All Forum Posts by: Cooper Raines

@Michael Shadow All written offers must be presented. The only exception to this that I know of is once a property is under contract we as agents still have the duty to present an offer UNLESS it is written into the listing contract that the seller doesn’t want to see any other offers once the property is under contract.

@Noel Dixon The most overlooked thing I see when people talk about assumable mortgages is that, if you can get approved by the lender holding the mortgage, you will need to bring the difference between the loan and purchase price in cash. Sales price - assumed loan amount = cash you need to bring to close. Sometimes this is no big deal but if you're buying a $700k property with a $200k assumable mortgage you'll need $500k in cash to do so. 

Hard for me to get to specific as I'm not super familar with the market in your area however one thing I'd say is also take a look at modular homes as there is a fairly significant difference between a modular home and a manufactured home. If your plan is to sell it, generally it is a bit tougher for buyers to get financing to purchase a manufactured home than it is to purchase a modular. Not impossible by any means, but tougher. Often times when people put manufactured home on lots they sell the manufactured home itself but keep the land and rent the land to the home owner. 

You'll want to look at what utilities are available to the lot. If you have to pay to run power to the lot for example, the cost to run that power is the same whether you put a manufacture home or a custom 3000 sq ft home. You'll want to be sure your sales price - your land development costs leave enough net profit for it to make sense. Another thing I would double check is the zoning and/or any restrictions that may effect the lot as some don't allow manufactured homes. Hope that helps, best of luck 

@Charles Burgess To be honest with you, the chances of you buying a lot and building on it for less than the cost of buying an existing property are pretty low. Just as properties have appreciated quite a bit in the last few years, construction costs have increased quite a bit along with land prices. If you do decide to build, I would work closely with your builder while you're still in the due diligence phase of your land contract and make sure the numbers pencil before closing. 

As far as the land itself goes utilities are most likely going to be your biggest due diligence item. Is there power to the lot, is there public water or will you need to drill a well, if there is public water/sewer do you need to pay the tap fees, etc. Also keep an eye out for floodplain and make sure the zoning of the lot allows what it is that you're trying to build. Best of luck!

@Rashad S. One thing you might start with is contacting a real estate agent specializing in land in your area. There's lot of land listed online same as homes as well. From a land buying perspective there is quite a bit that goes into it which is why I recommend working with someone that specilizes in land in your area. Things to look out for off the top of my head: Is there any flood plain on the lot? What do utilities look like, how far away is power, is there public water or will you need to drill a well, etc. What is the current zoning for the lot and does that zoning allow you to do what it is that you're trying to do? As far as pricing out a build I would put a call out to a home builder in your area and chat with them about average cost per sq ft to build in your area to give yourself an idea. You could also take a look at modular construction. Hope that helps a bit 

@John Vela-Garcia Hey John, often times you will find that it is cheaper/faster to do a renovation on an existing home as opposed to building a new one. Financing is also quite a bit easier to get. Generally, you'll need to put a fair amount of money into the lot prior to building the home. Things such as drilling a well, installing a septic system, running power to the lot, etc can add up to $100k+. Now one thing some investors do here in Colorado is buy a 35 acre lot and then put in the well, etc. & put a modular built home on the lot and sell it. Here in Eastern CO a 35 acre lot will run you $150-200k. The lot with the house on it sells for $550-900k depending on location, house size, etc. 

@Jason Morris Hey Jason, the first thing I would look at is the zoning for your lot currently and the restrictions that go along with said zoning. Often time a lot with have a zoning stipulation that you can only build one residential dwelling on the lot, however it does depend on the size of the lot. The size of your lot/zoning of the lot will also tell you whether or not you're allowed to subdivide your lot/the process you would need to go through in order to subdivide. All that said let's say you are able to subdivide, I personally would if I knew going into it that I was building a rental/investment property. It will make your life much easier in the future should you ever decide to sell the rental, get lending on it, etc. 

@Makenna Ryan What you're talking about is fairly common, "Land Banking" it the term I use most. It depends on your cost per acre however in my area you get very little return on the income from the farming lease as the cost per acre is so high relative to what the going rate for a farming lease is. That said you could easily work out the cap rate of the purchase by taking the net income you receive from the farming operation and dividing that by the purchase price. 

On a side note, if you are planning to purchase the land in cash, great. If you'll need a loan though keep in mind lending for land is harder to get than lending for a residential property. If you do need a loan consider looking at agricultural based banks such as Agcredit, Farm credit, etc. 

@Nate Miller Hey Nate, land is a completely diffrent beast compared to purchasing an existing home and there is a alot that goes into it. If you're purchasing a lot for $200k you're typically going to need to budget another $100k+ to get the lot to the point where you could even start talking about building a home. I'm not sure what area you are looking at but purchasing a lot here in colorado for example you'll have the costs of drilling a well, installing a septic system, running power to your lot, installing a driveway, etc, etc. In my area of the state, just drilling a well alone can cost $35-$50k+.

Some areas have lots that have adjacent to public water and sewer that you can tap into however usually you'll incur the water tap/sewer tap expense which varies in price but I've never seen less then $10k on the water tap and $5k on the sewer tap and those are lower then usual. Hope that helps a bit, best of luck!

@Joas Espinoza Reading books, listing to podcasts & being here on BP are great first steps! One of the most important things you can do otherwise is network. Try to meet as many people in real estate as you can and stay eager. Best of luck!