There is a need for a land specialist profession
Much like the construction industry that revolves around large general contractors there is a need in the real estate arena for a specialist in making it all come to fruition. Not a land developer, per se, but a specialist that works with those wanting to change the status of a piece of real estate.
Starting off with those who want to sell what they have to the highest bidder. In some cases, that is not necessarily someone who would use the land in the same way the seller has been using it. A common real estate agent is simply looking for the quickest sale, many times to someone they already know would be interested, so they may not assist the seller in obtaining the highest price. Just the one that will put commission money in their pocket the quickest. The lender is going to devalue what they say the appraised value is, in their opinion, to provide the best leverage for their investment. The title company really doesn’t care about the price compared to their concern about the odds of a claim being made. Who is really helping who?
We in the land surveying business tend to work with or alongside all sorts of people who may play a role in the change of status of a piece of property. Lenders, title companies, real estate companies, appraisers, construction businesses of a wide variety, inspectors, utility providers, various bureaucratic agents from septic inspectors to planning commissions and zoning officers. We land surveyors are the logical specialist to assist the client in this much broader approach.
Case in point. The lady I met with yesterday lives 120 miles away from her 80 acres of rural land. She grew up about a mile distant and this is part of what her parents owned for several decades. She has a nephew who wants to purchase five acres off one corner for a getaway-type cabin and a little hunting. The lady and her husband are installing a similar getaway cabin about a quarter mile away from the nephew. My sole function is to create a description for the sale to the nephew.
They need an advisor and specialist to simplify all of the details of making their goals happen in the best manner.
1. The piece the nephew is buying is shown as being in Zone A and most likely is, in fact, below the BFE. He could install a pad of dirt to raise an area enough to install a small, rustic cabin above the BFE. For this, he would need the assistance of a land surveyor. Instead, he will go in and start doing what he wants to do and then find out he is in big trouble. He mentioned yesterday that he is planning on having a basement. NO NO NO
2. The cabin for the lady and her husband is not within the flood plain, so that is not an issue.
3. Both parties are planning to have full water and septic service. The lady’s site MAY be able to install a minimal septic lagoon without entering the flood plain area. The nephew’s site is totally unacceptable for any kind of sewage facility. With his plan, he would need to have a collection tank, grinder and pump to send the sewage into some sort of lagoon ON THE NEIGHBOR’S PROPERTY.
4. The potable water supply is available from a line on the opposite side of the county road. This will require two separate applications to the Rural Water District. and to the County to allow boring under the road. The RWD already told them they must first have an official address before they will consider the application. For the nephew’s tract this requires that the survey be completed and the sale of that land to him to be complete before the County Appraiser’s Office will assign an address. The RWD board meets monthly, so this needs to occur prior to the next meeting or everything will be set back by one month. Timeliness is important!
5. One thing they clearly do not know. The County has a Neighborhood Revitalization Program in place for which one must make application prior to doing any development or reconstruction of existing facilities. How this works is that the County appraises the property as is, then comes in following construction completion and conducts a new appraisal. The difference in the two numbers is then used to decrease property taxes due on that improvement over the next ten years. In year one, only ten percent of the additional appraised value is counted. In year two, only twenty percent of the additional appraised value is counted. And, so forth until it hits one hundred percent. The amount saved can be very substantial. The lady’s project won’t be eligible because they have done significant work already and would not meet the Program requirements if they applied today. You would think the nephew’s project would be eligible but he can’t apply. He will only get to build his project if he tells no one he is doing it. He can have a water connection and he can have an electrical connection. The cabin construction is the NONO. He could have an outhouse for restroom necessities, but, even that needs to be accepted by the County Sanitation Officer, who would note the existence of the cabin and report to the County Appraiser’s Office.
Now, this is a simple example out in the boondocks. Try to think of all the ways you could be of assistance in a suburban or urban situation with far more complex circumstances.
The vast majority of owners of real estate know practically nothing to help themselves. They tend to make expensive and foolish decisions because they know no better. They deserve to have paid advocates as a resource to handle their responsibilities.
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