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What is the REAL value of land in Southwest Florida today?
Date: Friday, September 19, 2008
The Scoop
What is the REAL value of land in SW Florida today?
 Regardless of what the property appraiser tells you, your land today is only worth what Buyers will pay for it. Right now, the most valuable land in our area is land with development infrastructure in place, followed
by land that is fully permitted. Investors are buying and holding with the viewpoint that the real estate market
will rebound within the next two to five years.
What is selling at what price?
8/22/08 - South Fort Myers, FL - Finished / Improved lots
Summerlin corridor / entryway to beaches
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Residential Development, Inc. sold 92 fully developed 50' single-family lots to Champagne of Naples, LLC for $2.7 million or $29,348 per lot. Two or three years ago, only undeveloped lots could be purchased at that price.
8/1/08 - Lehigh Acres, FL - Finished / Improved lots
- DR Horton Homes sold 130 fully developed single-family and 84 fully developed twin-villa lots for $3,850,500 to Brookwood Groves, LLC. This is an average of under $16,000 per developed lot. Just 24 months ago, fully developed lots in this location were selling for $50,000 and up.
9/17/08 - Punta Gorda, FL - Commercial acreage
- Beazer Commercial Holdings, LLC sold 2.87± commercial acres located on US 17 / Duncan Rd. to Brookwood Calusa Creek, LLC of Boston for $249,987 or $2 per square foot.
2nd quarter 2008 - Raw Land
- So far in 2008, we've seen very few significant raw land transactions. However, near the end of 2007, Northbrook Holding, LLC purchased 608.86± acres from North Bayshore Land Holdings, LLC for $12,612,900 which equates to $20,715 per acre.
Who are the Buyers?
They are the hedge fund managers, private equity firms and private investors who are betting on a two to five year recovery in the housing market. There IS capital available for discounted land purchases. The challenge comes during the investigation period, when Buyers try to "get their arms around" all the detailed, technical issues that exist with most distressed sales. By providing as much detailed information as possible, the Seller can assist the Buyer in bringing the transaction to a close.
Permit Expired? That could cost you.
You suspect that permits on the land you've acquired (or about to acquire) have expired. If you are considering a resale, it's tempting to allow potential buyers to deal with the permitting process. However, it may be more beneficial to get the permits renewed before placing the property back on the market. Current "no-growth" and "slow-growth" initiatives will make it more difficult to get permits issued and once permits expire, your property value can decline as much as 50 percent.
So, how do you know if your permits are current?
- Retrieve all the permits / approvals that have been issued on the property.
- Check any expiration dates, permit conditions and compliance history for permits such as the environmental resource permit (ERP), water use, local development order, other construction approvals and US Army Corp of Engineers, just to name a few.
- Review zoning resolutions - Master concept plans may not have expiration dates listed on them; therefore, you must refer to the County Land Development Code to determine duration of the approval.
If you determine a permit has expired, the re-permitting process depends on the type of permit. In some cases, it will simply be a matter of applying for a renewal. In other cases, you will be required to start at the beginning of the permit process just as if it were a new permit application. Additionally, if the property is out of compliance, expired permits could potentially carry penalties or fines.
We know this is very time consuming and tedious. If you need assistance working your way through the permitting maze, the team of experts at Land Solutions knows the most cost effective and time saving ways to find the right answers. Just give us a call.
Welcome to The Dirt.
We hope you have enjoyed this inaugural edition of The Dirt. We want to provide you with market information that you can't find easily anywhere else; to be THE resource for property owners, lenders, investors, builders, attorneys, engineers and developers who need expert advice and knowledge of the SW Florida land market. We promise to send The Dirt only when we have news we think you can use. We hope you will find it informative every time you receive it. Additionally, we appreciate any feedback you can give us.
Sincerely,
Randy Thibaut
President / Owner
239-489-4066
rthibaut@landsolutions.net
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