Commercial, Timber, SFR, Mobile home, raw land...Please help!

[Graham Nash]

It's an off market, 89 acre tract. I have been communicating with the executor of the estate. It contains approximately $35-$40K in timber. However, the market is down right now, so that could be greater in the future. It has 20-25 SFR rentals on the property, very few of which are functional. The majority are dilapidated and better off torn down (which will be an expense to the owner, est.$4k per). Only 4 are rented at the present. I think there are 2-4 more that with significant rehab ($15-20K per), could be. Once the current rents are brought up to market value, the SFR's would gross a total of $2,900 per month.

There is an 8 acre section of the tract that is not connected to the 80 acre tract. The "island" is located across the road, and sits in a point. The island borders a large and very busy convenience store. The 3 acres on which the convenience store sits, is zoned for commercial use. The tract I'm looking into is zoned R-MH (Residential-manufactured home). I think the 8 acre "island" would be more valuable rezoned for commercial use, and sold separately. It is accessible by 2 sides of road frontage.

My plan is to make one more trip over today and take pictures of all the properties. The family doesn’t live here, and i’m not sure they understand how far down hill the property has gone. My goal isn't to throw it in their face, but make certain they are aware. so my offer might not sound so unreasonable.

I also considered replacing some of the torn down properties with manufactured homes, and selling them with 2 acres per home. This would be consistent with the area, and generate some income for possibly developing some 4units on the property. The property contains a 5 acre pond that could be a great focal pint for a small rental community.  

The question I have is concerning financing (Big surprise right...). All of the property is owned free and clear. So there might be an opportunity for seller financing, but I’m not holding my breath. That leaves conventional or private money. (Maybe others, please suggest if you are aware). If the property is financed through a conventional loan, would I be able to sell smaller tracts of land? Or would those tracts need to be established prior to obtaining a loan, so they could then be sold/resold separately?. If this is the case, I would offer to have the property surveyed prior to purchasing. I'm going to speak with the county zoning dept. tomorrow when they open.

So, that’s it...any feedback, suggestions, thoughts, ideas would be appreciated. And if you’ve taken the time to read all this, THANK YOU!

Graham