Deal review on infill lot in Conover, NC

[Matthew Bailey]

Hey everyone, can I get another pair of eyes on this deal. I have it under contract at 28k but I'm having second thoughts the more I look into it. It is about 1 acre in a small HOA community. As far as I can tell, homes in the community sell around 500k (the ones that sold after the crash, no real recent comps) the HOA owns a bunch of the remaining lots and has them priced at 75k, a few owners have their's priced higher. At first glance I thought I could target a sales price around 60k, so 28k purchase would be good. However, now that I see that the HOA is the one with most of the "for sale" lots, I'm concerned that they may be setting the "market value" and propping it up and/or they have too much control on what the market value is since they have such a market share. One lot in the community sold at 85k and one sold at 62k recently. This lot is on a steeper section of the community overlooking a creek. There is a home built right next to it on a comparably sloped lot. What do you think about my pricing and would you proceed with this deal as is or try to renegotiate?

My exit strategy would be to sell to a builder but I haven’t worked in this county yet. I’m currently looking for builders or developers who I could get to weigh in on it but I thought maybe the BP community could give me a few nuggets about this area or what to expect. How would a builder/developer view this property? What are the building costs per sqft, how does the slope impact the pricing, etc.

Feel free to check it out, Catawba County, NC, APN: 375304734463, 2757 Trent Dr NE, Conover, NC

It’s about an hour outside of Charlotte and 30 min west of Statesville.