Posts Tagged ‘Undeveloped Land’

Land is a Great Investment

If you have even a passing interest in real estate, you’ve undoubtedly heard one or more of the so-called “experts” advising against buying undeveloped land. Why? “Because it generates no income” right? Wrong, the fact is that they’re not telling you the whole story about raw land. There happens to be another school of thought entirely. And once you take notice and begin to analyze things clearly, you’ll start to see that buying land can actually be a tremendous wealth builder, one that can generate a great monthly cash flow.

Let’s think about this for a moment. For literally hundreds of years, vast fortunes have been made in America by owning land. This has occurred in one of two basic ways: either the owner held land that lay in the pathway of progress and growth, or the owner held land that someone else sought to buy in order to change how it was being used. (Remember when the Disney Corporation bought the swamplands near Orlando?) These same basic premises work just as well today. Owning a well-positioned tract of land can return many, MANY times the amount of money invested in it.

Aside from just buying low or in a growing area and selling the property for cash there is a whole other world that most investors overlook. People for the most part usually understand that money can be made in real estate, most people even know someone that has made it big in real estate. But the question I still always get about land investing is “How can I build a cash flow by investing in land?”. Since undeveloped land has nothing on it most people think that they will have to build a house or apartment complex on it before they can receive a monthly income stream from it. I always tell people that for years now I have been receiving a nice cash flow from my properties.

What’s my secret? Well while every other land investor in this county is either developing the land or selling it to someone else for cash, I have been selling a percentage of my properties on terms. So when someone buys a property from me they can pay me in cash or they can pay me just a down payment and finance the rest with me for a number of years. This allows me to receive checks every month for years after. I have been able to acquire hundreds of these notes over the past few years and this has allowed me to live quite comfortably even in down markets.

By: Jack Bosch

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Understanding the Home Appraisal Process

If you’re planning to sell a piece of real estate, it is important to get your home appraised. While you can look at market trends for houses similar to yours to generate a rough estimate of what you think your home should be worth, only a certified home appraisal will give you a number that you can be truly confident about and one you will be able to present to potential buyers.

How An Appraiser Rates Your Home

The real estate appraiser will generally start by doing an analysis of the physical characteristics of the property. How much square footage is there? How much usable square footage? How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? How much undeveloped land is part of the property? How old is the property?

He’ll then collect sales data for similar homes that have sold in the same neighborhood. He will use these figures to gain a basic understanding of how much a property like this should be valued at in the current market.

Finally, there is a field inspection. The first part of the field inspection is the subject property inspection, which involves an exterior and interior inspection. The exterior inspection consists of taking pictures of the front and back of the home, the back and front yards and the street in front of the home. The interior inspection consists of noting the condition of the walls and fixtures within and making notes on anything that might increase or decrease the value of the property in this regard. He should draw a floor plan of the home during this part of the inspection. The second part is the exterior inspection of comparable properties, which he will use to help him estimate the final value of the property being appraised.

The Importance Of Home Appraisal

A good appraisal can make you thousands of dollars more than you might otherwise get. Be sure that the appraiser you use is highly trained and trustworthy. Try to get references from others who have used the appraiser successfully to be sure you are working with someone who will give you a true and honest accounting of your home’s value. To make sure you get the most favorable appraisal you can, take the time to prepare for the appraiser’s arrival. Give the home a fresh coat of paint, make sure the home is clean and take care of any minor repairs before he arrives.

By: Craig Berger

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