All Forum Posts by: Sylvia Castellanos

This is directed at people in the Memphis, TN, area.  

I am considering buying two or three lots inside Memphis that are about 0.17 acre. I looked up the lot minimums for Shelby County, and these seem to be 15,000 square feet with a 100 foot width. I don’t know if Memphis has its own minimums that override those of the county. These lots I am looking at are about 7,500 square feet and about 50’ in width. Now here is the thing. In recently decades municipalities have passed lot minimums that render a huge number of the existing lots unbuildable, so they have had to accept grandfathering in a large number of the older lots. My sense is that this isn’t codified in an orderly way, however.

So this is a question for the real estate professionals on this forum. If I buy these lots—7,500 square feet with a 50’ width—how comfortable can I be that the person who buys them from me will be allowed to build a house on them? I want to know what your experience has been as far as these smaller lots being exempted from current code minimums. I know that in Mississippi the rule of thumb seems to be that as long as the lot can meet the frontage requirements, construction is permitted.

If anyone who reads this has had experiences with specific HOAs in Northeast Pennsylvania, I would love to have you share them with me, either on this forum or privately. It is becoming obvious to me that I will have to deal with HOAs. The question is more which ones are more reasonable and which ones I should stay away from.  Your input would be very valuable.

Thank you so much for your very valuable input. My main concern is that someone  told me that there are HOAs whose rules are so restrictive that people who bought lots found they couldn't even build. This person was in a position to know, but that does not automatically mean that it is true. On the other hand, at the auction Wayne County held back in the Spring, about half the auction was the  listings for Sterling Township inside Pocono Springs. Not a single one of these lots sold. Not a one got a single bid. I witnessed this myself first hand. So while some rules only affect potential residents, they can have the effect that investors in land like us will have trouble finding buyers. 

Again, what I am after here is having others share their experiences in dealing with HOAs as land investors.

Thank you so much for your very valuable input. My main concern is that someone  told me that there are HOAs whose rules are so restrictive that people who bought lots found they couldn't even build. This person was in a position to know, but that does not automatically mean that it is true. On the other hand, at the auction Wayne County held back in the Spring, about half the auction was the  listings for Sterling Township inside Pocono Springs. Not a single one of these lots sold. Not a one got a single bid. I witnessed this myself first hand. So while some rules only affect potential residents, they can have the effect that investors in land like us will have trouble finding buyers. 

Again, what I am after here is having others share their experiences in dealing with HOAs as land investors.

I want to thank everyone for sharing. You have provided very valuable resources that many of us will be able to use.

I have been looking at the prices vacant lots sell for in a couple of semi-rural counties. What I am finding is that the lots within HOAs sell for double or even triple of lots in regular communities. I would like to start a conversation about buying lots inside HOAs so I can learn from your experience.

Let me describe the pros and cons as I see them (correct me if I am wrong, please). I know there is an annual fee and there may be additional fees. A couple of land investors have told me that after dealing with all the HOAs' rules, they never want to buy inside an HOA again. The flip side is that I would not be paying that much in fees, because my intention is to flip the property and since I am not planning to build, I won't have to deal with that many of the HOS's rules. The biggest point is how much more the lots sell for.

Never having dealt with HOAs, I am neutral on the subject. My intent is to learn from the experience of people in the group.

Yanina, can you talk a little bit more about the Giraffe360 camera?  I had never heard of this.

Yanina, thank you so much for replying.  I went on the Thumbtack website  and it mostly seemed to cover home repairs.  It also has photographers that can go out and photograph properties for us?

This is a question for investors who, like me, do not live in the vicinity of the properties they are interested in buying, and must hire people to go take photos and video. Do you place an ad in places like Craig's List and Facebook for someone?  The drawback I find with Craig's List  is that it has a limited number of editions in any given state, and they revolve around the large cities.  My research is in smaller localities, so it isn't clear to me that the photographers I need even see my ad.  The author of Dirt Rich says he uses wegolook.com.  Has anyone used this company?  I'd love to hear back about the experiences of others.