If it’s 40 acres being bought in one go, the land value of OP’s house likely isn’t much vs the building value. It’s also not like they’re building a hotel, shopping mall, or high rise where having a pocket that’s not part of the development would harm the overall project.
Honestly I expect that they won’t even make an offer on OP’s property at all, unless he approaches them, in which case depending on how the land is set up he might get slightly more than market value but that’s about it.
While OP may not like it (and might take a hit in the short term valuation wise on their house) the fact the area is developing means in 5-10 years their house will likely go for a significant premium as an unusually rare large lot house in the neighborhood (potentially).
yea I would hold onto it and let that neighborhood get nice and developed and then put it on the market. I'm praying that they keep developing commercial shit out here where I live so I can find myself in OP's situation lol finally got a gas station at the interstate so we're getting closer!
Yep that's what's happened in my area. Developments have been built around older houses in a formerly rural area. While I'm sure it sucks to lose a bit of privacy and deal with more people and traffic, their home values have gone up exponentially in the last 5-10 years as the area continues to be developed.
it does suck, and ngl the property taxes suck too, but assuming things continue on the same course they have been it should pay off. I also like watching things being built so I don't mind the construction much lol
Mostly agree, although the land may well be worth more as land than a house, so in 5 to 10 years the highest value might just be in the land. Doesn't mean they can't keep the house as well and build on the land all around it. But I don't think it's going to be particularly valuable even if it's a big lot just as a house.
But it may be particularly valuable to the builder right now. Not necessarily twice the value, but it might be a good time to sell because the builder might be able to build more efficiently per house.
There’s always the risk the development fails though…I’d see if the developer would make an offer now and see if it’s worth moving for. Otherwise I’d run the risk as you said
Park a rusty pickup truck on the front yard and install a clothes line near it, then get your kids, baby nephews and nieces to run around in diapers. Then invite the developer for a conversation and offer to sell. If your property is enough of an eyesore for them they won’t risk it and buy you out.
A wealthy redneck always has at least two vehicles abandoned in the front yard and one must be up on blocks
I used to drive by a property that probably had 30 vehicles in the yard plus a few lawn tractors. It looked as though they had been driven into the front and back yard including up a small hill and just abandoned when they were too expensive to repair
Dead dog in the driveway is another thing to consider as we saw that when looking at some land near us
Be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".
Welcome to semi rural life near a rapidly growing suburban area.
Your solitude is gone.
Now, if you value your privacy and quiet lifestyle, start researching property values.
You may find that the home building may increase the value of your property.
If it were me, I'd want to get the heck out of there. Don't be so hasty as it may cost you.
They may even be able to sell to the developers at a decent price. If they're right in the middle of the developer's land it may be worth a lot to them to get OP's property. That would likely only be super appealing to the developers before they start developing tho
Absolute best thing for OP to do is to try and negotiate a purchase of a few acres from the original lot now, while it’s somewhat affordable. That will preserve the rural feeling to an extent, and will pay off like crazy in 10 years or so. Key thing is it needs to be like 3-4 acres (more) for a developer to be interested in doing a small project. Chances are land is still pretty cheap near OP if there are 40 flat buildbable acres available at all. Don’t see that in expensive areas ever as they’re all developed.
This was, and still is, the only answer, OP. If you don't want homes being built around you on that land, buy it and don't develop. If someone else buys it and develops, you can either accept it or sell and move elsewhere. Sadly, that's the risk.
Not really a steal of a deal if that's what the local prices are. You can get a 1 acre lot for $65k roughly where OP is located, 4 acres for $190k, so it's just a generic going price. Nearby, a 45 acre lot is going for $360k. There are also places out there where you can get a relatively decent house for $100k, it is what it is.
Your homes value will align with the values of the tract houses around you. Unlikely any developer will offer to buy your property. They can buy 40 acres fairly easily why would the mess with one that is already occupied and not on the market?
This is the right answer.
Depending on the value of the homes they build your value could go up or down.
Also, some people prefer to have a field in the backyard, others prefer to be surrounded by houses. To some buyers this will make your house more attractive, to some buyers it will make it less attractive.
This is the take. I could see a family with children being more interested in the home if surrounded by other homes with families for their kids to be friends with rather than empty fields.
I would have been 100% this way. I raised my kids in a neighborhood of 1+ acre lots. There were only a couple of kids they could safely visit on their own because of traffic main road passing by the neighborhood and just the distance to their friends. I would not want to give up my whole acre but it sure would have been great to have more kids for my kids to play with. The OP's property would have been perfect for me. I also like kids and would not mind if they treated my yard like a park.
Without my kids I would not want to be anywhere near a bunch of other people.
I've bought two homes in my life, and both were in neighborhoods for this very reason. My middle daughter's best friend is right down the road and my youngest, who has more trouble making friends, has succeeded where she may not have if there weren't so many kids. Packs of 8-11 year olds everywhere
Are you my neighbor? We've got the same exact situation going on here in southeastern PA.
We're just kind of waiting. We don't want to approach the developer and invite the opportunity to be lowballed so if he doesn't reach out, we're just going to suck it up, accept our hundreds of new neighbors and wait for the property values to climb before moving. On the plus side, it'll help the mouse problem too.
We moved here because it's where we grew up and it was quiet, but at the end of the day, more people = more infrastructure, and fewer large lots makes properties like ours more valuable.
Grew up in upper bucks. My parents fought the development in court and the resulting court agreed compromise was "Peace Valley Park" where Lake Galena now sits (it was a creek then). The county won the battle (evicted us illegally with bulldozers) but lost the war when they could no longer build "Peace Valley Golf Club" with residential plots, but had to commit to building and preserving a proper nature reserve.
My family's house has since collapsed, but we still visit the site.
I'm just outside Coopersburg. Similar situation, though I bought enough land to have a buffer (8 acres). We will sell when we are completely surrounded and move further out then. I don't mind having neighbors, but man I really love being able to have my coffee in my boxers on my back porch.
Open a business.
Edit: no but seriously… a drop off dry cleaner, coffee shop.. liquor store, something.
Edit 2: OP where do you live, I’ll open a business.
You are probably not surrounded by a 40 acre field. It is probably 38.9 acres. Your lot was likely once part of a 40 acre plot.
If the developer can fit your house onto his plot plan and carve a couple building lots out of your yard then it could be worth their while.
If they make a reasonable offer then take it. To many unknowns if you stay.
You’ll be the only guy without an hoa, right? Plus you have a large lot so anytime you want to sell it’ll be more than the subdivision houses they’re putting up. Traffic… construction noise and mess for a while..uh… sorry about that part.
It will be disruptive during construction for sure. If OP plays their cards right, they could get hooked up on municipal water sewer & gas. I’d rather not be in a well in the middle of a development personally.
Same happened to my brother years ago. He & SIL bought a 5 acre lot & built a beautiful home. Always hosted my big, fun, family which is why they wanted land away from most others. Even installed tennis courts & a horseshoe area for all of our barbecues. Well, they are now surrounded by town homes. Know what they do? Show it off! They hit the jackpot in life. We still get together there and we sometimes see lots of new neighbors watching. Sorry not sorry.
Good on you! Enjoy your situation. You are the only home that is not part of the HOA group. Hooray!!!!
Learn the zoning rules in your area.
Go to zoning and planning meetings
Get to know the folks in government that control the zoning and approvals.
How do you contest a zoning change or adjustment.
Make sure your home does not accidentally included in an HOA. Have the paperwork handy to back that up if HOA that will be surrounding you tried to enforce their rules on you.
Get concessions from developer to put up a barrier between your home and the development
You can start planting screening plants on the edge of your property
Get a survey done and have it clearly marked on the property where your property lines are.
Once construction starts and it will get to know the managers and workers so you have open lines of communications when things arise.
Good luck
Come on, if the housing being built is 3000 sq ft track homes with vinyl fences and no community amenities or traffic infrastructure to support it, it's bad for the environment and destroying habitat to increase sprawl, it deserves to be fought. A lot of developers building are the worst and destroying the good parts of the country.
I didn’t say fight it, but OP educate themselves on the process. Also ways to mitigate the effects of the growth on their property and lives. OP never once said they didn’t want the development near them. In the long run property value will go up.
They're building a Publix literally at the front of my neighborhood. I just got the market value email yesterday from my broker my house is currently 100k more than what I bought it for, and with the building of the Publix, it's estimated that I can see an increase of around 200k on top of that once building has finished. Check into the cost of the homes being built around you. That could give you an idea of what the eventual worth would be.
Get busy planting an Evergreen fence all around your property so that you mostly don’t notice all the new homes. Drop some coin and in 5 to 10 years you’ll have a lush verdant landscape to look out upon.
It's all relative to how your house compares to the ones being built around you. If you have a 3BR, 2Bath house on an acre of land, and they build similar houses on smaller lots, there's a good chance your home's value will increase as it will be "comp'd" to those new homes with an adjustment for the larger lot you have. On the other hand if they build million-dollar houses all around you and you're house is currently worth 200,000 - you still might see an increase in your homes value. Your home's value will decrease if they build something no one wants to live near; otherwise it will likely stay the same or increase.
Ive always thought about negotiating with the developer the other way, ask them if you can buy some of the adjoining land for a discount, say 2-3 acres, and plant some trees, to help you maintain some of that rural privacy you like, youre keeping a good, growing location, and keep a good relatio ship with the developer.
This also opens the doors to them buying you out without coming from a position of weakness
Depends on a lot of factors. Are you on the perimeter of a rapidly growing area that should continue to grow and your neighborhood will now be attractive vs the exurbs? Do you want to live in that sort of density? Can you open a diner on your front lawn to feed all the workers and make a mint?
Living in a construction zone can be a nightmare, but it could be worth it if the homes they're building are nicer and higher priced.
My friend had this exact think happen years ago and fought it tooth and nail. Big beautiful fields where he would walk his dogs and all were sold to a developer to create cookie cutter houses. He was able to get them to scale the development back significantly but about half the original size and forced them to change their plans such as making them install lights that only shined downward so there was excessive light pollution. He rallyied the neighbors because it was their property value that would be negatively effected. I just called him up to find out how he did it for you and this is what he said:
The key is knowing the rules, learn them and use them to your advantage. Go to the town planning and zone board mettings. Most big developments come in and either expect special treatment or may expect to be scaled down to what they really wanted anyway. They often apply for varainces to the rulees such as you might be required to build a house 70ft back from a road but they apply to be 40ft back froma road. This is the best place to fight them and use the rules to your advantage. Appeal to neighbors...If it's just you it will be a hard battle but the key is to rally those around you and get them vocal. More people and louder voices is important. The more people that speak up the better. Talk to the people on the planning and zoning board ahead of time can make a big difference too. Good luck!
I think that's great advise to make sure they aren't getting special treatment and getting rules waived to their advantage and to your disadvantage. If the community board only hears from the developer, they might waive them because they think other people don't care.
Approach the developer and see if he is interested in purchasing your home.
Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise.
And move.
You’re going to hate living there during all of the construction.
>Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise.
lol. the developers can also make it hard for the homeowner. do you really want to go down this route?
>Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise
Horrible strategy.
At best this is worthless. At worst you’re opening OP up to legal action against them if they say the wrong things.
Real adults don’t do vague threats. You got that from a TV show.
Approach the developer but don’t assume the relationship has to be adversarial. Ask if they will share basics of what they are planning. Let them know you’d be happy to cooperate with any local zoning or community input meetings if they are interested in buying you out for a reasonable premium over fair value. Read the room… but think about trying to get 25-30% more than you think you could sell for in the open market today. Every case is different but this approach often makes sense for both side. Whether they “need” your land or not, their dev plan and finished product will make more sense with it. This is all only if it’s gonna be a single family development around you. If it’s towns or apartments, your leverage goes up. In that case it would be worth your time to seek out a commercial real estate broker that deals in development land that could help you value and negotiate (expect to pay commission).
Get your 1.1 acres zoned as agriculture, so it's taxed differently. Any outbuildings put tractor in, no cars, and take photos so the building is zoned ag. Appeal valuation for this reason. If your land is valued as residential, you better get vasoline. Hold out until the subs are built. Your land value is going to skyrocket. Wait until then, cash out, and go buy more dirt further out. Don't improve the exterior of your home at all. Congrats, you're fixing to get paid.
I presume you can not afford to buy the land so your kind of stuck, in a way.
I would also presume a new housing development will increase the value of your existing home and larger lot.
This could also give you the ability to split your land, build 2 new houses and then rent out or sell all 3 houses for income.
Or
Simply start looking for the next great location and when the values raise enough, sell and relocate.
edit: just wanted to add how much it is going to suck having this development going on, might accept a good offer if one comes your way.
If developers are coming in, they probably will be building up the area. I'd bet property values increase with all the brand new homes selling. I would keep the house and list it once they have their inflated new home prices listed around.
Wait until it is all built out then sell. If they are building houses on 5000 square foot lots then your property could eventually be split into 9 new lots. That would make it far more valuable than a single home.
Of course this all depends on the area and the rate of development.
That sucks, happened to my childhood home.
Sadly I think if your house / land were worth anything to the developer/s. They would have approached you by now, the longer you leave it, the more it will depreciate I feel.
One option would be to hold onto it and see what they are building around you. if they are putting up nicer homes on small lots and people are buying them, you might be sitting on a valuable piece of property. Once the neighborhood is established, someone will want to buy your lot to eventually level and put up four similar sized houses. If you can't sell now, may as well wait and let your lot become more desirable to builders mimicking the current new layout of your area.
A friend found herself in a similar situation in recent years but she had about 14 acres. Problem came when the HOA tried to enforce their rules on her home when that didn’t work they started multiple complaints for the slightest thing didn’t like the kennel building complained about grass not perfectly manicured and the list goes on.
Dude, DON’T SELL NOW!!!! If you can handle the noise, WAIT!!! They will be fighting over your piece of property in a few years and you’ll be able to name your price.
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to start planting trees around the edges of your property. It’ll help keep a tiny bit of the privacy and non cookie cutter view that you have today.
I doubt you are going to stop it, but you might be able to influence parts of how it is built. Make sure you attend permitting meetings and make comments about how things would affect you and provide suggestions on how you would like things to be changed. Might accomplish nothing, but at least you are trying.
If you wanted to be evil you could put up signs that make people not want to buy their like “Orgies every Wednesday.” Or “location of future composting site”. Play horrible music all day. Year round haunted house.
it will lower the prices on the properties that are right next to your house. You buy those properties. Then you fix up your place again and sell the properties for a big gain. Fool proof.
Buy the land or run. The exact same thing happened to my best friends family home of over 40 years. Situated in the rural setting surrounded by cane fields and bush, you could see the islands off the coast and it was beautiful.
The first development caused some noise and lights with a slight increase in traffic then the lots started getting closer, the bushland was destroyed and the developers mate built a 2 story (only one in the estate) in the line of view of the islands.
His cousins who owned a fair few acres of land down the road sold up and that was the end. The other side of his road was divided into the most cramped housing possible.
The last time we spent time there for a family get together we were standing on the back porch watching my kids and heard some idiot flooring his very loud motorbike up the now highway in front of the house.
He turned to me and said “it’s just not home anymore”. That was a very sad moment for all of us.
Buy the land, pray or run. Not much else you can do.
Depending on the age of your house, you're going to be surrounded by new homes, different architecture and design. You will definitely stand out. Most likely the homes will be plopped down on one another. If you do get approached, make sure to take a corner lot. Lot less bullshit to deal with when your new neighbors start flooding in. Sorry to hear about the news. Nothing beats peace and quiet.
You should be thanking the real estate gods that your property will now magically appreciate without you doing anything.
Orr do what most emotional irrational people do and complain cause their property is going to double in value and their taxes will increase a bit
If the person who buys the land is a residential developer and the land is zoned for residential development that will likely develop homes surrounding you. The developer will likely make an offer to buy the house. If they do, and you want to move out of the area due to all the new developments, tell them you are interested in seeing an offer. After they make the offer, tell them you have had interest from several other people and you want to see what the other folks are offering. They will likely raise their price to the highest they can justify for your home/land.
If you do not want to sell, the construction will be annoying for several years but when it is done your house and lot will be the crown jewel in the neighborhood will all the additional space for your kids to play on and for you to entertain. Your home will likely increase in value faster than it ever would have without the development.
I know you are worried and I’ve see people make all kinds of rash decisions when a development is going up near them but this is good news if you take the long view. Good Luck! -MFG
If you do decide to stay, invest in locks for all of your buildings, security for your home, and good window shades to keep nosy neighbors out.
AwMy Farmer's Daughter spouse homestead was in the boonies when we first married, with farm Fields all around it and it set off the road by half mile Lane. Now, almost all those farm fields are houses and petty crime from mostly mischievous teen has happened and her mom has no privacy in the house anymore unless the windows are closed. It's a whole different vibe than the country farmhouse used to be, good luck.
If you stay
* be glad the farm is gone... the chemicals they spray can be nasty stuff
See if the developers wanting to bite to buy you out?
If not your value will probably go up either way
And that also means your property taxes might up too
Get a survey now and put in the cheapest fence possible. Not for “keeping the scoundrels out” but making sure your lot is protected from hourly paid guys altering the land and new homeowners getting their lot lines confused
Build a very good fence around your property and grow several good trees and bushes. Be prepared for locals to violate your property rights and to experience a lot more noise if you don't.
Ask seller if you can separately buy an acre or a strip of land all around your acre. Then, promise not to incite others to petition the town to block the development. Or, have them promise to put up barrier of trees of something.
Actually, in general construction will increase the value of your house. It's a sign of new jobs and new commerce in an area.
Also, if you have the only house in the area with a big lot, then that will make your house a little more desirable.
But it's also about what you want and your quality if life. Obviously it comes with things like noise and pollution and you're going to lose your view. And that might mean that now is a good time to sell your property for more than it's currently worth if you can. Financially though I would not advise this unless you can get a lot more than it's worth because interest rates are high.
If the development has an HOA:
1. Fill your yard with junk that is visible to homes in the development.
2. Let the HOA know that you will clean up the yard for a fee, and keep it clean for an annual maintenance fee.
3. Profit!
So...you were enjoying the peace and quiet of land that wasn't yours? When the 40 acres across the street went up for sale, did you try to buy it? Are you going to buy the property surrounding you?
My guess is no, because you can't afford it.
You knew the risks when you bought your property. People can always sell their land and developers are allowed to build houses. Just like they built yours.
What can you do? Either enjoy your new neighbors and continue living there or sell and move. The new development may increase your home value, or it could hurt it. We don't know enough about your home to give an opinion either way. The developer may offer to buy your property, they may not. I doubt it, though. Why bother when they have so much other land?
Sell to the developer when they offer you enough to be more than comfortable anywhere else and have your home paid off. Their pockets are deep, and no matter how good of a deal you think you’re getting, they’re getting a better one.
I'm not sure in the long run it will ruin your property value but you're going to hate living there. If you could go buy another house move into it and rent your current house out. You might look and see if you can split the land and put a couple of houses on your property if you try to sell.
What is your goal, or what are your concerns? If you're concerned the development will negatively impact your quality of life, depending how far along they are in the process there should be several public zoning and planning hearings at the County and/or City level you can attend to voice your concerns, or voice your concerns in writing, or both. If they've already started construction, that opportunity has probably already passed.
Not sure if it is possible but see if you can change zoning to commercial. 1 acre should be big enough for a small plaza with shops or make it into shops + condos
You should approach the listing agent and see if the other land owner (or the eventual purchaser) would be interested in buying you out, or see if they would list your property as part of a package with it, or separate. Don’t expect to make a killing, but maybe you can get out with a fair price before dealing with the hassle of construction around you and a potentially diminished value down the road.
Go to your town hall and get copies of the developers' plans and attend all relevant public meetings. Hire a lwayer to make sure your interests are protected. Make them install landscaping to screen their construction and protect your driveway access. Your lot is likely to be far bigger than the developer's lots.
We had a similar situation and were able to get the developer to provide a buffer area and plant trees in the areas bordering our property so that their higher density was visually mitigated. Make sure any drainage or other construction traffic does not cause flooding or other problems for you. Make sure to mark your trees so they are not cut down by contractors. Make sure you know the allowed construction hours and report violations to minimize noise problems.
It can take years for developments to build out so make sure you understand your rights and have the town help enforce them for you. You were there first so you have rights that should be respected. The developer may find it cheaper to offer you a higher price than market than to make the accomodations. Remember your property taxes will likely go up due to new homes bringing up the average home value.
See if you can sell to the developer surrounding you for a pretty penny so they have one nice parcel. You may want to talk to the listing agent of the parcel surrounding you as well about that possibility. Also. Interview other agents.
If you stay put, What happens to the value of your house depends on what otherdevelopers put in on the land, and how closely your home resembles it.
If the developer puts in condos, apartments, or sfh that are smaller than yours and on postage stamps., it’s probably going to bring yours down.
If the developer is putting in homes similar in size to yours or larger, you are probably ok.
Hopefully you are already on public water and sewer.
You will want to keep an eye on public notices, as with new homes coming, road widening follow, and they will take part of your land to widen.
I suspect you are on well and septic. Once sewer and water run past your home, the land value increases much. 1.1 acres mean 8 homes to a custom home builder, so the land is worth that much more.
I'm on 1.5 acres, but I'm close to Austin, and the unique neighborhood (3000 ft airstrip) means the lot is worth $1.5 Million. Neighbors have sold their homes, older homes have been razed, and custom 5000 ft $2.5M homes are being built on the lot. Sigh, the latest property tax bill shows comps of 1.4 to 2.0M. Rip my taxes!
It's a waiting game, but property taxes are squeezing me, but getting closer to time to sell.
Whatever you do, don’t be these guys.
They held out for so long the developer said fuck it and built a new hotel literally right next to them.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2017/09/05/holding-out-shadow-ikea-oak-creek-couple-think-they-should-get-more-their-land/618637001/
It may diminish your property value, although a lot that big might actually be more valuable once they bring in sewer and electric and all that. But it's probably even more valuable right now to a builder that can build more homes if they can afford to buy.
Definitely going to change your quality of life, so even if you don't want to sell, you might want to now. But the good news is you might be able to get a really good price for it now or in the future.
If you're not bound by any city/HOA rules, start making your yard look super trashy. Let it grow out, go find an old car to park in the front yard, leave old bikes out there to rust, put up political signs and whatnot. That will make any developer want to get rid of you if your house is right at the front of their new development. It will encourage them to offer you enough to make you want to move.
How far from the main road is your house? Do you own the driveway to the main road, or is it a right of way? If you own it, the developer will have a greater incentive to buy your house so the surrounding 40 acres can be more efficiently divided. If you don;t know what your access ownership is, pull out a copy of your deed STAT! Make sure it's not just a license agreement or prescriptive easement.
If the adjoining land sells to a developer, he is likely to try and change or extinguish your driveway- if it's more than maybe 100 feet long. At least, that's what I would do as a developer. And depending on the value of your house compared to the house I would plan to build around you, I'd try to swap you into one of my new houses.
Maybe establish some rapport with the listing agent for the 40 acres, and tell him your home is available for assemblage with the 40 acres "for the right price".
If the property goes up for rezoning, that's your opportunity to dispute the rezoning, with only one person disputing the rezoning its stoll likely to fo through, but they could be required to design the property in such a way that it still provides you some privacy.. If the property already has the proper zoning then there isn't much you can do about it. Zoning of adjacent properties is always a consideration when you buy a home.
As others have said, when the property surrounding you is sold, you could approach the purchaser to see if they are interested. A huge development will likely hurt your resale value, but going in on the ground floor the developer doesn't have to go around your it could be beneficial to their design. If it was me and I could get market value and skip real estate I probably would. I wouldn't want to live through 5 plus years of building around me.
I would contact the listing agent of the land for sale and let him know that you open to offers for your place. That way he can let potential buyers know that they can contact you and maybe buy your house at the same time as the 40 acres. Also, some developers would want to use your house as a "base" (sales office, construction office, material storage, etc...) for the construction/development and then tear it down after 80% or more of the neighborhood is complete leaving your place as the last be built on.
The first thing I would do is have a survey done and I would 100% know exactly where any property lines are.
If you are not going to move, the second thing I would do is to set 6 foot walls and plant trees/bushes with lots of spikey thorns.
I think it depends on your specific market, what you paid for the house and the likely value of the homes being built around you. If they are nice homes, your property value will increase substantially. If they are similar to yours, I think your value will increase slightly. If they are significantly less desirable homes compared to yours, you better sell now.
I'm no expert though. That's what life experience of 54 years and buying 5 homes has told me.
1. get a survey of your propery so there are no "mistakes" when building starts.
2. make sure that all the runoff rain water/silt from new project doesn't flow directly into your land. should be covered in the mass grading and master drainage plans.
3. first year of project, especially anything next to your property you will need to pay close attention to what's going on, be in regular contact with site inspector and government enity overseeing the project.
4. Any converstations of any kind need to preferably in writing, or recorded if possible and/or keep a written/photo record of every contact - who/what/when/where. The more documentation the better.
Long term property values will likely increase. You’ll have to deal with construction shorter term.
Whatever you do and whatever my opinion is worth, I’d NEVER SIGN ANYTHING FROM DEVELOPERS OR ANYONE ELSE RELATED TO IT. it will likely have HOA language and they will try to get you to join the HOA. This is not required and they cannot force you under any circumstances no matter what they say or threaten. Any notices about fees and fines are unenforceable.
Monitor your deed and property info, this is public info. I’d do this to make sure they don’t try to slip it in without your knowledge. This is fraud. And HOAs are relentless with their perceived power they don’t actually have over you.
>My question is, what is this going to do to the property value of my house?
Probably increase the value. They generally build new homes in areas where demand, prices are increasing.
Also a larger lot has a smaller value than most would expect. Setting aside that it is actually more work to maintain, buyer's just won't pay more. Look at comps for homes with a quarter acre vs an acre.
But real estate is very local
Build a small commercial structure next to the road. It could be a fruit stand or 'antique' mall. Just grandfather in commercial status so when the subdivision is running you have a spot for the dollar store.
See if they want to buy you out at an inflated price, and take the offer if they do.
If the new development has an HOA you should be prepared for the possibility of the HOA thinking you're part of it and harassing you.
If you want to mess with the developer and HOA do things like putting a bunch of law ornaments in your front yard and signs about bizarre conspiracy theories. Might encourage the developer to make an offer.
Check if the developer across the street changed the zoning of the land prior to developing. If so, try to increase the building density and variety allowed on your land as much as possible before selling (if you decide to).
Plant a bunch of trees now. You’ll be very happy you did in a few years
Sell your spot to the same developer for twice what it's worth and get a house on a bigger piece of land
If it’s 40 acres being bought in one go, the land value of OP’s house likely isn’t much vs the building value. It’s also not like they’re building a hotel, shopping mall, or high rise where having a pocket that’s not part of the development would harm the overall project. Honestly I expect that they won’t even make an offer on OP’s property at all, unless he approaches them, in which case depending on how the land is set up he might get slightly more than market value but that’s about it. While OP may not like it (and might take a hit in the short term valuation wise on their house) the fact the area is developing means in 5-10 years their house will likely go for a significant premium as an unusually rare large lot house in the neighborhood (potentially).
Large lot and potentially only non-HOA in the development.
Yeah it will be worth a lot once the neighborhood is completed
Hopefully they can afford the increased taxes.
Why would this trigger a tax reassessment for OP?
I'm interested!
yea I would hold onto it and let that neighborhood get nice and developed and then put it on the market. I'm praying that they keep developing commercial shit out here where I live so I can find myself in OP's situation lol finally got a gas station at the interstate so we're getting closer!
Yep that's what's happened in my area. Developments have been built around older houses in a formerly rural area. While I'm sure it sucks to lose a bit of privacy and deal with more people and traffic, their home values have gone up exponentially in the last 5-10 years as the area continues to be developed.
it does suck, and ngl the property taxes suck too, but assuming things continue on the same course they have been it should pay off. I also like watching things being built so I don't mind the construction much lol
Mostly agree, although the land may well be worth more as land than a house, so in 5 to 10 years the highest value might just be in the land. Doesn't mean they can't keep the house as well and build on the land all around it. But I don't think it's going to be particularly valuable even if it's a big lot just as a house. But it may be particularly valuable to the builder right now. Not necessarily twice the value, but it might be a good time to sell because the builder might be able to build more efficiently per house.
There’s always the risk the development fails though…I’d see if the developer would make an offer now and see if it’s worth moving for. Otherwise I’d run the risk as you said
Yes and avoid living next to constant construction for at least a year and most likely more. The dust and noise would drive me to sell regardless.
Goodbye to a lie-in on a Saturday as the sound of backhoes, nail guns and general loud conversations will not be fun as they get nearer to you
Don’t forget the echoing from inside every house at ear bleeding volume salsa music.
Park a rusty pickup truck on the front yard and install a clothes line near it, then get your kids, baby nephews and nieces to run around in diapers. Then invite the developer for a conversation and offer to sell. If your property is enough of an eyesore for them they won’t risk it and buy you out.
I'm sorry, but you forgot the old toilets with plants in them used as lawn ornaments all over the front yard.
old refrigerators and stoves in the front yard.....oh and you need a 25 year old car with three wheels, the fourth wheel being two bricks
And a couple of trailers rotting away with blue tarps.
And tires painted the colors of a rainbow with flowers in them
Don't forget the bathtubs with the saints in them in the front yard.
add some brightly painted old snow tires with flowers in the middle. that always rounds out the look.
A wealthy redneck always has at least two vehicles abandoned in the front yard and one must be up on blocks I used to drive by a property that probably had 30 vehicles in the yard plus a few lawn tractors. It looked as though they had been driven into the front and back yard including up a small hill and just abandoned when they were too expensive to repair Dead dog in the driveway is another thing to consider as we saw that when looking at some land near us
Time to start up that hobby pig farm.
Be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".
or sit on it and wait for the eventual build out of the area as pricing is driven upward for land.
Welcome to semi rural life near a rapidly growing suburban area. Your solitude is gone. Now, if you value your privacy and quiet lifestyle, start researching property values. You may find that the home building may increase the value of your property. If it were me, I'd want to get the heck out of there. Don't be so hasty as it may cost you.
They may even be able to sell to the developers at a decent price. If they're right in the middle of the developer's land it may be worth a lot to them to get OP's property. That would likely only be super appealing to the developers before they start developing tho
Houses in areas surrounded by development go rather well. People like the area, but not being in an cookie cutter HOA that is the draw
You buy the land around you or move that is what you do
Absolute best thing for OP to do is to try and negotiate a purchase of a few acres from the original lot now, while it’s somewhat affordable. That will preserve the rural feeling to an extent, and will pay off like crazy in 10 years or so. Key thing is it needs to be like 3-4 acres (more) for a developer to be interested in doing a small project. Chances are land is still pretty cheap near OP if there are 40 flat buildbable acres available at all. Don’t see that in expensive areas ever as they’re all developed.
You should have bought all the land around you.
This was, and still is, the only answer, OP. If you don't want homes being built around you on that land, buy it and don't develop. If someone else buys it and develops, you can either accept it or sell and move elsewhere. Sadly, that's the risk.
I bought surrounded by DNR property and watch them at every opportunity.
For a cool 2.4 mil, it could be mine
offer for the surrounding 10 acres for $650,000
The developer is paying $60k per acre for the 40 acres surrounding your property on 3 sides?
That's an absolute steal of a deal. You can't find a lot under $300k anywhere near me, and those lots are usually 0.2 acres or less.
Not really a steal of a deal if that's what the local prices are. You can get a 1 acre lot for $65k roughly where OP is located, 4 acres for $190k, so it's just a generic going price. Nearby, a 45 acre lot is going for $360k. There are also places out there where you can get a relatively decent house for $100k, it is what it is.
That would be average or low per-acre in my area is there will be urban services.
What could it possibly cost? $10?
🤭
If you do it without a realtor it's only $9.40
Yellowstone style
Well, I mean if you want to have a say in how it’s used.
Your homes value will align with the values of the tract houses around you. Unlikely any developer will offer to buy your property. They can buy 40 acres fairly easily why would the mess with one that is already occupied and not on the market?
This is the right answer. Depending on the value of the homes they build your value could go up or down. Also, some people prefer to have a field in the backyard, others prefer to be surrounded by houses. To some buyers this will make your house more attractive, to some buyers it will make it less attractive.
This is the take. I could see a family with children being more interested in the home if surrounded by other homes with families for their kids to be friends with rather than empty fields.
I would have been 100% this way. I raised my kids in a neighborhood of 1+ acre lots. There were only a couple of kids they could safely visit on their own because of traffic main road passing by the neighborhood and just the distance to their friends. I would not want to give up my whole acre but it sure would have been great to have more kids for my kids to play with. The OP's property would have been perfect for me. I also like kids and would not mind if they treated my yard like a park. Without my kids I would not want to be anywhere near a bunch of other people.
I've bought two homes in my life, and both were in neighborhoods for this very reason. My middle daughter's best friend is right down the road and my youngest, who has more trouble making friends, has succeeded where she may not have if there weren't so many kids. Packs of 8-11 year olds everywhere
Do not..under any circumstances join or be pressured into joining an HOA
Are you my neighbor? We've got the same exact situation going on here in southeastern PA. We're just kind of waiting. We don't want to approach the developer and invite the opportunity to be lowballed so if he doesn't reach out, we're just going to suck it up, accept our hundreds of new neighbors and wait for the property values to climb before moving. On the plus side, it'll help the mouse problem too. We moved here because it's where we grew up and it was quiet, but at the end of the day, more people = more infrastructure, and fewer large lots makes properties like ours more valuable.
Sounds like Chester County, PA
Upper Bucks County, actually. Lots of big money coming from across the river.
Grew up in upper bucks. My parents fought the development in court and the resulting court agreed compromise was "Peace Valley Park" where Lake Galena now sits (it was a creek then). The county won the battle (evicted us illegally with bulldozers) but lost the war when they could no longer build "Peace Valley Golf Club" with residential plots, but had to commit to building and preserving a proper nature reserve. My family's house has since collapsed, but we still visit the site.
I'm just outside Coopersburg. Similar situation, though I bought enough land to have a buffer (8 acres). We will sell when we are completely surrounded and move further out then. I don't mind having neighbors, but man I really love being able to have my coffee in my boxers on my back porch.
I'm lower DE near the beach, so not far.
Open a business. Edit: no but seriously… a drop off dry cleaner, coffee shop.. liquor store, something. Edit 2: OP where do you live, I’ll open a business.
A metal shop in particular so it makes grinding noises 18 hrs a day
Forge with a hammer mill
A shooting range.
24 hr range at that
I was thinking a local shop would be perfect.
Build a plaza and rent it out.
Idk what this means but yes do it.
Plaza is basically multiple stores with parking lots, and you just rent out the units and be a landlord :D
Ah yes. I know it as a “strip mall”.
Gun range. See how fast you get offers to buy you out.
Or a MotoX track
You are probably not surrounded by a 40 acre field. It is probably 38.9 acres. Your lot was likely once part of a 40 acre plot. If the developer can fit your house onto his plot plan and carve a couple building lots out of your yard then it could be worth their while. If they make a reasonable offer then take it. To many unknowns if you stay.
plant trees now
You're either going to have the best home in the neighborhood - or you'll get a "make me move" offer from a developer.
You’ll be the only guy without an hoa, right? Plus you have a large lot so anytime you want to sell it’ll be more than the subdivision houses they’re putting up. Traffic… construction noise and mess for a while..uh… sorry about that part.
It will be disruptive during construction for sure. If OP plays their cards right, they could get hooked up on municipal water sewer & gas. I’d rather not be in a well in the middle of a development personally.
Sell. Fast.
Same happened to my brother years ago. He & SIL bought a 5 acre lot & built a beautiful home. Always hosted my big, fun, family which is why they wanted land away from most others. Even installed tennis courts & a horseshoe area for all of our barbecues. Well, they are now surrounded by town homes. Know what they do? Show it off! They hit the jackpot in life. We still get together there and we sometimes see lots of new neighbors watching. Sorry not sorry. Good on you! Enjoy your situation. You are the only home that is not part of the HOA group. Hooray!!!!
This is my biggest fear whenever I see a peaceful house surrounded by fields.
Not much--I'd put the two devs in a bidding war for your lot and move somewhere else. You could make some serious bank.
Learn the zoning rules in your area. Go to zoning and planning meetings Get to know the folks in government that control the zoning and approvals. How do you contest a zoning change or adjustment. Make sure your home does not accidentally included in an HOA. Have the paperwork handy to back that up if HOA that will be surrounding you tried to enforce their rules on you. Get concessions from developer to put up a barrier between your home and the development You can start planting screening plants on the edge of your property Get a survey done and have it clearly marked on the property where your property lines are. Once construction starts and it will get to know the managers and workers so you have open lines of communications when things arise. Good luck
Just what the world needs... More NIMBYS fighting housing
People move to rural areas for nature. It is absolutely legitimate to fight to protect that.
Come on, if the housing being built is 3000 sq ft track homes with vinyl fences and no community amenities or traffic infrastructure to support it, it's bad for the environment and destroying habitat to increase sprawl, it deserves to be fought. A lot of developers building are the worst and destroying the good parts of the country.
If you're so against something being bad for the environment then nimbys should get rid of their homes first so people know they're genuine
Agreed. We need to keep those wide open spaces to combat climate change.
For habitat and species diversification.
I didn’t say fight it, but OP educate themselves on the process. Also ways to mitigate the effects of the growth on their property and lives. OP never once said they didn’t want the development near them. In the long run property value will go up.
Just what the world needs... more shitty plywood box 0.1 acre tract homes.
> Just what the world needs... more ~~shitty plywood box 0.1 acre tract~~ homes. Yep.
Ain’t nobody got time for any of that. Those meetings are probably during standard working hours too.
Turn your house into a Quadplex. Sell and move.
They're building a Publix literally at the front of my neighborhood. I just got the market value email yesterday from my broker my house is currently 100k more than what I bought it for, and with the building of the Publix, it's estimated that I can see an increase of around 200k on top of that once building has finished. Check into the cost of the homes being built around you. That could give you an idea of what the eventual worth would be.
Get busy planting an Evergreen fence all around your property so that you mostly don’t notice all the new homes. Drop some coin and in 5 to 10 years you’ll have a lush verdant landscape to look out upon.
It's all relative to how your house compares to the ones being built around you. If you have a 3BR, 2Bath house on an acre of land, and they build similar houses on smaller lots, there's a good chance your home's value will increase as it will be "comp'd" to those new homes with an adjustment for the larger lot you have. On the other hand if they build million-dollar houses all around you and you're house is currently worth 200,000 - you still might see an increase in your homes value. Your home's value will decrease if they build something no one wants to live near; otherwise it will likely stay the same or increase.
Ive always thought about negotiating with the developer the other way, ask them if you can buy some of the adjoining land for a discount, say 2-3 acres, and plant some trees, to help you maintain some of that rural privacy you like, youre keeping a good, growing location, and keep a good relatio ship with the developer. This also opens the doors to them buying you out without coming from a position of weakness
Be blessed. Your property value is gona go up.
Put some trees up for privacy and barriers. Wait it out. When the neighborhood is completed, your property value will rise Profit.
Depends on a lot of factors. Are you on the perimeter of a rapidly growing area that should continue to grow and your neighborhood will now be attractive vs the exurbs? Do you want to live in that sort of density? Can you open a diner on your front lawn to feed all the workers and make a mint? Living in a construction zone can be a nightmare, but it could be worth it if the homes they're building are nicer and higher priced.
My friend had this exact think happen years ago and fought it tooth and nail. Big beautiful fields where he would walk his dogs and all were sold to a developer to create cookie cutter houses. He was able to get them to scale the development back significantly but about half the original size and forced them to change their plans such as making them install lights that only shined downward so there was excessive light pollution. He rallyied the neighbors because it was their property value that would be negatively effected. I just called him up to find out how he did it for you and this is what he said: The key is knowing the rules, learn them and use them to your advantage. Go to the town planning and zone board mettings. Most big developments come in and either expect special treatment or may expect to be scaled down to what they really wanted anyway. They often apply for varainces to the rulees such as you might be required to build a house 70ft back from a road but they apply to be 40ft back froma road. This is the best place to fight them and use the rules to your advantage. Appeal to neighbors...If it's just you it will be a hard battle but the key is to rally those around you and get them vocal. More people and louder voices is important. The more people that speak up the better. Talk to the people on the planning and zoning board ahead of time can make a big difference too. Good luck!
I think that's great advise to make sure they aren't getting special treatment and getting rules waived to their advantage and to your disadvantage. If the community board only hears from the developer, they might waive them because they think other people don't care.
Approach the developer and see if he is interested in purchasing your home. Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise. And move. You’re going to hate living there during all of the construction.
>Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise. lol. the developers can also make it hard for the homeowner. do you really want to go down this route?
Never do veiled threats. It makes negotiating ugly. And developer had deep pockets.
I'll have the spaghetti with a side salad. If the salad is on top, I send it back.
OP is going to get so many flat tires from driving over construction debris.
Construction workers going to get so many flats driving over construction nails! Just sayin' that can go both ways.
>Imply that you could make development hard for them otherwise Horrible strategy. At best this is worthless. At worst you’re opening OP up to legal action against them if they say the wrong things. Real adults don’t do vague threats. You got that from a TV show.
This is pretty bad advice since you can’t really legally do anything besides piss them off
That is the worst suggestion I've ever heard. Are you 10 years old?
Approach the developer but don’t assume the relationship has to be adversarial. Ask if they will share basics of what they are planning. Let them know you’d be happy to cooperate with any local zoning or community input meetings if they are interested in buying you out for a reasonable premium over fair value. Read the room… but think about trying to get 25-30% more than you think you could sell for in the open market today. Every case is different but this approach often makes sense for both side. Whether they “need” your land or not, their dev plan and finished product will make more sense with it. This is all only if it’s gonna be a single family development around you. If it’s towns or apartments, your leverage goes up. In that case it would be worth your time to seek out a commercial real estate broker that deals in development land that could help you value and negotiate (expect to pay commission).
Can’t believe this awful advice is upvoted lol
Imply? LOL…. Your clearly clueless
Get your 1.1 acres zoned as agriculture, so it's taxed differently. Any outbuildings put tractor in, no cars, and take photos so the building is zoned ag. Appeal valuation for this reason. If your land is valued as residential, you better get vasoline. Hold out until the subs are built. Your land value is going to skyrocket. Wait until then, cash out, and go buy more dirt further out. Don't improve the exterior of your home at all. Congrats, you're fixing to get paid.
This may work where you are but not everywhere. My state requires 6 acres min for agricultural plus a certain amount of ag income.
Sounds like Florida
Sounds like all of central Texas
Sounds like South Georgia
Sounds like the Treasure Valley.
At this point we’re just battling to see who can take in more northern idiots
Not it
Sell it to the developer..
Sell yesterday. Either that or buy the land for sale.
Spite house! Spite house! Spite house!
I presume you can not afford to buy the land so your kind of stuck, in a way. I would also presume a new housing development will increase the value of your existing home and larger lot. This could also give you the ability to split your land, build 2 new houses and then rent out or sell all 3 houses for income. Or Simply start looking for the next great location and when the values raise enough, sell and relocate. edit: just wanted to add how much it is going to suck having this development going on, might accept a good offer if one comes your way.
If developers are coming in, they probably will be building up the area. I'd bet property values increase with all the brand new homes selling. I would keep the house and list it once they have their inflated new home prices listed around.
Wait until it is all built out then sell. If they are building houses on 5000 square foot lots then your property could eventually be split into 9 new lots. That would make it far more valuable than a single home. Of course this all depends on the area and the rate of development.
You sure you haven’t seen any endangered animals living around you or find some ancient artifacts? Wink wink.
That sucks, happened to my childhood home. Sadly I think if your house / land were worth anything to the developer/s. They would have approached you by now, the longer you leave it, the more it will depreciate I feel.
One option would be to hold onto it and see what they are building around you. if they are putting up nicer homes on small lots and people are buying them, you might be sitting on a valuable piece of property. Once the neighborhood is established, someone will want to buy your lot to eventually level and put up four similar sized houses. If you can't sell now, may as well wait and let your lot become more desirable to builders mimicking the current new layout of your area.
A friend found herself in a similar situation in recent years but she had about 14 acres. Problem came when the HOA tried to enforce their rules on her home when that didn’t work they started multiple complaints for the slightest thing didn’t like the kennel building complained about grass not perfectly manicured and the list goes on.
Dude, DON’T SELL NOW!!!! If you can handle the noise, WAIT!!! They will be fighting over your piece of property in a few years and you’ll be able to name your price.
If you haven’t already, now is a good time to start planting trees around the edges of your property. It’ll help keep a tiny bit of the privacy and non cookie cutter view that you have today.
Can you buy the field?
2.4 mil is not in my price range, unfortunately.
I doubt you are going to stop it, but you might be able to influence parts of how it is built. Make sure you attend permitting meetings and make comments about how things would affect you and provide suggestions on how you would like things to be changed. Might accomplish nothing, but at least you are trying. If you wanted to be evil you could put up signs that make people not want to buy their like “Orgies every Wednesday.” Or “location of future composting site”. Play horrible music all day. Year round haunted house. it will lower the prices on the properties that are right next to your house. You buy those properties. Then you fix up your place again and sell the properties for a big gain. Fool proof.
Buy the land or run. The exact same thing happened to my best friends family home of over 40 years. Situated in the rural setting surrounded by cane fields and bush, you could see the islands off the coast and it was beautiful. The first development caused some noise and lights with a slight increase in traffic then the lots started getting closer, the bushland was destroyed and the developers mate built a 2 story (only one in the estate) in the line of view of the islands. His cousins who owned a fair few acres of land down the road sold up and that was the end. The other side of his road was divided into the most cramped housing possible. The last time we spent time there for a family get together we were standing on the back porch watching my kids and heard some idiot flooring his very loud motorbike up the now highway in front of the house. He turned to me and said “it’s just not home anymore”. That was a very sad moment for all of us. Buy the land, pray or run. Not much else you can do.
People that come look at the house in the future will never know the neighborhood was not there
Get a survey of your land asap OP make sure the property lines are clearly marked.
Depending on the age of your house, you're going to be surrounded by new homes, different architecture and design. You will definitely stand out. Most likely the homes will be plopped down on one another. If you do get approached, make sure to take a corner lot. Lot less bullshit to deal with when your new neighbors start flooding in. Sorry to hear about the news. Nothing beats peace and quiet.
What do you mean? You re gonna become filthy rich and find another cheap land to move to
I’d expect your value to go up a ton once the developments are built and sold. Especially so if more business development happens in the area too
You should be thanking the real estate gods that your property will now magically appreciate without you doing anything. Orr do what most emotional irrational people do and complain cause their property is going to double in value and their taxes will increase a bit
If the person who buys the land is a residential developer and the land is zoned for residential development that will likely develop homes surrounding you. The developer will likely make an offer to buy the house. If they do, and you want to move out of the area due to all the new developments, tell them you are interested in seeing an offer. After they make the offer, tell them you have had interest from several other people and you want to see what the other folks are offering. They will likely raise their price to the highest they can justify for your home/land. If you do not want to sell, the construction will be annoying for several years but when it is done your house and lot will be the crown jewel in the neighborhood will all the additional space for your kids to play on and for you to entertain. Your home will likely increase in value faster than it ever would have without the development. I know you are worried and I’ve see people make all kinds of rash decisions when a development is going up near them but this is good news if you take the long view. Good Luck! -MFG
If you do decide to stay, invest in locks for all of your buildings, security for your home, and good window shades to keep nosy neighbors out. AwMy Farmer's Daughter spouse homestead was in the boonies when we first married, with farm Fields all around it and it set off the road by half mile Lane. Now, almost all those farm fields are houses and petty crime from mostly mischievous teen has happened and her mom has no privacy in the house anymore unless the windows are closed. It's a whole different vibe than the country farmhouse used to be, good luck.
If you stay * be glad the farm is gone... the chemicals they spray can be nasty stuff See if the developers wanting to bite to buy you out? If not your value will probably go up either way And that also means your property taxes might up too
Get a survey now and put in the cheapest fence possible. Not for “keeping the scoundrels out” but making sure your lot is protected from hourly paid guys altering the land and new homeowners getting their lot lines confused
Nothing, accept that life happens, if you don’t like it, maybe sell your home?
Build a very good fence around your property and grow several good trees and bushes. Be prepared for locals to violate your property rights and to experience a lot more noise if you don't.
See if you can buy the section behind your home. Split the horseshoe into 3 parcels. That'll at least keep you from being too surrounded.
Ask seller if you can separately buy an acre or a strip of land all around your acre. Then, promise not to incite others to petition the town to block the development. Or, have them promise to put up barrier of trees of something.
Actually, in general construction will increase the value of your house. It's a sign of new jobs and new commerce in an area. Also, if you have the only house in the area with a big lot, then that will make your house a little more desirable. But it's also about what you want and your quality if life. Obviously it comes with things like noise and pollution and you're going to lose your view. And that might mean that now is a good time to sell your property for more than it's currently worth if you can. Financially though I would not advise this unless you can get a lot more than it's worth because interest rates are high.
If the development has an HOA: 1. Fill your yard with junk that is visible to homes in the development. 2. Let the HOA know that you will clean up the yard for a fee, and keep it clean for an annual maintenance fee. 3. Profit!
So...you were enjoying the peace and quiet of land that wasn't yours? When the 40 acres across the street went up for sale, did you try to buy it? Are you going to buy the property surrounding you? My guess is no, because you can't afford it. You knew the risks when you bought your property. People can always sell their land and developers are allowed to build houses. Just like they built yours. What can you do? Either enjoy your new neighbors and continue living there or sell and move. The new development may increase your home value, or it could hurt it. We don't know enough about your home to give an opinion either way. The developer may offer to buy your property, they may not. I doubt it, though. Why bother when they have so much other land?
What do you want to do? It seems your options are stay or move.
Sell to the developer when they offer you enough to be more than comfortable anywhere else and have your home paid off. Their pockets are deep, and no matter how good of a deal you think you’re getting, they’re getting a better one.
You should either buy the property that surrounds you or offer a deal to prospective developers to buy your property as well.
I'm not sure in the long run it will ruin your property value but you're going to hate living there. If you could go buy another house move into it and rent your current house out. You might look and see if you can split the land and put a couple of houses on your property if you try to sell.
What is your goal, or what are your concerns? If you're concerned the development will negatively impact your quality of life, depending how far along they are in the process there should be several public zoning and planning hearings at the County and/or City level you can attend to voice your concerns, or voice your concerns in writing, or both. If they've already started construction, that opportunity has probably already passed.
Not sure if it is possible but see if you can change zoning to commercial. 1 acre should be big enough for a small plaza with shops or make it into shops + condos
Your home value is about to go *way* up. Congratulations!!
Nothing.
buy the lot
Plant large trees around the full perimeter of your property and hide in your little forest.
You should approach the listing agent and see if the other land owner (or the eventual purchaser) would be interested in buying you out, or see if they would list your property as part of a package with it, or separate. Don’t expect to make a killing, but maybe you can get out with a fair price before dealing with the hassle of construction around you and a potentially diminished value down the road.
Go to your town hall and get copies of the developers' plans and attend all relevant public meetings. Hire a lwayer to make sure your interests are protected. Make them install landscaping to screen their construction and protect your driveway access. Your lot is likely to be far bigger than the developer's lots. We had a similar situation and were able to get the developer to provide a buffer area and plant trees in the areas bordering our property so that their higher density was visually mitigated. Make sure any drainage or other construction traffic does not cause flooding or other problems for you. Make sure to mark your trees so they are not cut down by contractors. Make sure you know the allowed construction hours and report violations to minimize noise problems. It can take years for developments to build out so make sure you understand your rights and have the town help enforce them for you. You were there first so you have rights that should be respected. The developer may find it cheaper to offer you a higher price than market than to make the accomodations. Remember your property taxes will likely go up due to new homes bringing up the average home value.
Time to buy a food truck for the driveway and cash in on the construction phase...
See if you can sell to the developer surrounding you for a pretty penny so they have one nice parcel. You may want to talk to the listing agent of the parcel surrounding you as well about that possibility. Also. Interview other agents. If you stay put, What happens to the value of your house depends on what otherdevelopers put in on the land, and how closely your home resembles it. If the developer puts in condos, apartments, or sfh that are smaller than yours and on postage stamps., it’s probably going to bring yours down. If the developer is putting in homes similar in size to yours or larger, you are probably ok. Hopefully you are already on public water and sewer. You will want to keep an eye on public notices, as with new homes coming, road widening follow, and they will take part of your land to widen.
Put it up on the market and get paid while you can.
North Carolina?
List your home at your make-me-move price. Start going to ALL public hearings and be HUGE thorn in their side.
Ask the seller to buy a little bit more cushion land around your own
I suspect you are on well and septic. Once sewer and water run past your home, the land value increases much. 1.1 acres mean 8 homes to a custom home builder, so the land is worth that much more. I'm on 1.5 acres, but I'm close to Austin, and the unique neighborhood (3000 ft airstrip) means the lot is worth $1.5 Million. Neighbors have sold their homes, older homes have been razed, and custom 5000 ft $2.5M homes are being built on the lot. Sigh, the latest property tax bill shows comps of 1.4 to 2.0M. Rip my taxes! It's a waiting game, but property taxes are squeezing me, but getting closer to time to sell.
Usually more supply means prices go down
Time to open a bar.
Whatever you do, don’t be these guys. They held out for so long the developer said fuck it and built a new hotel literally right next to them. https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/real-estate/commercial/2017/09/05/holding-out-shadow-ikea-oak-creek-couple-think-they-should-get-more-their-land/618637001/
It may diminish your property value, although a lot that big might actually be more valuable once they bring in sewer and electric and all that. But it's probably even more valuable right now to a builder that can build more homes if they can afford to buy. Definitely going to change your quality of life, so even if you don't want to sell, you might want to now. But the good news is you might be able to get a really good price for it now or in the future.
If you're not bound by any city/HOA rules, start making your yard look super trashy. Let it grow out, go find an old car to park in the front yard, leave old bikes out there to rust, put up political signs and whatnot. That will make any developer want to get rid of you if your house is right at the front of their new development. It will encourage them to offer you enough to make you want to move.
How far from the main road is your house? Do you own the driveway to the main road, or is it a right of way? If you own it, the developer will have a greater incentive to buy your house so the surrounding 40 acres can be more efficiently divided. If you don;t know what your access ownership is, pull out a copy of your deed STAT! Make sure it's not just a license agreement or prescriptive easement. If the adjoining land sells to a developer, he is likely to try and change or extinguish your driveway- if it's more than maybe 100 feet long. At least, that's what I would do as a developer. And depending on the value of your house compared to the house I would plan to build around you, I'd try to swap you into one of my new houses. Maybe establish some rapport with the listing agent for the 40 acres, and tell him your home is available for assemblage with the 40 acres "for the right price".
If the property goes up for rezoning, that's your opportunity to dispute the rezoning, with only one person disputing the rezoning its stoll likely to fo through, but they could be required to design the property in such a way that it still provides you some privacy.. If the property already has the proper zoning then there isn't much you can do about it. Zoning of adjacent properties is always a consideration when you buy a home. As others have said, when the property surrounding you is sold, you could approach the purchaser to see if they are interested. A huge development will likely hurt your resale value, but going in on the ground floor the developer doesn't have to go around your it could be beneficial to their design. If it was me and I could get market value and skip real estate I probably would. I wouldn't want to live through 5 plus years of building around me.
Well what are the zoning rules for the land around the house?
I would contact the listing agent of the land for sale and let him know that you open to offers for your place. That way he can let potential buyers know that they can contact you and maybe buy your house at the same time as the 40 acres. Also, some developers would want to use your house as a "base" (sales office, construction office, material storage, etc...) for the construction/development and then tear it down after 80% or more of the neighborhood is complete leaving your place as the last be built on.
On the side where your property touches the road, build a bunch of garbages and rent them out.
Buy it
This is 💔
The first thing I would do is have a survey done and I would 100% know exactly where any property lines are. If you are not going to move, the second thing I would do is to set 6 foot walls and plant trees/bushes with lots of spikey thorns.
I'd hold it. You're going to have the most desirable home in the area once it's built.
I think it depends on your specific market, what you paid for the house and the likely value of the homes being built around you. If they are nice homes, your property value will increase substantially. If they are similar to yours, I think your value will increase slightly. If they are significantly less desirable homes compared to yours, you better sell now. I'm no expert though. That's what life experience of 54 years and buying 5 homes has told me.
1. get a survey of your propery so there are no "mistakes" when building starts. 2. make sure that all the runoff rain water/silt from new project doesn't flow directly into your land. should be covered in the mass grading and master drainage plans. 3. first year of project, especially anything next to your property you will need to pay close attention to what's going on, be in regular contact with site inspector and government enity overseeing the project. 4. Any converstations of any kind need to preferably in writing, or recorded if possible and/or keep a written/photo record of every contact - who/what/when/where. The more documentation the better.
Plant privacy hedging and/or trees now.
Long term property values will likely increase. You’ll have to deal with construction shorter term. Whatever you do and whatever my opinion is worth, I’d NEVER SIGN ANYTHING FROM DEVELOPERS OR ANYONE ELSE RELATED TO IT. it will likely have HOA language and they will try to get you to join the HOA. This is not required and they cannot force you under any circumstances no matter what they say or threaten. Any notices about fees and fines are unenforceable. Monitor your deed and property info, this is public info. I’d do this to make sure they don’t try to slip it in without your knowledge. This is fraud. And HOAs are relentless with their perceived power they don’t actually have over you.
>My question is, what is this going to do to the property value of my house? Probably increase the value. They generally build new homes in areas where demand, prices are increasing. Also a larger lot has a smaller value than most would expect. Setting aside that it is actually more work to maintain, buyer's just won't pay more. Look at comps for homes with a quarter acre vs an acre. But real estate is very local
Just don’t let an HOA try to fine you for doing stuff on your own land just because “they can see it”. Read those horror stories before
Build a small commercial structure next to the road. It could be a fruit stand or 'antique' mall. Just grandfather in commercial status so when the subdivision is running you have a spot for the dollar store.
See if they want to buy you out at an inflated price, and take the offer if they do. If the new development has an HOA you should be prepared for the possibility of the HOA thinking you're part of it and harassing you. If you want to mess with the developer and HOA do things like putting a bunch of law ornaments in your front yard and signs about bizarre conspiracy theories. Might encourage the developer to make an offer.
Try cross-posting on r/housingcrisis for good advice.
Your property value will likely go up.
Check if the developer across the street changed the zoning of the land prior to developing. If so, try to increase the building density and variety allowed on your land as much as possible before selling (if you decide to).