then they write a mortgage to you, in order that you pay them by month, they might give you the deed at closing.

but i must say that you will most likely do far, far better having a buyer's broker. you need someone in your corner. the owner only thinks of what benefits him, and you could get sold down the river. make sure that whatever should be disclosed to you by law is disclosed to you.

gee, did this help?

Answer 4

Check all the service records done on the car, carfax etc and bring a mechanic with you to check if you're not confident enough and if you buy an extended warranty the company or dealership will inspect the truck completely without charge.

Answer 5

Make sure that the land is not an indian burrial ground. Also search for treasure. If it doesn't have any, look somewhere else. There is plenty of land out there with burried treasure.