Posted by gerald(tx) on September 15, 2004 at 18:29:13:
Josh,
Let me play devil’s advocate here. I once owned a parcel such as this many years ago, and being a newbie not wanting to take a loss, it took a time for reality to sink in.
I’m not getting a good picture with lone desert acreage, no water, phone, or electrical. Understand that there is a lucrative business of subdividing and selling overpriced land parcels, and owner financing them to out of state buyers. Very few of these are ever paid off, the buyers finally realize that they didn’t make a very wise purchase and stop paying. The seller simply takes the property back and starts the cycle all over again. Some parcels and sold and resold dozens of times, giving the owner a continuous lifetime income.
Get realistic market information from the local area as to whether or not it is worth pursuing or not. If it is, then best wishes with your creative ideas and try whatever it takes to make things work.
But if it really is a $14k property (or less), then go ahead and throw in the towel, accept it as a mistake and move on. There are a lot easier ways to make money in real estate than wrestling with out-of-state raw land.
Not trying to rain on your parade, but if the situation is as I suspect, be realistic.
Hi, I’m just getting into REI and SOOO glad I found this site. I’ve read through so much on the site learning more and getting excited about making some offers but have a problem with some existing real estate that my wife bought for her parents a few years ago. The land is not being used and we want to get rid of it.
Thing is, she bought it high for 20,000 with 3,000 down, so we’ve been making payments at 10% for a couple years. (just found this out going throught the records. uhg.) So I’m trying to figure out a creative way of getting rid of the property and come out on top.
It’s some untouched desert land out in El Paso, Texas. The land has houses all around it, but the area is quite depressed. I’d like to get at least 25,000 out of it, but I fear that is asking too much as the appraisal is set at around 14,000.
If I can come out on top with this situation I have no doubt I could get going on other opportunites. Thanks for any ideas!!
Posted by Jim FL on September 14, 2004 at 14:27:00:
Josh,
You said the appraisal comes in at $14k?
Is this a paid for appraisal, or the govt for tax purposes?
If the latter, then it usually is not accurate for a value comparison.
Check to see if any other land the same size and area has sold recently.
Comparible sales is what tells you the value, because what people are willing to pay, is the value.
Once you nail down the value, price accordingly, and sell.
Terms will get you a higher price, maybe, it is land.
Perhaps contact some builders who may have built in the area recently, or some smaller builders who go house at a time.
You may sell to them for cash, or even carry paper, short term as they build a house on the land.
Lots of ways to skin the cat here, IF you know what the market will bring.
Tell us more about the market there, depressed or not, perhaps a local builder has some cheap rental unit, duplex, or SFH they can throw up for cashflow.
Who knows wil you try.
Nail down value first, then market the land, for sale, with ‘possible seller assisted financing’ or something.
That should get the phone to ring.
Jim, thanks, that gets the juices flowing. The market there is pretty good. El Paso is right on the border, so there’s lots of imigrants. The growth is fair in this area, but it’s just outside the city limits in a part of the county that is neglected by the county authorities for the most part.
One other problem is that I live 800 miles away in Oklahoma so dealing with it is tough. I will try finding values of property around the area, get a appraisal and market it.
One thought I had was to lease the land to someone to put a trailer on. If they own the trailer then they would only be paying for the spot. If I can get $400/mo. for that then things would be good. Only problem is that there is no water, phone or electrical hook-ups yet. So, it may be better to contact a builder that is familiar with that area. I’ll look into both.
OH! maybe i could LP the land to a buyer, so they take care of all the leveling and utilities! That would be attractive to someone just coming over from mexico with no credit and needing a place to live. could that be a possibility? hmm.
any other ideas? thanks!!