Owning land is pretty easy – it rarely takes a lot of work. But when you want to get rid of it, that is a different story. Do you own land and are wondering, “How do I sell my SC land to a developer”? At D Gilpin Properties, we’re often asked that question so we wrote this blog post to answer it for you…
First, it’s important to know what developers are looking for
A developer wants to be able to build on the property and sell it, so they’re probably looking for property that is close to infrastructure and services (like water, sewer, power, and roads). After all, they’ll need to connect these services to their development and they’ll want people to get to their development!
It’s okay if the land isn’t serviced but developers will probably want to know how far away the services are and whether those services are being actively worked on by the city.
When land isn’t easily accessible it starts to have an effect on the value. It might have a taxable value on our Charleston County tax assessor site but it’s only worth what someone will pay for it right? When the costs to prepare the land start to mount, unfortunately your sales price might drop as well.
Second, you may want to bypass the real estate agent
A lot of real estate agents tend to work with residential homeowners who are looking to buy a house to live in. If you’re wondering “How do I sell my land to a developer?” you may need to find someone who specializes in selling land to commercial businesses. (Alternatively, you might consider getting in touch with us to buy your land from you – we’re not developers but we do buy land).
Agents utilize comps to find prices for houses but there any simple too many variables in land to ask an agent to find a reasonable expectation of value.
Third, be aware of zoning when wondering “How Do I Sell My Land To A Developer?”
Developers will be looking to build, which may include potentially subdividing and doing additional work on the land. They’ll want to know how your property is zoned so they can anticipate the work required to build. Of course zoning can often be changed but zoning changes will just add to their timeline and workflow so it’s helpful for developers to know up-front how the land is zoned.
Fourth, be aware of the path of new construction
This one is harder for land owners to know but if you’re wondering, “How do I sell my SC land to a developer?” this will be an important consideration that the developer is thinking about: If your land is not inside a city then a developer will probably want to know if the city is growing in the direction of your land. (Even if the city is not growing toward your land, that’s okay but developers will want to know). You don’t have to know this answer yourself but if you do, that will be helpful to developers.
Selling raw land can be challenging because it’s a very different kind of buyer. But if you’re wondering, how do i sell my land to a developer, then these 4 tips will help you.