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Is it? Isn’t it? Since Portugal was awarded the 21 billion euro (£14.2bn) EU grant to help the country develop, a fair proportion has been allocated to improve tourist areas like the Algarve. Past developments have seen the Algarve region become a favourite for British and Irish holidaymakers and property investors. Both are attracted by the climate, which is sunny and warm for most of the year, as well as by the ease with which they can get to the region. Regular and low cost flights now fly to Faro from airports all over the UK, and the region’s attractions are only a short drive from the airport.

Just 20 minutes from Faro Airport there are championship golf courses as well as a host of luxurious and affordable accommodation. The prospect of future development is likely to excite tourists and investors even further.

Portugal is still new in the overseas property market. The quality of build is high, property prices have grown a steady 10-15% per annum since 2000, and there is a wide choice of property across all price ranges. Depending on what you are looking for the Algarve has its established areas with mature resorts and alternatively brand new investment opportunity areas such as the East, each appealing to a different type of person and budget.

It has long been accepted that property over the longer term offers a safer alternative to the stock market and property in Portugal is a great example of this. In fact, property in Portugal has been growing in popularity at such a pace that over the medium term property prices in Portugal have been moving steadily up.

Portugal is also a popular retirement destination for people from all around the world. The mild climate, gorgeous coastline and plentiful sunny beaches combined with excellent food and inexpensive fine wine have made it a haven for retirees.

The Algarve is one of the areas that have experienced an influx of foreign retirees and therefore real estate investment in recent years. Property prices and the cost of living in Portugal are still low enough to attract many retired Europeans in particular. The Algarve is cheaper that the Costa del Sol or the French Riviera and has even more beautiful beaches.

Another reason Portugal is viewed as a desirable place to retire is the friendliness of its inhabitants. The Portuguese are a generally kind and hospitable people and welcome foreign visitors with warmth and compassion.

Trevor Norman is the Marketing Director of Premier Algarve Rentals, a company specialising in the property and rental management of holiday apartments in the Algarve region of Portugal.

http://www.premieralgarverentals.com

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If you are a practitioner in real estate or have clients that hold real estate, the state of California recently made some noise that should make you stand up and take notice. Section 1031 Exchanges, long considered one of the most powerful tax advantages in real estate investing, allow real estate investors to sell their investment properties and “exchange” them for a “like-kind” investment and defer the tax on the accumulated capital gains. This can be repeated over time until the final property is eventually sold and taxes paid. States generally permit similar tax treatment to the federal code for investments made within their boundaries. The Code, however, seems to be coming under increasing scrutiny at federal and state levels, with California being the latest to attempt to nibble at the edges of the Code to reduce its effectiveness as a tool.

In an effort to raise an additional $2.7 billion dollars in tax revenue, California Legislative Analyst’s Office (CLAO) has recommended, among a list of other potential initiatives, to eliminate exchanges for “out-of-state” properties. While real estate is just one of the asset classes that are allowed to be exchanged under the code, it represents the lion’s share of eligible assets.

It is understandable that California would consider this change. First and foremost, California investors, significant beneficiaries of appreciated real estate over the past decade, have long been some of the biggest players in Section 1031 exchanges. While California has been a great state to invest in real estate, it has never been considered the friendliest tax state in the country. California is a state that has an instituted income tax and investors need to include in their analysis the effects California’s taxes have on their returns. Undoubtedly, savvy California investors that are looking to mitigate their tax liabilities are at least considering exchanging their investments in to lower or no-tax states, such as Florida or Texas, two states that have also benefited from higher than average appreciation.

If the investor chooses to move the asset and exchange out of California, the tax obligation to the state is not necessarily erased. According to CLAO, deferred capital gains taxes, however, are rarely, if ever, reported to the state, once the investment leaves the state’s borders. So, in a nutshell, it is easy to see that California stands to gain substantial tax revenue potential by clamping down on Section 1031 exchanges. CLAO estimates that the state could produce an additional $25 million in 2008-09 and $50 million in 2009-10 by restricting the current rule.

Why does this matter to anyone but California real estate investors? Most states across the country have implemented state income taxes. It is expected that many of the remaining states’ legislatures will follow California’s lead to chip away at the benefits of Section 1031 and this action would give investors pause to think about leaving their states’ boundaries before paying the tax man, ultimately causing a trickle effect throughout the nation. The niche cottage industry that serves Section 1031 investors, namely real estate brokers, attorneys and qualified intermediaries, strongly oppose restrictions being placed on one of their largest pools of clients. Section 1031 exchange proponents are already feverishly at work trying to keep CLAO’s suggestion from becoming a rule change. Stay tuned, because this could get interesting, not just for California, but for real estate investors nationwide.

Eric Odum is a veteran in the real estate and financial services industry with over 13 years of experience. Mr. Odum holds a Masters in International Business in Finance from the University of South Carolina. He is a real estate agent in the State of Florida, focusing on cash flow income property investments, IRS Code Section 1031 real estate exchanges and other tax-advantaged real estate strategies.

Triple Net Lease
NNN Properties for Sale

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Oh crap! The bubble has burst, and everything is gloom and doom in the newspapers and on the network television news when they start talking about Real Estate these days,

I don’t blame them (sort of) there are some definite issue’s that have come out of the resent credit crunch, Banks going under and the gov. having to bail out Fred an Fan but overall if you are an investor you should be excited about what is going on.

What is the saying, “buy when everyone is screaming, —–woe is me —and sell when everyone is saying —-yeeeee hiiiii”— or something like that.

This is the time to buy, you can get some really, really good deals out there in this market and guess what ——You can still wholesale in this market!!!!!

People say that nobody is going to buy in this market, everyone is scared or no one can get qualified. I say bullcrap, I have wholesaled 50 properties in the last 6 months.

What do you think about that?

Look, don’t get caught up in all the gloom and doom that is in the news surrounding the Real Estate market. Find out what the savvy investors are buying in your market (and I guarantee they are buying, you just have not talked to the right people if you don’t know who is buying) and once you find them or see what they are buying, then go find a deal that matches their criteria and sell it to them. It is not hard to do.

History repeats it self. Markets go up and down and there are buyers in every market. The good thing now is that the buyers in a down market and in a credit crunch are probably the big time buyers with cash and will buy multiple properties. If you can find the deals you will be the one that reaps the profits.

Find the buyer and the Deal will follow

Jesse Davis

http://www.askaexpertwholesaler.com

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As replacement property specialists, the most common question we are asked is, “What is a Qualified Intermediary and why do I need one?”

A Qualified Intermediary (QI) is required to successfully complete a Section 1031 Exchange. According to IRS code, a qualified intermediary is a person or entity that facilitates a Code Section 1031 exchange and is defined as follows:

1. Is not the taxpayer or a disqualified person; Disqualified Person - One of the most significant issues we run in to when exchanging for clients is violation of the disqualified person rule listed above. Simply put a disqualified person is:

2. Enters into a written agreement with the taxpayer (the Exchange Agreement) under which the QI:

Acquires the relinquished property from the taxpayer;

Transfers the relinquished property;

Acquires the replacement property;

Transfers the replacement property to the taxpayer.

3. The Exchange Agreement must expressly limit the taxpayer’s rights to receive, pledge, borrow, or otherwise obtain benefits of money or other property held by the QI. (See Treasury Regulations §1031.1031(k)-1(g)(4)(i).)

One who, within the two-year period ending with the disposition of the Relinquished Property, has acted as the Exchanger’s Advisor, including:

employeesOuch! These are the people most investors trust the most and usually want to handle the exchange. But, the IRS would not look kindly on such a transaction. The QI must be a non-involved, unrelated, arms-length, third party entity.

family members

attorney

accountant

investment banker or broker or,

real estate agent or broker

As an exchanger, who can you use to successfully complete your exchange? One suggestion would be to go to the Federation of Exchange Accommodators (www.1031.org) and find one with which you are comfortable, preferably one that is licensed, bonded and insured.

Finding the right one is not a daunting task, as many of the large banks and financial companies are involved in some form or fashion. Three of the larger, more established firms are IPX 1031, Asset Preservation and Starker Exchange. Besides the aforementioned IRS code regarding QI’s, use of an experienced QI can significantly reduce the complexity of an exchange by ensuring the execution of proper documentation.

A good QI will coordinate with each exchanger’s advisors to ensure compliance of 1031 rules and regulations, prepare necessary documents, facilitate the sale of their relinquished property and the purchase of the replacement property, hold and protect the sale proceeds on behalf of the exchanger, provide guidance information and time schedules throughout the exchange.

Eric Odum is a real estate advisor focusing on providing clients solutions for 1031 exchanges, NNN Leased Investments, and passive income properties.

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For most folks, finding ways to keep their money growing, and doing so in a safe way, is a mind-boggling process. Investing in real estate is an option most would take a second glance, considering the way property market values are going up today.

However, a lot of think that the path to success in real estate is in buying a handful of rental properties, leasing them out for 20 or so years, and then retire rich with millions in equity and a large, fat cash flow to sustain you till retirement. That notion is however quite true; in 30 years probably, the mortgages on the properties will have been paid off, the said property will have at least doubled or tripled in value, and the rents will be substantially higher than today.

The only one problem with that notion is that you have bills and financial needs today and while achieving a healthy cash flow in 20 years or so is a nice idea, it still doesn’t solve today’s cash flow concerns. You need to solve today’s cash flow problems before worrying about creating long term wealth. If you are like the average American, probably your biggest concern is security.

That is the main reason why so many people today keep working at jobs that they absolutely don’t like; because they can’t let go of the security that a regular paycheck gives. By investing in good real estate deals, one has the chance of getting good yields in the future, and putting their hard-earned money on good pieces of property could help increase their savings in the long-term.

Investing in real estate has been a usually safe and respectably good investment choice over the last decades. With the housing and property market booming over the last several years, people have seen wonderful rate of returns in their real estate portfolio.

Because of all this, real estate looks to be a safe, secure investment. We constantly hear stories of people making ridiculous returns on their investments; however, what we don’t hear is how many people have lost their shirts playing the same game. Real estate investing can be a terribly risky one unless you are well informed of the market’s movement and indicators.

Real Estate as a tangible investment

One main reason why many people prefer to invest in real estate over equity markets is that real estate is tangible. You can touch it. If you own shares of a certain company or startup tech firm, the best that you can get is a quote on your screen. It’s like being able to drive to a house and say that you own it. It makes you feel more secure. I feel like I have more control when I can reach out and touch something physical.

Less risks, greater returns in real estate investing

When done properly, one can achieve greater better returns in real estate than on investing in the stock market, without additional risk. In fact, I would argue that you can achieve better returns with less risk. Try getting insurance on your stock portfolio. It will never happen because insurance companies know that real estate is a much safer investment.

Real estate Isn’t rocket science

According to investment experts, the greatest advantage of plunking your cash on real estate investments is that you don’t have to be a George Soros to make good money in this field. Whenever you try to make money, say for example, in the stock market, you need to understand the technical and fundamental techniques of yields, net asset values and such.

You need to get a firm grasp of stuff like inventory turnover, daily sales ratios, etc. In real estate, it is a much simpler, uncomplicated process. If you have a good real estate broker and you do have basic understanding of a basic financial sheet, then you are all set. A good real estate broker can help you in dealing with all the aspects of land and property investment.

Real Estate Press - http://realestatepress.org

Vanessa A. Doctor from Jump2Top - SEO Company

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Located on the Gulf Coast of the Florida panhandle, Cape Coral is a tropical paradise affected by hurricane season from June 1 to November 30 every year, but with its rich array of waterfront real estate, a vibrant community, sandy beaches, and 335 days of bright sunshine each year - Cape Coral is also currently one of Florida’s fastest growing real estate markets. A little stormy weather has never kept people from flocking to this breathtaking part of the world and now a new government program is helping Florida homeowners stand up to the annual hurricane season by providing assessments, grant money, and valuable information on insurance discounts.

The $250 million dollar program, launched by the Florida Department of Financial Services, provides free wind inspections and grants to help Floridians strengthen their homes against hurricanes. Launched in spring 2006, My Safe Florida Home provided reports on over 14,000 homes during the pilot phase alone.

What the program offers:

-Free wind inspections and certifications from government certified home inspection agencies that assess:

-Improvements necessary to increase hurricane resistance such as: roof bracing, shingling and reinforcing, secondary water barriers, soundness of windows, shutters and doors

-Assess costs

-Give your home a hurricane resistance rating based on current condition and predict future rating with improvements

Matching grants up to $5000 for home owners to improve roof bracing, installation and upgrading of windows, shutters and doors

Straight grants for low income home owners up to $5000

Who is Eligible:

- Florida residents who own a single family, detached, non-mobile home

How to apply:

-Fill out the online application at the My Safe Florida Home website or call them toll free at 1-866-513-6734

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink urges homeowners to take advantage of the free program and the valuable information it can provide. If you’re a new home owner, selling your home or thinking about buying a home in Lee County, My Safe Florida Home will help you get hurricane savvy in a hurry while you prepare and protect against these annual tropical storms. The program is a great way to get assurance that your home is not only beautiful, but sturdy. You may also find that you qualify for additional insurance discounts and financial support for making necessary improvements. Sink says that the resulting reports often show homes to be better fortified than currently recorded by insurance companies. “Many homeowners are eligible to receive discounts from their insurance companies without even making a single improvement,” he says.

Bill Black is a RE/MAX REALTOR® specializing in Cape Coral Real Estate. Longtime Florida resident and waterfront property owner with 24 years of service in the real estate industry. For a free tour of some of the amazing homes for sale right now in Cape Coral check out the Cape Coral MLS search. If you have any questions or want to contact Bill, please visit us anytime at http://www.capecoralhomesales.com

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Deer hunting land and leases can be viewed from two different perspectives. For those hunters who want to hunt with a degree of privacy during a particular time of year, or are looking for long term land use, a lease makes perfect sense. For people who own land suitable for hunting, leases turn land into income generating property.

Deer hunting land and leases have become more popular as population has increased and strained public hunting areas. It is not unusual to hear a hunter talk about how there were too many hunters on the land. When hunting land is over-hunted, it not only reduces a hunter’s chances of bagging game. It also creates a dangerous situation as hunters inadvertently point guns at each other. When needing deer hunting land, and leases are available, hunters are able to enjoy private hunting grounds with less risk. The hunter chooses the time the lease will be in effect.

Unlike the past, rental of deer hunting land, and leases stipulating the terms, are available for short term periods. A hunting lease can run for periods varying from years to one week. It is important to make sure the lease clearly states the specific dates you are allowed to use the land. The lease will name the lease fees, any deposit requirements, sublease rights or restrictions, and all land hunting rules. In return, the person leasing the land gets hunting rights and agrees to hold the land owner harmless.

It is easy to find deer hunting land and leases online and sorted by state. For example, deer hunting land and leases in Kentucky are available. Online descriptions will provide aerial view pictures and a description of the property available for lease. The descriptions will also include the amount of acreage, the species of wildlife spotted on the property, and any possible least-to-own programs. Leases are also available for renting property when it is not hunting season for recreational purposes.

For those thinking about making hunting land and leases available to the public, there are many advantages. Unused land is turned into a money generator. You also reduce trespassing problems, take control of who is hunting on the property, and obtain release of liability through the lease. When you lease your land for controlled hunting, wildlife management is implemented. Hunters also often improve land by clearing areas and planting grass to attract wildlife. The land that is leased is protected from development also. Hunting leases cover short or long periods for individual hunters or hunting clubs.

When looking at hunting leases, don’t forget that land prime for hunting is often also prime land for fishing due to the location of lakes and streams. Land can be leased for other sports such as fishing or camping rights during the off hunting season.

When you want to lease hunting land, or your property is ideal as deer hunting land and leases are an option, it pays to use professional agents. Professional services can assist you with developing mutually agreeable lease arrangements. They will also make sure you do not exclude important considerations. The land is inspected and well documented to insure it is some of the best hunting land available.

Mark Williams is a licensed realtor that specializes in farms of all kinds in Western Kentucky. If you’re looking for that special hunting or farming tract go to Kentucky Land and Hunting Properties

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The value of land for residential development is related to income and expense. This means that what the land is worth is determined by the following factors: (a) how the parcel can be used; (b) the number of lots; (c) the potential sale (resale) value of the finished product; and (d) the expense necessary to transform the property into something that you can sell for a profit.

The items included in the last factor (d) might consist of vertical and horizontal improvements, consultant fees (e.g., legal or engineering), and other expenses, such as municipal fees. It all depends on what your intended development scenario is. So, for instance, if you want to change the land parcel (developing it) only by obtaining zoning approvals, your category (d) would probably include municipal and consultant fees but not costs for installing improvements. On the other hand, if you are subdividing the parcel and then putting in the horizontal improvements (e.g., excavation, grading, landscaping, streets, curbs, sidewalks) in order to sell vacant building lots, your expenses would have to reflect the cost of those improvements in addition to the other expenses you incurred. If you intended to subdivide, put in site improvements, construct houses on the lots and then sell a finished package (i.e., new house on its lot), you would have to add your costs for building the houses to the other items of expense.

Since real estate developers do all of their income and expense projections of a land parcel on a per-lot basis, they don’t use the number of acres in the property to determine its value and analyze the economic feasibility of a deal. This makes sense because for example, a 50 acre vacant land parcel zoned for lots of 43,560 square feet (one acre) will likely not produce 50 lots of one acre each. Land area is typically lost or wasted due to proposed roads, irregular shape and other physical characteristics restricting or prohibiting development, such as land areas having steep slopes, floodplain or certain soil classifications. Suppose this hypothetical 50 acre parcel could produce only 37 building lots and was for sale at $1.5 mil. Developers would show the projected land cost in their pro formas or spreadsheets at $40,541 per lot ($1.5 mil divided by 37 lots) and not as $30,000 per acre. So the first step in the land buyer’s value analysis is estimating the number of potential lots that the parcel can produce. This is usually referred to as the “yield.”

The starting point is reviewing the current zoning ordinance and map. This would tell you the zoning classification of the property, as well as other crucial facts: minimum lot size and width, minimum or maximum depth, allowable density or method of calculating the yield, and requirements concerning flag or lane lots. Flag lots have a narrow strip fronting on a street and then the lot increases in size. Picture a flag on a pole, and you can get a pretty good idea of what a typical flag lot would look like.

The yield of any land development at best is approximate until the municipality grants approval of a specific subdivision plan. (And where public water and sewer are not available, the number of building lots can be even more speculative.) People interested in buying land use different ways of estimating the parcel yield. Sometimes the zoning ordinance spells out the method to be used, including the “deductions” that must be made from the gross square feet of land area for various reasons, including portions of the parcel containing “protected natural resources” like woodlands, floodplain, slopes, wetlands and prime agricultural soils.

The yield of a proposed land development can also be estimated by hiring an engineer to draw a sketch plan that would show a possible layout of the property. But this method is time consuming (and not free), and certainly isn’t the most efficient way to approximate a rough yield if you’re looking at dozens of land parcels. So developers interested in buying land would use some rule of thumb they’ve created over time and tested from their experience. This enables them to estimate the parcel yield very quickly, and it’s a great tool to use in the initial stages of their investigation when they have to screen many parcels.

Nancy Chadwick is a PA licensed real estate Broker and Instructor specializing in land brokerage, consulting and development. See how she’s removing the mystery about investing in land through books (Land Buying & Selling and Selling Land: The Owner’s Guide), articles and more by going to http://www.LandBuyingandSelling.com/

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When you are selling any kind of real estate, all you want to know is “when will I get my money and what are the odds that I’ll get it?” If you’ve signed a contract with a qualified buyer for your home, you can be fairly certain that you’ll walk away from closing with the money in your pocket. When it comes to selling (or reselling) land for development, the chances of your getting your money at all or getting it by a specified point in time are much less certain.Once you put your land on the market, all sorts of people start to surface and express interest in your property. Naturally, you assume they’re buyers. That’s where you’ve made your first mistake because a fair number of these people have absolutely no intention of handing you money for your property. How can you tell if a land buyer is real or not? Here are some tip-offs.

Scenario A
You sign an offer from a developer who’s willing to pay your asking price and you take your property off the market. Buried among the other contingencies in the contract is a right to assign the contract and a provision giving the buyer 6 months to do due diligence. You don’t think anything about that because you are thrilled to get your price, so you sit back and wait.About 2-3 weeks before the end of the due diligence period, the buyer requests an extension for another 6 months, saying that he’s delayed getting site information and sketch plans from his engineer.You sign an extension (hey, still getting your price). Shortly before the first anniversary of signing the sale contract, the buyer gives notice that he’s terminating the deal. You’re thinking about all of those other buyers who didn’t have the opportunity to give you offers because you took your property off the market. It’s been a whole year and now you don’t even have a buyer. Well guess what? You never had a buyer.What you had was a speculator. Speculators try to find properties they think they can quickly flip (assign) to somebody else for a chunk of change. So they induce sellers to sign purchase contracts and take their properties off the market by offering to pay whatever the seller is asking. Speculators don’t spend any time, effort or money doing due diligence. They spend their effort on shopping the property around to see if they can find someone willing to “buy” the contract by paying them an assignment fee on top of the purchase price the flip buyer would pay the land owner. If they can’t find a buyer, they get their down money back and walk away from the deal, just as they did with you.Legitimate land buyers do need to be able to assign the purchase contract to an entity (e.g., partnership, corporation, LLC) they form to take title to the property and develop it. But you never want to give a buyer an unconditional right to assign. Have your attorney change the provision so that the buyer can assign only to an entity in which they have a majority ownership interest. And buyers don’t need 6 months to do due diligence (and certainly not 12 months) unless there are extraordinary circumstances.Scenario B
You sign an offer from someone who’s willing to pay your asking price and you take your property off the market. Buried among the development contingencies in the contract is a provision that allows the buyer to put signage on the property (ostensibly to market the future new homes) without having to close with you first. This ploy is less subtle than the above but could produce equally bad results for you.
Time keeps dragging on and you keep wondering if settlement will ever occur. And the buyer keeps telling you that he can’t close with you yet because he still hasn’t satisfied all of the contingencies in the purchase contract (subdivision approval, utility permits or whatever). This buyer may be using the signage to attract a flip buyer. Alternatively, he doesn’t want to close with you until/unless he’s able to get pre-sales (deposits or sale contracts) of the lots. Either way, you could lose. You might have to wait a long time if there are many lots or the buyer is asking too high a price. If a flip buyer doesn’t materialize, your deal could die.You want to keep buyers motivated to get to closing, not delay it. If you allow the buyer’s signage on your property without them going to closing, you are only encouraging them to put off the settlement as long as possible. You could even be giving buyers an excuse to terminate the deal when all they really want to do is flip the property.

Nancy Chadwick is a PA licensed real estate Broker and Instructor specializing in land brokerage, consulting and development. See how she’s removing the mystery about investing in land through books (Land Buying & Selling and Selling Land: The Owner’s Guide), articles and more by going to http://www.LandBuyingandSelling.com/

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When you want to buy land for development, you should think of your offer as consisting of two parts. Buyers and sellers often focus only on the price part of the equation and ignore the one that’s just as important - terms. In fact, the terms and conditions that are included in the land development offer can be even more critical than price. Why is that?

There are several reasons. People buying land need to have contingencies built into their offers that allow them time to get certain things done. Land developers typically want the ability to walk away from a deal when they learn new “adverse” information or when something else happens that, in their opinion, lessens the viability of doing the deal. Terms and conditions in land development offers address the purchaser’s bottom-line concern: I want to be able to get out of this deal if I can’t do what I want with this property or if the deal no longer makes sense for me.

If you’ve read my previous article (”Due Diligence for Real Estate Investing: An Overview”), then you know that virtually everything land investors need to find out about a property has to be investigated because it isn’t readily apparent or visible. Doing or not doing the deal can depend on the facts uncovered by your investigation. As a result, due diligence plays a huge role in the land business. So how do you give yourself the right in the contract to get the necessary information?

Land development offers provide for an up-front period of time, often 45-90 days from when the contract was signed by both parties. During this due diligence or feasibility period, buyers can do whatever investigation and testing of the property they want at their own expense, such as verifying the zoning, obtaining site-specific information (topography, floodplain, soils, wetlands, boundaries, environmental contamination and utilities) and data relating to the area (plans for future development and growth or property values).

At the conclusion, the buyers can continue with the next phase of the transaction or terminate the contract and be refunded any down monies if they’ve learned something that negatively impacts the feasibility of the deal. The purpose of this up-front period is for the buyers to get the information necessary to determine if the property can be developed as they want. Even if the buyer’s offer doesn’t contain any other contingencies, it will provide for this feasibility period, and if you think about it, it doesn’t make any sense to buy land without knowing all of the material facts.

Other contingencies in the land development contract generally depend on the scenario contemplated by the buyer. For example, if the property is going to be subdivided, the contract might state that the purchase would be conditioned on the buyer getting a minimum number of lots approved by the municipality. Provisions for getting use approvals (such as a variance, special exception or conditional use) or an outright change of zoning classification would be included. Since the ability of the property to be served by public or private utilities may be important, the offer would contain language relating to getting the requisite utility approvals and permits.

Land development offers are not cookie cutter. They need to be customized to take into account the particular property and the buyer’s intended use. Accordingly, buyers don’t work with the forms customarily used in buying or selling houses. These forms simply wouldn’t be adequate for this type of real estate. Instead, developers employ attorneys to assist them in preparing the contract and modifying it as the situation warrants.

Land investors who want terms and conditions have to be prepared to pay a higher price for the property. Land owners who want to get the highest price for their properties need to be willing to give terms and to allow buyers the opportunity to work through reasonable contingencies. If they try to get buyers to purchase the land “as-is” (without any contingencies), they are likely to discover that there’s no market for their parcels, perhaps at any price. This doesn’t mean, however, that sellers should give buyers an open-ended contract (i.e., an unlimited amount of time to satisfy the contingencies). This is where land sellers would be very smart to retain a “real” real estate attorney to guide them in evaluating land development offers and whether particular contingencies (and time frames for satisfying them) are reasonable and realistic.

Nancy Chadwick is a PA licensed real estate Broker and Instructor specializing in land brokerage, consulting and development. See how she’s removing the mystery about investing in land through books (Land Buying & Selling and Selling Land: The Owner’s Guide), articles and more by going to http://www.LandBuyingandSelling.com/

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