The Deal I Didnt Want

[Daniel OKeefe]

So I'm a new investor and I am just finally getting my financing in place to purchase an investment property.  

My personal residence has a vacant lot next to it and I was told when I purchased my home that the lot was not buildable and it was town owned property.  This lot provides nice privacy between my neighbors and I.  This morning I go outside to find them digging to put in a septic.  Turns out it is privately owned and buildable.

My problem- I don't want a new house dumped in my front yard and I dont want to lose that privacy.  The lot which is about .3 acres is assessed for $135k.  Conservatively, the cost of building a new house here is around $200/sf which puts buying the house, and building a rental beyond my buying power right now.  Additionally, even if I had the buying power, this would not be the deal I was looking for.

I do live in a desirable location with deeded access to a large lake at the end of my street and I'm about 2 miles from the beach, so vacation rentals do well here.

What would you do in this situation?  Suck it up and take a likely hit to my homes value and continue investing where I had planned?  Shift my focus to this property and try to figure out a deal to save both my homes value and attempt to turn the property into an asset?  I'm kind of lost here.