All Forum Posts by: Bryant Brislin

I've never heard of anything like that. Cities sometimes have affordable housing funds, but they usually deploy those on larger projects where there will be a covenant recorded to require certain parameters.  Best of luck though, you'll learn a lot doing this project!

This is great info! I'm a land broker in Orange County, one hour from where the fires hit.  I'm excited to see so many of my peers in tech, prefab construction, government policy, architecture, et al come together to try to help those who need it!

No, there isn't.  You'd have to do the research locally, market by market, to determine who the players are.

I'm really sick today with a nasty cold, etc.  You can message me and I'll try to let you know when I"m better.

I've been a land broker for many years with a background as a title officer before that. Here are my thoughts/questions:

-When you say "builder" please give some more background...is this someone who builds a handful of spec homes a year in the area? The more experienced they are, the harder it is for them to blame other people.  And if they are a hobbyist/part-time builder, then they should engage the proper professionals, i.e. a title officer, civil engineer, architect, contractor et al to assist in reviewing the project's feasibility.

-Do you have the title report/commitment/policy? Often times, if title notices there is no obvious access, they will note that as an exception on Schedule B.  If it's there, then the buyer should have noticed that. This is your silver bullet.

-This technically isn't your problem. A real builder is supposed to do their own diligence and be savvy enough to know that access (legal access, not just does it abut a street) should be the number one thing they check first. Often times when a builder/buyer moves too fast, or is too busy and overlooks a key piece of due diligence, the unethical ones will try the "scorched earth" method and blame everyone but themselves, even when they know it was their own mistake, and they'll see if they can scare you, the seller, the title company et al into paying damages/fixing their problem.  Also, real builders/experienced developers will often have a true technician, i.e. a civil engineer, architect, real estate attorney et al at least glance at the property info to make sure there are no major red flags.

-As far as trying to sell land with no access, sometimes I've sold those to neighbors who want to increase their acreage, or utility companies, cities or other public entities who could use the piece for whatever reason. If it can't be sold off market, then technically a licensed agent should list it on the MLS and disclose that it doesn't have legal access. You'd be surprised, sometimes there are buyers who just want to own a piece of land, even if it's not the most desirable and of course price is a factor. Also, agents will use lots of disclosures for the buyer to sign to acknowledge what the constraints are.

-Also, if it could have access if they get an easement from a neighbor, maybe there is a mutually beneficial situation where the neighbor would give an easement for access. And says who that it doesn't have access? I need details. 

-At the end of the day, if it were me and I was a wholesaler (as opposed to a broker/agent) in this scenario, I would say that "as a courtesy", you can try to help and see if you can sell it to someone else off market, but you should not be expected to do a due diligence for the buyer, that's their responsibility, and you said from the beginning that you are not knowledgeable on land. 

Try to talk to a few local real estate agents, they should be able to give you insight as to why it's not moving.  Maybe it's just the price, so if you can't lower the price, maybe refi and hang on to it until the spring buying season.

Hello, you can do some research with the city's planning department as far as their development standards for that zoning, i.e. set-backs, height, lot coverage, etc. You can try to research to make sure the utilities are there for sewer, water, electric, etc.  But when you are really ready to get going, you would engage a civil engineer and/or an architec, and eventually a general contractor/builder.

Came out nice based on the aerial! And by the looks of it, some very mature, pretty trees and I'm sure that neighborhood will look great during the holidays!

Land in the path of development that may seem a little far out, but your gut/intution and common sense from an urban planning perspective tells you that some day, whether it's in 10 years, 20 years, etc it will be a great long-term position for your family to have and hopefully sell at a signifcant multiple return compared to what you've paid for it. Land that is is between two MSA's is always good, as presumably those MSA's will continue to grow and everything else between them.

Most of the big land wholesalers whole-tale the deals, meaning they actually buy/close on the land (using their own money or other people's money) and then list on the MLS to sell, because it is very difficult to find buyers without widely marketing it. As opposed to fixer SFRs, you can figure out who a lot of potential buyers are, and assign the contract during escrow. But for land, it's not like that in most cases. So they try to buy it at 1/5 the value, approx and then list for 2/3 the value approx on the MLS. Look for podcast episodes with Ray Zhang and other guys like him. I sell land as an agent, I've been a land broker for 15 years, focused on Southern California, FYI. Good luck!