Selling SFR in Durham/RTP – seeking advice

[Rachel Healy]

My husband and I are getting ready to sell his former primary residence, a 2 bed/1 bath brick ranch on a full acre in RTP, about 7 minutes from downtown Durham. The house is situated so that another house (possibly two?) could be built next to it.

We're weighing some options and hoping to get some advice. From a numbers perspective, would it make the most sense to...

• Subdivide and sell separately one or two parcels of land (rather than sell the full acre with the house)?
• Contact local builders and make an off-market deal with them (rather than putting it on the market in a traditional way)?
• Have a non-traditional arrangement with a builder, such as allowing them to build for free on the land in exchange for a predetermined amount at sale plus a share of the profit?

I should mention that we're also open to keeping the house and renting it, but selling the rest of the land. The house needs a bit of work to make it rent-ready.

We greatly appreciate any thoughts or experiences you can offer!