Good morning. It’s Friday once again, and it’s time for Fan Mail Friday, where we answer questions from sellers, just like you. All right. Today the question was, do you buy lots? And the answer to that question is yes, we do buy lots. There are nine things that we look at when buying lots and I’ll list them here so you know what makes your lot more desirable or less desirable.
First off is zoning. Is it zoned residential or is it zoned commercial? There’s more demand for residential lots than there is commercial lots.
2. Neighborhood. Neighborhood is location, location, location, the old story.
3. Lot size. Builders like lot that are at least a quarter acre or larger. Once a lot gets bigger than one acre, then it’s more suited for a larger home, or you start moving into farmettes.
4. Roads. Is the road paved or is it dirt? If it’s on a paved road, then it obviously makes it more valuable.
5. Level. It’s a lot level or on the side of a hill. This also includes level above the water table. The property has to be high enough above the water table so that if you have to put a sewer system in, the water can run from the house down to the tank down to the drain field. All right. So that all has to be above the water level.
6. Spring protective zones (SPZ) . In Florida, there are geographic areas that are designated as spring protective zones. This is to protect the aquifer from having higher levels of nitrogen introduced into them through septic systems. If the lot is in an SPZ and requires a septic system, then the acceptable systems run about $20,000 to install versus the usual $7,000.
7. Proximity to utilities. How close is the power of the water and the cable TV? If you’re within 400 feet of a municipal water line, then you must connect to that water line. All right. And then if the power company is in close proximity, it takes approximately $1,200 per pole that the power company needs to set in order to get power to your property. The spans between poles runs about 300 feet. So you can kind of calculate from that, what it would cost to have power run into your lot.
8. Trees and vegetations. It costs about $7,000 per quarter acre to clear a lot to get it ready for building if there’s a lot of brush and trees on it.
9. Clear title. If you don’t have clear title through this property, it basically makes it unsellable. So that means rapid home deals or you, the seller, is going to have to pay to have this title work done in order to get it into a sellable condition. We in the past have paid for a quiet title action to be done prior to purchasing the property. Quiet title actions run $3,000 to $5,000 depending upon the complexity.
So as you can see, there are several things that determine what a lot is worth when you get ready to sell it. Now, I’m going to share this seller’s story with you. The lot was 0.22 acres. It was on a paved road and there was no water or sewer available. So that means we had to put a well and we had to put a septic tank in. The neighborhood was not the most desirable as crime in that area is a little higher than normal. Part of the lot was on a downgrade of about five feet from the right-hand side of the lot down to the middle of the lot. So there was going to have to be something done there to provide drainage away from the house.
All right. The power company would need to set two poles in order to get power to the property. And of course, cable TV would come with it. It was not in a spring protective zone and there were trees and brush on the lot. So there was three trees that were going to have to be cut out as well as all the brush in order to make it clear for building. So there was many, many things going against this lot as there was going for this lot.
All right. The seller though was firm at $15,000. Other lots in the same neighborhood were running from $3,000 or selling from $3,000 to $10,000. Needless to say, we couldn’t come to a deal because he was very firm at 15,000.
So we are sharing this with you today, so that if you have a lot that you want to sell, that you can make a realistic assessment of what your lot may be worth. And once you’ve done that, give us a call at Rapid Home Deals, (352) 480-0955. Or if you know anybody else that has a house that they want to sell, have them call us at that same number or go to our website, www.Rapidhomedeals.com. And we’ll see you next Friday.