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filler@godaddy.com
Personally I would not buy a lot that does not have a home on it , that needs to be tore down and re-built. There are too many variables I would have to account for. The * means low probability of that issue because you have a tear down. If you have no tear down it could be an issue.
This can take a year or longer please check with you county. If it is deeded or not.
Even if the sewer line is in the street you will have to pay to have traffic stopped or detoured as you remove the road to get to your city lines.
An easement is an area you cannot go into to do construction. If there is no easement to your utilities you can end up not able to connect to city sewer and water. Some land has an easment where you can not build the home.
This is an environmental issue. You could have an RPA or other protected area on your property that you can not build on. This includes flood plains, rare birds, County utility easements etc.
Does the lot have a slope in the front or back? A slight slope is fine however, you may need bring in dirt and do a controlled back fill. Some slopes make a lot unbuildable.
Has this property been on and off the market often? If so why did this happen? Are people buying the lot and returning the lot in the feasibility stage? if so there is probably an issue with the lot.
If there is natural gas, then is there an easement to the utility? If its propane can the tank be buried in the ground near the home, or is it a small tank that is above ground hidden?
What are the set backs of the building lines from the property lines? Can we fit our home on your lot? There are restriction lines on streams, RPA's, easements, and other issues. Not just your property lines.
High water is when the water table under the earth is high. If so your home will then be on a slab or crawl space. We do not build homes on slab or crawl space. You will have to check with a grading plans engineer for this information.
There are occasions that there is rock on the property. This rock will have to blasted out. Sometimes you can predetermine if there is a lot of bedrock on the property. If there is a tear down that already has a basement you have a better chance of not blasting stone out.
Will this lot have retaining walls to hold up the earth? Then the use of a retaining wall may be needed, especially if there is a slope on the lot. Retaining walls can be simple or very difficult and can run the budget higher unexpectedly. All single wall can 4k or 40K. Its better to have a tear down with no slops or a gentle hill to the back of the home.
If there is no city water, has there been a test on how deep one has to go to get water. If the answer is yes, how many gallons per minute (GPM). If the answer is "no" can you get water on the lot? A well can be 8K or you can spend tens of thousands and never find water. There is much, much better chance of water if there is a tear down.
HAS THE PROPERTY BEEN "Perked" and is the perk recorded with the county? Where is the drain-field and will that drain field be in the way of the home? A septic system can be 40K or 120K. How many bedrooms can you get how much is it. Its much better to find a tear down with city water already brough to the lot.
Even if you can afford the payments on a finished home, will the bank appraise the home when completed? There are many, many lots that are in areas where none or very few finished homes appraised for a million dollars or more. So if your lot is $150K and the home and site work is $650K so the total price is $800k, but the neighborhood has no $800K homes in the area. The bank may refuse to loan.
Your lot has to appraise for the purchase amount, so lets say your lot and home appraises together correctly. The bank may not give you the money to buy the land unless the lot itself appraises correctly. The bank wants to make sure at any time they can take the project and not lose money on it. This is even before the project begins. So you may have to come out of pocket for the appraisal difference or the sale can not go through.
Most counties have restrictions on how much of the lot you can clear. So lets say you have a 5 acre lot in Virginia and the county only allows 1 acre of clearing. After the house pad, well, septic you have used up 1 acre. However the power company calls and says you need to clear more space to get the power lines in. you have heavy, heavy penalties to clear more, like adding an underground retention pond.