What to do with inherited land in 29 Palms

Question

My husband I are about to inherit just under 10 acres of undeveloped land, 6 minutes from downtown 29 Palms. It is zoned for single family residential and my understanding is that it has city water.

We have a few long term rentals in the Southern U.S. and are about to start our first short term rental in WA but, we have no experience with development. I have read the city's vacation rental policy so it seems that short term rentals with this location are not an option (correct me if I'm wrong).

What is the best course of action with this property in terms investment. Should we sell it as a whole? Split it into individual plots, if so how long does this process take in San Bernardino county? Should we develop it?

Anyone with experience in the area that could provide some advice would be greatly appreciated!

Kristi Kandel · Answer

Hey Maria! I've been a developer the past 17 years with a majority of that work in CA and I'm pretty sure we put a Family Dollar in 29 Palms. That being said development requires stamina as the development process takes 2-3 years minimum and for 10 acres depending on the development you'd move forward with could take more like 3-8 years.

I'm happy to jump on a call with you next week to discuss your property and see what your options might be based on the location and zoning. Right now SFH new construction is very tough to pencil in a lot of markets and you'd need higher density per acre to make something work. However, if the city is on board with more affordable housing then maybe a rezone isn't a stretch for the land.

Real estate developers need to identify the highest & best use for a piece of land or property, then gather the team & resources necessary to complete the project. They use educated assumptions based on personal & partner experience to predict the revenue/income the development will generate.

Development projects take years to complete and real estate developers should have expertise or strategic partners) in the following areas:

• Building and maintaining relationships
• Land acquisition
• Market studies
• Approvals and permits
• Project financing and financial analysis
• Building development
• Building renovations

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

Socal (City of San Diego mostly) site and land use civil here...SB County is better than SD County as far as timelines from what I hear, but almost any proposal will take two years and possibly as many as 4-5 depending on the total scope. Development in Socal is no joke and many experienced builders who entitle project in other states (Lennar, KB, Shea etc) typically do not entitle here and simply buy shovel ready projects from hyper local developers who can get them entitled. That's not to say don't do it, but you should very much evaluate if the juice is worth the squeeze. Your best option may be something more straight forward like a sale with an owner carry back for someone who wants to build their own home on the land.

If you do pursue this, any estimated cost you come up with you should double it and evaluate if you still wanted to consider the project. I absolutely have seen multiple projects cost double or triple what was projected initially. It often is because of the things you don't know about the site until you start the design, and then every consultant needs to revise their proposal for those changes which adds up quickly.

Barry Ruby · Answer

Hi there! Your 1st order of business should be to check with the county office and officials that control zoning and permitting.

If current zoning doesn't allow your planned uses, you should check with the planning department to see if they have a long-range plan and if they do, how that plan views the use(s) of your site. If your uses do not complement the long-range plan, getting the site rezoned to allow your uses would be a long shot at best.

In the event your planned uses fail to meet current and long-range zoning, your most logical options would be to either build what can get permitted or divest yourself of the property.

Let me know if you need any help or clarification on the above.

Dylan Speer · Answer

Have you considered exchanging into a DST? Or selling, paying the taxes, and investing in an oil and gas mineral rights royalty fund?

Colin Higgins · Answer

As someone who lived in California, I would say keep it and develop it in one way or another. California urban outsprawl is unreal and god only knows what 29 palms might look like in 15 years. As long as it is not a financial burden to keep it. Something to consider would be a USDA solar farm grant if that area is considered rural enough and in need of energy. Just thinking outside of the box, you would have to research that more.

What to do with inherited land in 29 Palms

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