Negotiating Purchase of Vacant Lot in Bay Area tomorrow. Advice?

[J. Martin]

Going to try to negotiate the purchase of vacant lot tomorrow. Any advice?

I’m meeting the owner of a vacant lot tomorrow to try to negotiate the purchase of a vacant lot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a killer price, flat, infill, never built on, and I already checked with the planning dept on what I can build on it.

Part of the neighbor’s overhang from what looks to be an illegal unit in their backyard is hanging over the lot. Their cars were also on the lot when I first saw it. The seller said he is getting a survey, installing a fence, and ensuring it will be delivered with no encroachments.

I was going to offer him some “hard” deposit, w/ a negotiated price & close date from when he delivers on the following contingencies:

Lot delivered free of encroachments
Lot delivered free of any liens or encumbrances
Survey reveals no different circumstances that would change “buildability” from current buyer and seller knowledge about lot location and size, coupled with instructions/conversation with planning dept.
Will do transfer through escrow, and get ALTA policy.

Any other tips? Should I get the neighbors whose encroachments were on the property for so long to acknowledge they have no rights? (Not sure how long they have used it, and don’t know much about adverse possession..)

I wasn’t planning on getting a soil test right now, as the risk looks low in this infill lot surrounded by similar size structures to what I can build, and the lot is cheap if I close quickly..

Any other advice?

I don’t plan on building now, but it’s a few blocks down from an existing rental, and the government will be spending a lot of money improving the area nearby. So I plan to hold for future development (unknown date). Can pay property taxes out of pocket..

Thanks already to @Jay Hin 

@Jay Hinrichs undefined, @Account Closed , @Kyle Zaylor , and @Shiloe B. on some tips..