What is the value of my land in Raleigh Durham? How do I find out? Determining the value of your land is not the same as a single family house. Learn more about the proper ways to value your Raleigh Durham land in our latest post!
If you have ever tried to pinpoint the value of a piece of land accurately, you know that it can be a complicated process! Many things will impact the value of your land that isn’t always found with the purchase of a single-family home. When buying or selling land in Raleigh Durham, make sure you are working with a professional such as Wake County Home Buyers.
What is my land worth?
There are many ways to value real estate, and this is where many owners go wrong. Many attach sentimental value to their property and wind up advertising it for sale for multiple years waiting for the “right buyer” to come along. Many owners go by the tax value. Keep in mind that Wake County assesses tax value once every eight years. Therefore, the tax value may be more or less what a current buyer will pay you, depending on the last time it was assessed.
The first you would need to consider is the location. Is it surrounded by commercial building such as shopping centers, stores, etc.? Is it in a rural area surrounded by farms? Or is it in a densely populated urban area such as downtown Raleigh or Durham?
This is where an appraisal will come in very handy. If you hire a professional appraiser, that specializes in land, they can give you an opinion of value, as well as a full report of the square footage, market data, and all other relevant facts that will help you sell the land for top dollar.
Valuing Land Is Not The Same as Valuing a House
While the comparable sales method is one of the best ways for valuing houses, this may not work with your land due to its small market. You may find it hard to locate similar plots of land within a reasonable distance. Alternative methods such as capitalization rate, income method, replacement cost usually don’t work with the land as they do when there is a structure (house or commercial building) present.
The land market is small compared to the housing market. Sometimes lots are sold in bulk, acquired by investors at wholesale prices. Sometimes someone pays a fortune for a lot just because of sentimental attachment. These kinds of situations significantly impact local averages. When trying to value your land, you will need to look at more factors than just what other lots are selling for.
Zoning
Zoning can be a big factor because it will determine what the land can be used for in the future. A piece of land can be zoned residential, commercial, industrial, etc. This will have an effect on the type of structure you can build on the land. It is possible to have the property re-zoned but this is a lengthy process, and there is no guarantee that the re-zoning will be approved.
What Is The Current Demand For Raw Land in Raleigh-Durham?
As of this writing, Raleigh Durham is expanding rapidly, and there is strong demand among developers for development and building opportunities. Is it best for a new home subdivision or a shopping center? This is an opportunity to call around to local brokerages that specialize in commercial real estate to get an idea of what the highest and best use of the land is.
What Is The Current State of The Land?
Does the land attach to a road, a body of water such as a lake? Is that land cleared? Or is there timber (trees) present. Are there utilities present? Electric water/sewer? The cost to run utilities to it can be very expensive. You will have a better shot at finding buyers when the utilities are already in place. Also, there should be roads with direct access to the property. A plot that is land-locked (no direct access to a road) will not command as high a price.
One hack is that you can sell the timber to local timber buyers! Some companies in North Carolina will pay you some serious money (tens of thousands of dollars) to come in and harvest the timber. I’ve talked with a few of these companies and generally, they are looking for 10+ acres of timber with no structures on the land. However, even if you have a smaller lot, it is worth making a few phone calls. Are you ready to sell your land in Raleigh Durham? We can help! Send us a message or give us a call today! (919) 473-6885