Over Columbus Day weekend, I met with a client who’s looking to purchase land and build a new home. Recently, she found a parcel of land from a MLS listing that I emailed and decided she’s interested in the property. I met with her on Sunday, so we could walk the property together, go over comps and discuss her future plans. I recently called the local municipality on her behalf to confirm that the land is approved for building, find out the set-back requirements, see if there are building restrictions, ask about water, wetlands and soil, see if there are live stock or state parks nearby, and make sure there isn’t anything else that might hinder future construction. My client was happy to know that a perk test has been done and the proposed site is laid out in a property survey. The next step presumably is to make an offer on the land.
As an agent, my next step is pulling comparables of similar properties that have recently sold. This is no different than what I do for clients who are purchasing a home-- we pull comparables from a neighborhood and surrounding area to determine fair market value. Building a home from the ground up is no easy task and this type of construction requires a great deal of leg work by both the agent and the buyer. Finding a suitable piece of land can be a challenge and making sure that the property is a good place to build requires an agent to ask the right questions and reach out to the right people. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than buying a piece of property only to find you’re unable to build or that it would be an extremely lengthy and expensive undertaking to do so. Having as many questions answered up-front is the way to go.
