Buying a residential lot that has a slope to it.

Buying a residential lot that has a slope to it.

Triangle NC · Member since 2016 · 136 posts · 11 votes

There is a lot for sale in a well loved community and I thought of buying it and holding it or possibly building on it and selling the property. The owner is selling their home and wants to sell the lot with the home at a discount. If they are unable to sell the lot with the home they will be selling the lot by itself for about 7k over the tax value. I’m wondering how to price out the land and if it’s worth buying. The lot is about .28 acres and  has a hill so the driveway would be at the high point of the lot and if a house is built it would be at the low point of the lot so I am concerned about water. There are a few other 2 story homes (2300-2900 sq ft) built next to the lot that have the same slope though so it may be okay. The lot is also full of trees , so some of them would need to be taken down. I know that the houses around it are selling in the 330 -420 k range depending on the size of the house and the lot is being sold for about 50k. I was thinking of building and reselling. Is it more costly to build on a slope with trees to remove and are there more concerns? I have never done this before and I was wondering what the first steps would be or how to determine if it’s worth it to purchase to build. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!

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  • Milton RiveraPro Member
    Professional · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 116 posts · 67 votes
    8y

    @Chris L.

    In general, developers make money by buying by the acre and selling by the square foot. There is great profit potential in developing but that is because there is a large risk.  A few things to consider in your scenario:

    • Why did the owner buy the adjacent lot?  Did he want the privacy or wanted to do something else?
    • What is your time horizon?  Holding the lot maybe profitable but there is no revenue coming in. If you decide and are able to build, you are looking at 12-24 months to get a final product ready for sale. 
    • I recommend calling the city/county, they may be able to share some information like:
      • Did the original builder ever pull a permit on the lot?
      • Did they complete a phase one environmental study?  Any red flags?
      • Did they complete a soils report?  If so, did it reveal any red flags?
      • Public works should be able to tell you sewer and water availability.  Depending on where these are located it could impact the cost to connect and in the case of sewer, you may have to go with a septic system.
      • All this due diligence could have revealed red flags that the builder did not want to deal with.  
    • Lastly, constructions costs vary by region, but let's assume you can build something for about $100/SF and can build a 2,900 SF home = $290k.  You have to add site works (prepping the site, connect utilities, permits, etc) most of these costs are really unique to the site but assume 10-20% of the construction cost (30-60k) plus the cost of the land, architects, engineers and financing costs.  This is going to put you in the mid to high $300k.  If the upper range is in the $420k it may not be worth it for 12-24 months of a lot of hard work (although it would be a valuable experience). 

    Good luck,

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