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How to find urban lots to build?

darrel | Posted in General Discussion on July 11, 2002 03:01am

Here’s a question that may or may not be on topic for these forums, but I figure there must be a developer or two in here that can share some tips.

We currently live in an older house in the city and are beginning to make plans for our next move. We’ve decided that we probably want to build ourselves (old house, while full of character, are to much work, and new houses in the burbs, are, well, ugly and poorly designed). The catch is finding a lot.

We don’t want to move to the ‘burbs. We’d prefer to find an empty lot within the city, which, of course, isn’t quite as easy.

My question is, how does one go about finding out about lots that will be opening? It appears that few people sell lots directly through realtors (I’ve found a total of 4…all lakeside at $100K +), Few realtors seem to sell condemned tear-downs, either.

It seems as if developers often get first-crack and newly zoned lots or lots with recent tear-downs.

Are there particular people I should get to know locally? Are there any tricks of the trade?

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  1. Mooney | Jul 11, 2002 06:17am | #1

    This probably should have went in the  business section , but its no biggie.

    This is part of what I do.

    I would drive around and look for your lot.

    Call every bank in your area and ask for the person in charge of repossessions. They may tell you they have five or so. They might also tell you to contact people that's not to foreclosure yet. Its always been surprising to me how many people buy a lot and cant make payments on it. Plus builders are prone to be in trouble . Sonny posted that its an  85 percent failure rate for builders , and  remoldelers . At some time , they all want to build a spec house. They aren't trained for the business end of the spec business. They are trained to build. Same thing goes for all trades  working as subs, and around the industry. Every one wants in , but few survive, if they make too many trips too the well.  You could call every builder and ask if they have one for sale. Professional sales people are not the ones to deal with if you want a bargain normally.  That is about the last option. What they have is usually pricey , with owners that might not have to sell, plus the agent is trying to make money on the owners dime.[ big difference when you consider that point ].  An agent works for the buyer, unless you are a big enough buyer to have an agent working for you. [They might tell you they can rep both ,.....and a good time was had by all.] That would be like two people using the same divorce lawyer.

    Tim Mooney

    1. Handydan | Jul 11, 2002 08:47am | #2

        A couple of options that I would try ,   drive the neighborhoods that you can afford and look for homes in trouble that have the lot you want.  Then use county or city records to find the owner and ask if they would like money instead of falling down house.   Use the aforementioned records to look for vacant lot listings on the tax records and ask them the same questions.  Easiest way is to find one of the "few agents" that are willing to do all the work for you and then make sure you treat them with the loyalty and respect that they deserve.  There that was easy  wasn't it, now you know how the Pro's do it, at least some of the time.

      Dan

      1. darrel | Jul 11, 2002 03:39pm | #3

        Thanks for the tips! These are good ideas...

        1. ahneedhelp | Jul 11, 2002 04:30pm | #4

          As a buyer, it's not a bad idea to work with an agent.

          Some specialize in digging up lots or land.

          In our town, most desirable properties change hands behind the scene and folks find out only after the fact.

          A "local" bank with ties to old families handle a lot of the estates that needs to be liquidated.

          It definitely requires a lot of footwork and networking to be part of the bubba network to get a stab at desirable properties.

          See if you have a G.I.S data for your town on the internet.

          It is very convenient for researching a property instead of going to the courthouse. You can practice by first looking up your property.

          If GIS data is available for your area, it will be mentioned at your local government's home page.

          Alan

  2. JohnSprung | Jul 11, 2002 09:37pm | #5

    Since you're open to demo and build, don't overlook small apartment buildings.  If your city has rent control, you'll be able to find 4-6 units or less run down and dirt cheap.  That's what I did, 4 units for $345k.  A couple years later, an identical building next to mine sold for only $290k.

    -- J.S.

    1. darrel | Jul 12, 2002 05:09am | #6

      "Since you're open to demo and build, don't overlook small apartment buildings.  If your city has rent control,"

      Oh no. No rent control here. 1 bedroom slums are starting at $500...

      "you'll be able to find 4-6 units or less run down and dirt cheap.  That's what I did, 4 units for $345k."

      Hmm...well, I wouldn't call 345K within our price range. We were thinking sub 40k...which, I realize, may put us in the bad part of town fairly quick.

      I am surprised at the number of commercial tear-downs around here, though. In our own neighborhood, I've seen 3 business completely torn down and filled in...just empty lots now. Mainly retail zoned, but that's probably not a bad thing to start looking into...

      Again...thanks for all of the advice!

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