ALL ABOUT LAND

Don't Settle For Average, Unless You're In The Market For It. Find A Real Estate Expert!

ALL ABOUT LAND




picture
 

Welcome to my site for Land and Lot Sales and Market Information for the greater East Bay Area.

I am a Land Specialist in the area, specializing in marketing residential, multifamily, and commercial lots, and land. Selling land is not your everyday occurrence and most realtors do not have the specialized training needed to value, market, and successfully sell land. THE MAJORITY of all land and lots on the market do not sell. I have been specially trained to value, market and sell and assist buyers in buying land and lot property. If you’re looking to SELL or BUY, you have come to the right place. 

I am here to work for you.

 

SELLING LAND AND LOT$

If you are in the market to SELL your land or lot there are a few things you need to know.                                                      

The land market, in the best of times, is a slow and narrow market. What this means is that there is not the plethora of buyers out there looking to buy land like there is for homes.

That means your lot or land will usually be on the market for a longer period of time ( Slow Market).

In addition, the types of buyers are going to be investors/speculators who buy for appreciation) this has allways been the largest buyer pool, builders and contractors (this group knows exactly what they need to pay for land to make a profit on their final product) and normal people who want to build heir own home because they keep getting beaten out of the housing market (this last group is the majority of buyer's expressing interest and the group that rarely succeeds in buying) (Narrow Market).


I bring this up because in my 11 years of experience in selling land and especially relisting land that other Realtors failed to sell, I find the the owners were never told about the market conditions. NOW YOU KNOW!

BUYING LAND AND LOT$

If you are looking to buy land, you came to the right place. I have seen so many nice people buy land with the wrong agents and end up with s a parcel that ultimately cannot be built upon. Do not rely on the fact that it 'looks buildable' or gee...there is a house to the left and a house to the right...so this must be buildable. DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE!

ALWAYS...ALWAYS... Contact the local planning department and ask them these simple questions. 1. Is this land buildable? 2 Do you know of any issues with this property? 3. Any known easements recorded and NOT RECORDED? 4. What are the allowed uses and density? 5. What is zoning? 6. What are the lot size parameters to make this a buildable lot? This is important because there are a lot of undersized lots or lot that do not meet the required frontage.

If the preliminary title report for the lot mentions an easement...always ask the listing agent to request a Color Coded Easement Map. Only a surveyor can decipher the information on the prelim. The colored map is an excellent document to have as it will show you what recorded easements there are and where they lie on the property. Understand this is for recorded easements. Not all easements unfortunately are not recorded. I highly recommend that you hire a surveyor to not only look for boundaries but for all easements. The surveyor will discover any that are not recorded.

 

OR...hire me as your buyer agent and I'll make sure we get ALL the information to make an intelligent and profitable land purchase.



 If you are in the market to BUY land and lots, you have come to the right place. Most lots are overpriced and I have seen folks pay way too much for thier parcel. Of course if your a contractor or builder, you have the data necessary to know exactly what you need to pay. But for the average person there really is no guideline..untill now.

As in listing land and lots, I use the same methodology that builders and appraisers use in valuing out their projects. 
You can be sure that you will not be overpaying. 

FINANCING:  Until recently land and lot sales were strictly all cash. That has been slowly changing. Contact me for a list of lenders that will loan on raw land and provide land/construction loans.

THE OAKLAND LAND MARKET
Special consideration is needed for those who own Oakland Land and Lots.

With the passage of Oaklands Measure W, there will now be a special tax (let's call it what it is....a penalty tax) on buildable vacant lots. This tax will take affect July 1, 2020. It is a $6,000 annual tax on buildable land for the next 20 years, on top of what property tax you are already paying. Most residential lots will not even appreciate at $6,000 a year, especially now with this tax looming over our heads. There will be a vast increase in lots now on the market in Oakland than ever before. If you consider the fact that Oakland land is no longer a viable commodity for speculators, this decreases the buyer pool greatly. Think about your school days and learning about supply side economics. More inventory and fewer demand drives down value. We are seeing this now. 

2018 Oakland Median SOLD price for lots between 4,000 -10,000 sq. ft. = $190,000

2019 Oakland Median SOLD price for lots between 4,000 - 10,000 sq. ft = $99,000
That's a drop in value of 52% +,- since Measure W was voted in. 
Just think what will happen when the tax bills arrive and folks really start selling!

The moral of this story is: PUT YOUR LOT AND LAND ON THE MARKET WITH ME NOW AND GET IT SOLD BEFORE THE HUGE INVENTORY CRUSH!

UPDATE! 2020 First Quarter Sold Lot Statistics: 4,000- 10,000 sq ft Lots; Meidan SOLD Price- $96,500.  ↓

OAKLAND LAND SALES HISTORICAL DATA


picture

 

HAWARD LAND MARKET

The height of the Hayward land market was back in 2006 and then quickly plummeted as a result of the housing crisis. It stayed at it lowest level for three years then made a slow recovery each year. It is just now starting to come back to 2005-2007 value levels.