Building a house on a vacant wooded lot

[Faith Steller]

Investment Info:

Other buy & hold investments.

Bought vacant land to build on. Sellers' records showed the property as 7 acres and marketed the land as 7 acres for almost a year. Did some of my own math and research about the vacant land and wrote an offer requiring the seller to cover the cost of a perc test as well as a survey. Long story short and a bit longer than most purchase agreements since the property had to go through the quiet title process for a clear title before we could close on the vacant land and it is just over 12 acres.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Wanting to build my own home.
We have building permits and make progress to building an ICF basement for a 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch. So far we have experienced a lot of delays in the supply change but remain patience and claim to work on the next step of the build. So far we have cleared the land put a gravel driveway in and dug out the walkout basement. Last week we were able to pour our footings which is what the second image is of 27 yards of concrete. Next, we will start on our Fox Block wall

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

The deal was on the MLS but negotiations did involve a lot of patience and due diligence on my park of adding additional costs like perc test and survey cost to the seller's responsibilities.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash all the way

How did you add value to the deal?

The vacant parcel was listed at 7 acres but the math when looking at lot dimensions was over the 7 acres listed. Value in the land and now has some improvements like driveway and basement foundation footer.

What was the outcome?

Still working on the outcome of a more efficient home with lower utility bills and design-friendly with minimal stairs.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Learning so much about the building process every step of the way.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes