Selling land to government for parking lot

Selling land to government for parking lot

Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2017 · 64 posts · 8 votes

I've been doing some direct mail marketing and a guy called me about a plot of land. The government owns a building next to it that they've put money into to fix it up and they aren't using it. The building has no parking lot. The plot of land could be turned into a parking lot and also controls the alley up to the back door of the property. The owner knows this and told me this, but is too old to be chasing people down. He told me he would sell me the land for 150k. If I can get the government to pay more than that for this piece of land, I/we can make some money. Does anyone have any experience or advice? If I had the property under contract, who would I approach at the government level and how would I approach them? The government may be interested in selling the property if they are not using it and are not interested in the land for a parking lot. I could buy it from them and market both the property and the land together for more money than separate.

This is out of my area of expertise, but I'm willing to learn. I would partner with someone on this. Maybe this isn't a deal and it's nothing, but I wanted to look into it and see if anyone had any experience or advice. Thanks!

0Reply
20 views

Most Popular Reply

Ronald RohdePro Member
Attorney · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y

What type of government? Federal will be much more difficult than local or state.

If you have the time or interest, you can chase them down.

See this reply in the discussion

5 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Ronald RohdePro Member
    Attorney · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    What type of government? Federal will be much more difficult than local or state.

    If you have the time or interest, you can chase them down.

  • Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y
    Buying federal government land is a pain to say the least. It has to transfer within the gov’t first, then undergo a litany of environmental testing and such, then actually be listed for sale. That’s a few years AFTER they actually decide to sell it. Plus, depending on its age, it may have asbestos, etc that needs to be remediated. Local or state may be easier...
  • Mendham Twsp, NJ · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    8y

    Is there demand to purchase the lot and develop as a private parking lot, with the option to rent space/access to the  tenant/owner (gov't)?  Is there ample free parking nearby?

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    I don't know the area nor do I know the amount of land you are talking about but this sounds very risky.  I don't think you will get any assurance walking into this deal so you should proceed with caution.

    The government will force a land sale when it is in the best interest of the public however they will contact the owner of the property and a price will be established.  Right now it sounds like it is an unproductive government building which they may or may not be fixing based on his word.  Even if they are fixing it I don't think you will find the right person in the government who will let you know with confidence that they will buy the lot and if so, at what price.  If there was a document stipulating this it would hedge your risk but I don't think you will find it.  Remember, the owner reached out to you and would be happy with the price you listed, he wouldn't be doing this if he thought he would get significantly more.  They could have expressed interest however that could be 10 years out.

    On the idea of the government selling you the property - it is a possibility but I imagine the building would need to be demolished or totally renovated to make it usable for the general public.  If the building needs a parking lot this would cost a lot.

    You can try to make some calls but with what you have listed I personally wouldn't be interested.

  • Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2017 · 64 posts · 8 votes
    8y

    Sorry about my late replies on this. I wasn't getting notifications that I had replies and wasn't checking on it regularly.

    @Ronald Rohde I believe it's state or county. I will have to look into it further. I haven't done anything with it yet. Was just curious. It'll prob be on the table for a while..

    @Mike McCarthy Thanks for the advice! Ideally I would be selling the land to the government, but they  might be willing to sell the building to me. I don't have the million dollars they want for it. Best scenario would be to sell the land to them, but how would I reach out to them and would they deal with me as a wholesaler? I could put the property under contract and that would give me the rights to sell it, but would they even consider buying it with the assignment fee or would I double close?

    @Christine Takayama That's  a great question! The guy wants $150k for the land which I don't have. Could be a good partnership with someone, but a lot of ifs surrounding whether the government employees would pay to use the parking lot or not..

    @John Woodrich Thanks for the advice! I haven't followed up on this since. I think you're right. The land is definitely not worth $150k and the owner would stand to profit off of this deal more than anyone. From what I understood about the conversation, the government had already fixed up the building and that they put a million into it or its worth a million after renovation. I wouldn't have anything to lose by putting the property under contract and testing the waters but time put into it. At any rate, it's prob not worth the time. Just chasing squirrels lol

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.