All Forum Posts by: Ken Sanders

*** I posted this in the General Real Estate section, but I figured I may have better luck here.***

I'm currently looking at a 1 acre property with a subdivision possibility. On the property is a very beat-up, vacant old home that I'm not sure would be worth rehabbing. I'm basically looking at knocking the house down, subdividing, and then listing the 2 lots.

I'm trying to get an idea of what I can expect to get for each building lot when all is said and done, but I can't find any comps for raw land. I also tried Zillow searching for sold and currently for-sale lots, but only got two results within the same township and those lots are much larger than mine. I kept expanding the map and there aren't even any results in ANY neighboring townhips!

Does anyone have any tips on how I can valuate lots with no comps?

Thanks, Jon.

If it could be, as you put it, "quick and easy. Draw a map, survey it off, do a couple of planning and zoning hearings, pay a few grand and you're done.", who does the map and survey? I assume I would have to hire a surveyor or engineer to do this?

Thanks again for the insight.

I'm looking at possibly purchasing a 1 acre property in Pennsylvania with an older beat-up house on it as my next rehab. The house is located on one side of the property and it seems as though there is a strong possibility that the property can be subdivided, according to the township zoning ordinace/development standards.

Can anyone give me a ballpark of how much it costs and how long it takes to get a basic subdivision approval?

The house is a steal on its own, but I'm just trying to figure out if it's cost effective to pursue a subdivision. Again, I'm just looking for a ballpark.

Years ago I got a secured personal credit card to build my credit. Basically, you pay a "deposit" up front and that becomes your collateral and limit on the card. It's risk-free for the bank and they reported my payments to all 3 Credit bureaus. Worked like a charm, too!

I'm now looking to do the same with my business credit. Anyone know of any secured business cards like this? I can get a business credit card very easily by giving a personal guarantee, but I'm looking to do this strcitly under my EIN number.

If I add my son as a signator on my bank account, does that automatically make it a "joint account"?

Thanks, guys.

Anyone know if I include the attic, garage, or roofed concrete porch in the square footage?

Thanks for the info J Scott.

So if the house in question has 4 levels, I would say "3 stories and a basement"?

I would say that maybe 2% of the basement is below grade. The crawl space side is the area that is actually below grade. The listing form has a field which asks how many square feet are below grade. I'm just trying to figure out what to fill in, if anything.

Thanks again for the help.

I'm in the process of listing a split-level home. I'm being asked how many "stories" the house has, but I'm not sure how to answer that. The house has four levels (basement/partially below grade level, entry level, bedroom level, and master bedroom level).

Also, the lowest/basement level is fully finished and there is a large adjoining crawl space under the entry level side. Should I be listing this as a "partial basement" that is "partially finished", or should I say it's a full, finished basement to eliminate confusion? I also wasn't sure about how the square footage of the house is affected by this. Do basements count in the square footage tally? I'm also being asked the square footage of the living area below grade. Does the lower/basement level qualify as "below grade"?

Hi, Marc. It's a solar lease and I'm an investor in the solar company. I'm just trying to figure out if I want to keep the stream or NPV it so that I can roll it into another project.

Hi, Tod. The deal is for electricity.

It seems like everything I read about NPV referes to equal installment annuities. I just wasn't sure about the payment structure with this particular deal.

Would a logical first step be to sit down with someone from, say, J.G. Wentworth?