All Forum Posts by: Patrick Ford

@Joshua B. greater Ann Arbor area  , yes. Not Ann Arbor proper. 

My wife and I have found a lot we would like to purchase and build on. I found it on Zillow and attempted to get some guidance from a realtor in the area. The experience was not great, i was doing all of the leg work and what leg work the realtor did yielded incorrect info (uncovered by the research I did). That’s neither here nor there; where we are now is we are ready to make an offer. I have a purchase agreement that I paid an attorney to draft for a very reasonable price and it provides the protection I am seeking in this deal. 

My questio is this; should I submit the purchase agreement as is to the selling agent as is or should I send a more informal summarized offer to start?  I was considering submitting the PA with a cover letter introducing my family.  Deals I’ve done in the past have always been direct with the seller so I didn’t have to go through an agent. 

Any suggestions?

Hi Sarah,

I have verified that it is zoned residential/rural.  

A friends of mine in Texas told me about all of those exemptions.  It sounds great!  I'm also in the military (as is my friend) and there are incentives for that as well. I'd be curious to hear from a Michigan real estate pro, but, this is what my research leads me to believe;

The only real exemptions would be Primary Residence Exemption, Agricultural exemption or qualified forrest exemption.  

The forrest exemption obligates you to sell 80% of your lumber in a lot 40 acres or less.  I dont want to do that.  I want to keep the trees!

The agriculture exemption is possible, the property is currently used for a lot of maple syrup development, however, if you have a primary residence exemption its the same as the ag exemption and they cannot be combined.

Might be more out there I'm unaware of, would like to hear!

Looking to relocate in 2-3 years from large downtown city into a more rural area where I can have some land and build a house. I found a perfect (for me) plot of land. It has rolling hills, grasslands and a stream. It's 23 acres and by no means do I need that much. The asking price for this undeveloped parcel of land is $325k. I would have to finance 80% of the purchase of the land. If I were to just hack off a 8 acre parcel of this and buy it, the owner will be developing it in a few years as part of a second phase of developments he's doing a cross the ravine. Initially, I thought buying a small part of this parcel is all I would need, but then I got to thinking :idea: . Perhaps it would make sense for me to buy the entire lot and here's my thinking why;

1-I could buy now and sit on it for about 3 years until I'm ready to make the move out there. This would ensure no further development/crowding out this quite and serine property
2-In 3 years I could keep 8-10 acres for myself and parcel the remaining 13-15 acres into two lots and sell them. I might be able to make a bit of a profit on this, maybe not. I could use the cash sale of these two parcels to financing the majority of the price to build the eventual house that will go on this land
3-This would allow me to control how many neighbors I'll have (I don't want a neighborhood with houses spaced 15 feet apart going up)

So, maybe a bit of an investment, I don't really think sitting it for 3 years would let it appreciate much in value, but, it would give me control and future sale of any of the remaining property would be put towards building of the new house. Just a big money shuffle, perhaps. Things to consider would be township property taxes and liability.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing? It's in a part of the midwest that is growing and the city that it is nearest (about 10 miles west) is expanding east towards this area. It's great for families and is surrounded by great school districts.

The usual risks are associated with this, I'd say real estate in the area is fairly hot right now, so I could possibly be purchasing at a premium compared to what it might fetch in 3 years if there is a market down turn in the area.

My current financial situation can support the mortgage and my job situation is fairly stable. My current property I have in the downtown area of the major city I live in should be easily rentable which would, at a minimum, cover mortgage, taxes and HOA fees.

I know what I don't know. I don't know anything about buying land as an investment or to build on. There are a lot potential intricacies with the township zoning and environmental issues with the stream. It's a lot to digest, where do I start?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!