How do you determine if land could be developed/go about it?

Question

I have never ran into something like this. Just got a call off of our Facebook page actually (first lead from FB). Guy has land in Lake Saint Louis MO. Very active/Higher end area. 5 Acres of land with a Barn and 2k+ Sq Ft home. Home has some fire damage. I am thinking it could be a great opportunity to find a developer and build a small subdivision.

Is 5 acres enough for a project like this? Existing home has some fire damage and he is asking about what the home would be worth not damaged due to the value of the land.

We would have to partner with someone more experienced as we don't have the know how to do this on our own. I know several of you guys on here develop land and build new homes but I didn't want to reach out uninvited for advice.

Thanks guys for any help/advice. Going to see the property tomorrow.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

well you might have something then.. you can also just going into the city or county who has jurisdiction and talk with a planner at the front desk..

they will give you zoning basic answers to density and other red flags they may see.

so if it looks feasible then. you want to get with a local Civil or local land planner and or look up who the civil was on the subdivision next door if it was done in the recent past and get a sit with them. they will know whats what

Ryan Dossey · Answer

Thanks Jay. Looks like this may be a bit beyond me at this point. I'm gonna reach out to the developer of the subdivision near by and a few builders to just flip the land. Home on the property and barn with land are worth 300k plus to a retail buyer so that's a secondary option but the home needs work.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

take your acreage and depending on road standards deduct 25 % for right of ways.. then divide... 5 X 43,520 = 217,600 / 25%= 163,200 / 9000 =  roughly 18 lots give or take.. you will want to know if you need on site water retention or swale system.. for storm sewer that could eat up a lot...

so if you buy it for 200k ? 18 = 11k lot raw... not sure cost there but say for round numbers civil and survey record plat 4k ... that 15k   we pay 30 to 50k per lot to do all W P S U Storm Pavement... so 45 to 65k all in ... then back into home prices I have no clue as to what you sell for or build for but that's easy math.. and maybe you can do the whole underground portion for 15k a lot.. But we can't  that's for sure I just build out a 27 lot sub and it was just under 1.2  and I just finished a 6 lot on and it was 155k all in .

Best of luck.. And it take us about 18 months start to finish with land planning approval process then construction. you might have winter to contend with we work through the winter we don't freeze we just play in the MUD.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

call local builders... then call local land planner or civil engineer that specializes in doing subdivisions they will save you a ton of time

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Ryan Dossey

getting old here acre is 43,560 sq ft not 43,520   my bad

Ryan Dossey · Answer

It would really be closer to 20 houses as there would need to be room for roads etc.

Jessica H. · Answer

Sounds like it could have some good potential!

Ryan Dossey · Answer

Very interesting I spoke with the zoning and planning director. The land is actually technically unincorporated. She said with the location/proximity it would qualify for a voluntary annexation to the MUCH nicer community at NO CHARGE. They have a min. lot size of 9,000 sqft. 1500 sqft for ranches. Or 900 sqft for 2 Story homes. Using their min. A total of 23.6 homes could be built. They would require a HOA be ran/managed. Schools in the area are great! New Wal-Mart/shopping is less than 2 miles away.

Ryan Dossey · Answer

Excellent. I'm going to get on that. He was offered 400k pre 2008 by a developer and declined it. He is elderly and wanting to travel. I know him personally and he told me he would take half that.

Ryan Dossey · Answer

Jay Hinrichs  Thanks! You are one of the guys that came to mind. Can I have those conversations before I am under contract? I would assume just not disclose the address to builders? There is a decent sized subdivision parallel to one side of the property.

How do you determine if land could be developed/go about it?

How do you determine if land could be developed/go about it?

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