This lot is smaller at first glance, narrower frontage and not as deep as lot #1. But it's pie shaped, so it's bigger at the back. Much bigger. So the overall area,which was not included in the listing, is actually bigger. There is enough room along the back lane for a 4 car garage. It currently has a development permit in place for a 3000 square foot house and a 3 car garage. The old bungalow has already been torn down, so it's just the land.
It's also owned by the listing realtor. He countered our first offer just a little lower than his list price. We weren't going to go that high, but he made it clear to our agent that he wasn't willing to go any lower and would prefer to hold it. So after a couple of days of humming and hawing, 2 of which MrDinks was out of town on business, we decided to go for it and bought some dirt, conditional on financing. And once we had the financing in place, he would give us the real property report we needed to apply for new development permits.
It turns out that buying bare land is more complicated than buying a house. Most mortgage brokers can't help. The woman at the bank seemed confused and not particularly interested. But we eventually found a mortgage broker who specializes in bare land mortgages. It still requires a property assessment, and a portion of the purchase price will have to be financed against our existing house. The property assessment scares me. What if the bank declares our dirt is worth much less than we've agreed to pay? We can come up with the money, but why? Why pay more than the assessed value? We've got about a week to figure it out.
It's also owned by the listing realtor. He countered our first offer just a little lower than his list price. We weren't going to go that high, but he made it clear to our agent that he wasn't willing to go any lower and would prefer to hold it. So after a couple of days of humming and hawing, 2 of which MrDinks was out of town on business, we decided to go for it and bought some dirt, conditional on financing. And once we had the financing in place, he would give us the real property report we needed to apply for new development permits.
It turns out that buying bare land is more complicated than buying a house. Most mortgage brokers can't help. The woman at the bank seemed confused and not particularly interested. But we eventually found a mortgage broker who specializes in bare land mortgages. It still requires a property assessment, and a portion of the purchase price will have to be financed against our existing house. The property assessment scares me. What if the bank declares our dirt is worth much less than we've agreed to pay? We can come up with the money, but why? Why pay more than the assessed value? We've got about a week to figure it out.
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