About 2 years ago I purchased a few vacant lots with the goal of building houses. However due to soil conditions of the land I realized that I lack the experience to properly develop these properties and I want to sell them. 2 of the vacant lots that I own are directly adjacent to about 4-6 other vacant lots that the owner is beginning development on in the next few weeks. I would like to approach the owner and sell him my lots at a price that will cover my expenses and give me a small profit (4-6k per lot). What’s the best strategy for acheiving this? Should I price my lots about 10-20k higher than what I want to receive? Should I level with the potential buyer and tell him exactly what I’m trying to accomplish? How would you approach a situation like this?
In addition to those first 2 vacant lots, I purchased 3 other lots from a tax scavenger sale. These properties are located in a small subdivision where the homes average about 750k and up, so I had in mind of building upper scale houses for a decent profit. However I did’nt do my homework and I learned after the purchase that 1 of the lots has a retention pond on it and the 2 other lots are labeled as unbuildable by the village department. After speaking with a few foundation and soil engineers as well as an experienced building developer I learned that it is possible to build on at least 2 of the lots. However the problem is that the building department needs to be convinced that any homes built on the land in question would be safe from flooding before they change the zoning. I’m contemplating speaking with mayor about the tax benefits that 2 new large homes would bring to the suburb in the hopes that he will help me with the zoning issue. But i’m also considering selling the lots and letting a more experienced developer take over the project. So my question is if I do decided to sell the land what’s the best way to market it? Should I price the land at a lower price than other lots in that area? (there’s not many vacant lots in this suburb and I’m thinking a lower price might be a red flag that the land has problems) Should I look to partner up with an expereinced developer on this project and negotiate a percentage of the profits?
I would appreciate any advice on this situation. Thanks