Help!! Raw Lands Situations

[Marcia Brown]

Hi Everyone, I had posted in another forum ref birddogging for this particular property in GA, and thought I would bring it over here for some help. I saw some raw land that I thought would be a goldmine for a residential developer who was interested in building in Columbus. Very secluded and away from the hustle. I even daydreamed about what it would look like. There is another building right next to it, a church and daycare in the back of it and businesses within walking distance to eat and shop. They are also building two hotels on the other side of the road from the land, so you could understand my excitement when I saw that it was for sale. So I tried to call the realtor that was listed and after about 4 days, I finally received a call back from him. Here is the situation, I am not sure if he knew what he was talking about and for me, being a newbie, I wasn't sure if I was asking the right questions. I asked how many acres, what was the property zoned for, how much for the land? Seemed simple to me. He stated that it was 5 acres, and in a flood zone, didn't know if it was zoned for commercial or residential and that the seller wanted $50K per acre for it, which sounded way off from what I was expecting to hear. He also said something about building high because of flood zone. I wasn't sure about that because where I am they are putting two homes that look like they are underground to me. At any rate, if this property would be of interest to anyone, please help me bird dog it. I need to know what I need to do to really get the information on it so I can present it, and obtain knowledge for future investments.

OK, now for my second issue, I have relatives who have land in a town called Caryville, FL. It is about 10-20 acres between them and they want to sell, however, some of it is in the flood zone. I know that the government bought some of the property from another relative to keep them from building there. My question is what steps do I take for government buy and what is need to sell the remainder of the land to a prospective buyer. From my understanding, they were contacted by someone at a price of $8K, but I'm not sure it that was the land with the timber on it or if it was just for the clear land.

I would really appreciate your expertise on the matter.

Thanks, Marcia