There are many reasons why you might want to buy and develop Orange County land. Whether you choose to buy and use the land yourself, or if you want to buy as an investment, knowing the process is instrumental in your success! In our latest post, we discuss the steps of buying and developing land in Orange County.
Investing in Orange County land is an excellent decision. But when you choose to develop that land, you can see your profits go through the roof! Before developing, you will need to take the time to do the research. You need to learn about the development costs, red-tape and determine what sort of building will do best in that location.
Securing Your Financing
Getting a loan to purchase land can be difficult. Lenders find investment buyers to be riskier, and will often impose greater fees and interest rates. They will want to see your development plans and other forms of financing you intend to use. It is because of this, that many land purchases are done in cash. And since so many people use cash to buy, it pays to be able to do the same. You will want to be able to close just as quickly as the other people trying to buy the land you are after.
Determining Values
Before buying land in Orange County, take a look at the value of the land, both with and without a structure. Run all the numbers to include development, maintenance, and permit costs. Is the land a good value on its own, even without a structure on it? How much value will you see once you build a house or commercial building? You will need to research area trends and recent sales. There is a lot of research to do before buying a developing land in Orange County!
Development Costs
Even if you plan on doing much of the work yourself, it is important to talk to multiple contractors and builders to discover your true building costs. Don’t forget to take into account permits, inspections and other costs aside from materials and labor. When doing any sort of construction project, costs seem to always exceed the budget. Plan ahead for this by keeping some reserves set aside. Also, once the structure is up, your taxes will go up as well!
Know What To Watch Out For
You might think that if you have seen one lot, then you have seen them all, however, this isn’t necessarily the case. You can have lots in the same vicinity that are subject to different environmental impacts and restrictions. Zoning can change from one lot to the next. There might be liens or other title problems with the property. Because land transactions often happen with cash and occur rather quickly, sometimes critical things can be missed. Don’t get so eager to buy that you don’t fully research the title and your ability to develop the land at the price and timeframe you want.
Have An Exit Strategy
As with any investment, it is important you have a plan in place should you need to liquidate quickly. You don’t want to find yourself stuck with a bad property. If you need to sell the land before it has been developed, it might prove to be difficult as there are fewer people looking to buy land at any given moment.