I agree with worthy. Decide what your price is and make an offer. Since you want it but don't have to have it, you are in an enviable position. The ability to walk away is really the only way to approach a business transaction anyway, right? I think you should go for it!

For what it's worth, my DH and I have already discussed it, and if the lot beside us goes up for sale, we will lunge at it in a heartbeat.

Good luck, it's good to see you back!

Amy

I haven't been on this forum recently since our house was finished in June 06 and we have lived here ~10 months now. We did a semi-custom build in a rural (HOA) neighborhood of about 50 homes on 3-6 acre lots, ours is ~5.5. We love the quiet and privacy.

How intrusive would a home on that lot be, to your quiet and privacy? How much clearance from your home to the edge of your lot line on that side? Is it likely that standing timber or shrubs could screen you from another house?

Could you afford to buy it? I'm not sure you'd be able to roll the cost of it into your mortgage -- especially doubtful if it remained a separate, buildable lot.

As for DW and myself, we value our privacy immensely. "Peace and quiet" were very high on the list when we were looking for land to build on, and what we bought was perfect in that regard. There is forested land directly behind our house, which is currently in the hands of the state. If it ever went up for sale, we would try awfully hard to get it, because having houses that close to us would really suck.

--Steve

Laura,

Two issues from my viewpoint -- do you want to avoid having someone else build a house close to you, and, do you want a potentially lucrative chunk of real estate at a bargain price.

Sounds like you may be in Loudon or Prince William county. The housing market may be stalled right now but, if I recall correctly, the Army is planning a significant build-up at Ft Belvoir in a couple of years as a result of Base Realignment and Closure. I also believe Belvoir is a strong candidate for the location of a new Walter Reed Army Hospital. The only places left in NoVA are to the west and you could probably do very well from an investment perspective.

T

First I find out why the lot didnt sell. Is there a problem with perking? OR would the slope of the drive way and the fact that its below the road grade make it unbuildable?
If any of those are the case then I would not pay market price. Try to get the price lower. I know your not interested in building on it at this time but if the fact is its not buildable then there isnt much of a return on it which makes it worth less then other lots. If the price is right and you have the capital,I say go for it.

We are in a similar postion. The lot next door is the only one unsold on our street. We're in Michigan, which is the death zone of real estate....so we're thinking wait and maybe offer a lower price in the future. Either way...we'll have a nice investment or just a great piece of added privacy.

My sister made an offer on a long time unsold lot in their Poconos community. I forget why it hadn't sold--I think it had something to do with the perc test. They got a GREAT deal on it--I couldn't believe the price!

Since you don't really need it, lowball an offer and let them counter. What can you lose?

denise54, a friend of mine who wanted to buy a lake lot back in the early 70s in suburban Detroit was turned down because his price was too low. He told the seller if he changed his mind, to call him. When the 74-74 oil crunch recession hit, he got the call and his price.

Anne

If you can afford it, buy it. One day you may be kicking yourself if you pass on it.

Do not delay: buy it now while you can so you can control the land. Do your homework to find out what negotiating points you have and get the best price you can, but BUY IT!

I think it sounds like a great opportunity, both $$$ wise for investment purposes and for privacy's sake. Doesn't sound like you can lose with this purchase.

There is an added value to you that others don't have - you get the benefit of adding to your current acreage. The agent knows that so it's probably unlikely that they'll budge too much on the already discounted price. But hopefully you can get a little downward movement.

Good luck! (And did you ever sell your old home in NoVa? I haven't been on the selling a home board in months and months.)

I've been following both posts and haven't seen anyone else comment about what my concern would be, so I'll add it here...

last week I decided to actually inquire about the possibility and was really surprised when the VP of Construction wrote back within the hour that they "would like very much to sell us the lot" and that they had authorized their real estate agent rep (who we know very well as he and his wife sold us our original lot AND he lives in the neighborhood just up the hill from us) "some time ago" to see if we were interested. I found that very curious as we have heard nothing from him (the neighbor/Realtor) regarding the vacant lot and wrote that back to the VP. He said if I did not hear from the agent by COB on Monday to let him know.

You say you are "friends" with the builders agent.. I would have thought that it might come up in conversation... I wonder why the builders agent never said something to you, unless he knows something about the lot and doesn't think you should buy it. Others have raised concerns about whether the lot is desirable to build... Eventually you may decide to move, and have problems selling the lot like the builder did. If you made it part of your property, how desirable would the total acreage be to a buyer? I don't know your market, but here, anything over 3 or 4, most people don't want if they can't subdivide.

If this isn't the case, I might be a bit put off by him not mentioning it sooner. Maybe he knew prices would go down, and was waiting to see what the market did.. Are you able to ask him yourself, do you feel he would honestly answer questions?

The only reason I would bring in another agent would be to cover my butt a bit. The other agent could possibly be good for negotiations. How much would an attorney actually do to barter? While the agent probably has an idea of the value, would he be able to really work for you since he's working for the builder?

Thank you, everyone for the thoughtful replies!
I'll try to answer some of the questions that were raised:

Not having a house on that side is worth a LOT to me. That lot actually faces the side/back of our house where the deck and screened porch are. While there would be a good buffer of trees that are "permanent", there would still be a house and cars and possibly pets and kids there if it is built on, whereas now there are foxes and rabbits and deer...

The lot definitely did perc, and the well is already dug and the house is staked out. The lot was on the market in 2005 for $265K, but that was only in combination with contracting to have a house built, you couldn't buy the lot separately and hold it. Now it seems the builder is willing to sell the lot separately. Needless to say, we won't pay $265K for it. It was just possibly the least desirable lot in the development, most likely because as I mentioned before, the house will sit below the road. When the lot didn't sell in the hothot market of 2003-2005, it got caught in the downturn and has been sitting ever since. Plus there is so much inventory now that if someone is going to make the move out here to the "country" and buy a lot to build on, it surely isn't going to be that one. (There are nicer lots in the neighborhood that are still for sale but not from the builder that owns this lot.)

Terry T, we are in Western Loudoun Co. Ft Belvoir would be quite the haul as far as a commute but if things start to "boom" here again, (and they probably will at some point) there are surely some who will do it.

Kygirl99, YES! We relisted our FFX Co house in mid Jan of this year and had a ratified contract in two weeks and then a 14 day close. Of course that was AFTER we spent lots of $$$ "sprucing it up". @@ But that's OK, it sold, we are DONE and I'm happy to say we did make a really nice profit, so it all paid off in the end.

Roselvr, I agree, it's very curious about the builder's agent not contacting us after the builder "authorized" him to do so. We haven't seen him recently but as I said, he lives up the hill, maybe 5 minutes away. The VP of construction said to let him know if we didn't hear anything by COB today, so at 6PM I sent a one line email that said, "We didn't hear from XXX today". We're in no hurry but we would like to know what's going on. As far as the acreage being desirable, out here it is, there are many 10 and 20 acre lots, a friend of mine who visited us after we moved in said that people who move here from more populated areas of NoVA are done with the whole "neighbor thing". I know we were!

I will post an update when we hear from the builder's agent.
Thanks again for all the advice and opinions.

Assuming clear title, you might want to consider an option if you think the builder could use some money. Offer $1,000 for a 10 year option that gives you the right to match any offer. You may end up having neighbors if the market value turns upward and you don't want to match the price, but $100 per year is far less than the interest you will pay if financed or the interest you will lose if you pay cash. Just a thought.

Jimanddiane
Are you talking about the poconos in PA? thats where Im from.
Roselver
I think it depends where you are. We have 11 acres with the house were building, 9 of which isnt buildable. But if it went up for sale, I would bet it would sell in a hurry.

"Assuming clear title, you might want to consider an option if you think the builder could use some money."

How does $1k in his pocket help a builder on a lot that is worth somewhere in the vicinity of $254k? He'd be crazy to do that.

I have a similar situation too. We're on 3 acres, and the 3 acre peice behind us is for sale. I wish so bad we could get it, but just spent all our money on construction of this house! And we're not talking big money like you are....they're asking $45,000 for it. If it sits around for a few years, I'll probably try to make an offer at that time. You can only do so much, ya know.

If it didn't compromise you financially, I would get it. Just picture it developed with a house. arrrggghhhh.

cynandjon,

Yep, PA. The lot they got was adjacent to theirs and had been unsold for years. They bought it at a great price, tore down their house that had structural problems, and had the SAME builder do the new version on the combined lots. Hope he'd learned a few things in the intervening couple of decades!

Anne

contractors here are notorious. If it was this year, they have to meet building codes which we never had before. That could be a good thing. LOL
Cyn

If money is not problem and it will give you peace of mind, buy it. Don't look at it as an investment but as part of your land or you might find yourself regretting your decision.

Things to be aware of.

1. Perk regulations can change without notice. Just because it has passed a perk test recently doesn't mean it will again. You could end up witha lot that can't be built on if you decide to sell it.

2. This is just my experience, but owning the biggest lot in a neighborhood probably won't increase the value of your home enough to cover the cost of the lot. I've always been advised that when it comes to living in a neighborhood that being the little fish in the big pond brings in more money than being the big fish in the little pond.

3. Clearly nobody wants this land if it has been sitting there this long and builders and buyers are moving on to a different phase of the development. Offer an amount that is ridiculously low. He might just want to unload it even if he has to take a loss.

Hi,
I can think of one very expensive development in W. Loudoun where quite a few of the homes are sited close to the street but below it.(Beacon Hill) That shouldn't be as important as if you are getting it for $40K/acre when it was originally listed for about $53k/acre (is my arithmetic right?) Will they accept a lower offer considering the "difficult site"? In your situation I would lean toward getting it by any means necessary to have the control of what is built. It can be a win/win.
Casey