I was just offered an insane amount of money for my house

Communication has only been by phone so far. I won't do anything until someone comes in person and makes a real offer, then I will verify they are a legitimate business, final transaction will be at my bank and I would have the bank verify funds.
 
Zillow is very innacurate, except in those subdivisions with cookie cutter homes.
Unless it is a cash sale, you will go though the appraisal process and the if it doesnt appraise, the bank will not loan on it.
 
Blue ridge wheeltor said:
Zillow is very innacurate, except in those subdivisions with cookie cutter homes.
Unless it is a cash sale, you will go though the appraisal process and the if it doesnt appraise, the bank will not loan on it.
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I am not expecting this to be a bank loan deal, more of a developer who needs the land to develop the land behind mine, probably a $3 million deal for 20 homes on 5-6 acres
 
astjp2 said:
I am not expecting this to be a bank loan deal, more of a developer who needs the land to develop the land behind mine, probably a $3 million deal for 20 homes on 5-6 acres
Click to expand...
your piece probably has more value to them than the 5 acres behind you as it it your property is the key to make it happen. I had this happen behind me, the developer had 5 different deals with 5 different owners of parts of land to get enough land to put up 5 big houses.
 
Do yourself a favor and dont use Zillow or any of the other websites that give guesstimates.

Go to a realtor YOU know and trust, or one that comes recommended. Get an unbiased opinion on price.

You can get bank appraisals, but from I've seen, they're often crap. Only use them if someone us financing.

A realtor that's plugged in, especially with contractors, will give you a much more accurate price range. They will know who's developing what and where, and they can more accurately price for amenities.

Best of luck either way, and keep us informed!
 
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It can be very difficult to get a reliable appraisal on undeveloped land like the acreage behind your house. In most places, the value really depends on how many buildable lots you can get out of it. Usually, the number of buildable lots is driven by many factors such as the terrain, water/sewer vs well/septic, required setbacks, storm water management requirements, etc. Developers are generally the best equipped to come up with a reasonable guestimate and only after investing some engineering hours into the analysis. This generally exceeds what a typical residential realtor can handle.

The bottom line is usually how many buildable lots end up incorporated into an approved development plan which can take months or years to acquire.

On the other hand, if the land is relatively flat and has an easily dividable shape, zoning requires say 1 acre lots, and everybody is on well/septic, then maybe you can estimate the number of buildable lots with some certainty based on the land area alone.

My point is, to estimate the value, you need to know how many houses can be built on it. And that is sometimes difficult to guestimate without some engineering work up front.

Before selling, I would try to contact a few smaller residential developers (assuming zoning is residential) and see if they are interested. Solicit offers from them. It's quite possible, the realtor is considering doing the development or possible they want to flip it to a developer at a profit. You can just as easily sell directly to a developer.

When my parents passed away with a small 10 acre farm in an area with massive residential development occurring, we sold directly to a developer that was already doing development next door. It allowed them to expand their development plan to include our 10 acres. So it had more value to them than to others. You want to find the developer with the biggest incentive to buy your property.

Sorry for the long post...
 
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If the deal is real and fits your needs sounds great if you can leverage the advantage you have I’m sure you won’t go wrong in whatever you reinvest in. On the other hand if you thought the area was eventually headed for upscale development and waiting Wasn't an issue might be a lot more money down the road. I remember back in the late 1970’s a budy of mine bought 5 undeveloped acres in the Fremont, California foothills for 55K, not very many years later the area began to develop, MC Hammer built his palace just up the road above him. My friend kept the property for roughly 20 years then subdivided it into 10 1million dollar building sites and moved to a quiet place in the Sierra foothills.
 
I can believe it based on whats going on here in Washington. It's nuts! our property's value has jumped at least 250K since we bought it 6 years ago. We constantly get Realtor cards in our mailbox... heck, we even get a Christmas card from one asking us if we are interested in selling. The problem is all the homes values are going up in the region. homes are on the market less than a week. The ones in my area are sold in two or three days since we are a ferry ride from Seattle. The cookie cutter shit boxes go for 400k for a 1,400 sq ft home with a single car garage that only a hobbit car can fit in!!!

I get it! it would be life changing money, but make sure you do your do diligence. I would get the house appraised , but only if you are serious about moving since cost would be to you. A good realtor would be able to get close and might be free just don't sign with anyone. I don't think Zillow will be a very accurate assessment since it doesn't give value to all your upgrades and home improvements. They look at sq ft, number of rooms, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and compare to other homes on the market in that region.

Contact the developer of the land behind you. If you are stalling their project your value could be worth even more then whats being offered to you or an appraised value for your home.

I hope it works out for you
 
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