Land acquisition question - Two Car Garage
I’ve recently come into a situation where my neighbor is willing to sell me a .17acre lot that runs behind my house. It spams about 3 properties on the south border, one on the north and one on the west. I talked to the town and they would let me absorb this land into my current property. I want to build a two car garage that exits into my back yard. I’m also looking for some storage space and a workbench area. The driveway would connect to the east and run up to the garage. I’d be getting the lot for $16k and it requires some tree work, grading and a bit of junk removal. The quote for the survey is $3k for both properties. I have no idea what legal fees are involved. I can purchase the property with cash but the rest of the work will need to be financed somehow. I’m looking for any advice before I start this process. Some questions I have: -Are metal garages worthwhile? -Anyone do anything similar/advice? -Any loan options? Saw heloc is 7% now -Am I stupid for jumping into this?
14 replies
Regarding the question of whether it's stupid or not -- how much would you be kicking yourself if one of your neighbors purchased it from you instead?
In my mind, any chance you get to increase your land and you buffer zone is an absolute positive.
Yeah for sure. 3/4 neighbors are elderly and don’t want more land. One neighbor just died so there is a chance that house could sell and they could find out about the land. It’s not listed for sale so I think I’m in a good spot. Even if the garage doesn’t work out, the extra land will be great
Not everything needs to be an investment. It is ok to enjoy your property and do what you want with your house.
If you can afford the costs and the future expenses are within your budget, then go for it.
Metal garages require more upkeep and need to be properly insulated to be more than a shelter. Insulating them makes the interior upkeep harder. It's a tradeoff.
What upkeep would be required on the interior? Not having a garage in the northeast sucks pretty hard, this would be my only option for a garage. I don’t have to get everything done asap either, looking to do things in chunks to not get totally overwhelmed mentally and financially
Its going to rust and if you don't keep it painted, it's going to rust even worse. If you insulate the inside, you won't be able to treat the rust on the inside because it will be hidden.
I'd not insulate inside.
Thanks for the tip. I won’t heat it so I probably won’t insulate. Mainly using it for storing cars and bikes
if you can relatively afford it and the extra space would add a lot to your life then go for it. if its a hardship to pay for it and/or the extra space is just extra then don't. loans are likely hard to come by for undeveloped land in normal years and able to be almost impossible soon.
Luckily I have the cash for the land. It’s the loans for everything else that is worrying me.
maybe buy the land cash for now, and wait on the improvements while saving up and planning
Yeah that’s the plan for now. I’ll need to take down a few giant pines back there and grade. All that can be done this year probably. I wish heloc rates were still low, locked in at 3% for the home.
the problem with HELOC is your house is collateral.. if you cant make the payments you lose your house.
maybe figure out how to build the structures using the pines. maybe figure out how to make money with the space.
It’s not a large lot, .17 acres. Any suggestions on how to make money with it? My wife and I both have steady incomes but I get what you are saying. We probably have 60% of the total project cost wrapped up in some investments that we could liquidate if we had to. Those investments probably net more than the heloc rate right now
depends on where you are and whats lacking. maybe it can be a home-based business site, or an accessory dwelling unit, or a mini-warehouse for ecommerce, or a recording studio, or a wasabi farm, or breeding domesticated foxes. is this an expense or an investment?
I’m thinking it’s: -$16k to aquire -closing/legal costs -$3k for land surveys -town permits -concrete pad -driveway -tree work - $8k -grading/removal of debris -garage build -electrical
I haven’t received any quotes for some of these tasks but I thinking total coast after purchase will be $60-$75k but I don’t have much to base those numbers on.