land purchase option length

[Derek Carroll]

what's the longest you've seen a piece of land or a building tied up with an option?  If it was your deal, was it a straight option or did it include extensions as well?  how much did you put up to start and for each extension?

obviously answers can be all over the board depending on deal type, entitlements and approvals, lease negotiations, ect.... Just want to see what the cross section looks like.

Will we have anyone with 1-2+ years under option?

[John Blackman]

You can deflect timelines like 6 months with critical events like say getting your permit.  A lot depends on your market but instead of putting it under contract for n days, put it under contract until the permit is approved or some event reduces your risk.  This can usually be coupled with some non refundable earnest money every 30 days to show you are serious.

We try to get close with permits, but often cannot.  The next stop is 90 days, then 60 if we think we can confidently rush it.  30 is just too few to get all of the due diligence done and raise the money.  If you had cash, 30 days might work but you would need to be super confident in the lot.