Inherited land – what to do?

[hoo-doo]

Hi all.

My parents inherited 180 acres of land from my Grandfather late last year. They’re in their late 60’s and have started talking about what to do with the property. I’d like to see what advice might come from the group here.

The land is north of Minneapolis in a rapidly growing area. Like most metro areas, people have been carving up farmland and building McMansions for the last decade. The land is not particularly beautiful or productive so my parents don’t really have any reservations about disposing of it. Up until last year, the thought was that the land would be valued in excess of $1.3M to a builder.

Of course, it’s certainly not worth that much now. I’d like to help frame the issues for my parents, either to light a fire under them to sell the land as quickly as possible or to convice them that they/we should develop a strategy for holding it.

After hearing that builders are letting land options expire and knowing that we are facing a long term issue with housing – can anyone chime in with their feelings about what strategies might be open to them?

Thanks!

[North County Jim]

Any idea what their holding costs are for taxes, insurance, etc.?

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

build a log cabin, stack up on beans, rice and items for self-defense and wait for armegeddon …

OR

You could contact a commercial real estate expert in the area and find out what it would take to sell this windfall asset for cold, hard cash to invest in assets with which they are already familiar.

[JES]

Found a new city on that land, and before you start building use it for deer hunting.

[waiting hawk]

lol FormerSanDiegan ur first idea was spot on!

“build a log cabin, stack up on beans, rice and items for self-defense and wait for armegeddon …”

My website tracking Temecula and South Riverside County

[powayseller]

Why are people having too much fun with this post?

Have you contacted a realtor to find out prices of recent sold properties? They’ll promise you the moon if you list with them, but ask for a list of sold properties. An experienced, honest realtor could give you some advice on values for the area.

[vcguy_10]

Also, watch out for squatters. There’s some good advice in this thread: get the cold facts, holding costs, recent (less than 6 months) comparables, any plans for highway development, etc.

[powayseller]

Why would Minneapolis be least affected? They’ve got housing bubble trouble too.

Let’s compare foreclosure.com information. Minneapolis (San Diego) has 590 (613) foreclosures and 2 (4083) preforeclosures, 1101 (1784) bankruptcies, and 9 (15,508) tax liens.

In August, Inman News listed Minnesota has one of 7 states with the highest month over month increase in foreclosures, at 31%.

If you google “housing bubble minneapolis”, you get plenty of hits, including the one I read from the Federal Reserve, showing Mpls. had the highest bubblicious appreciation in the 9th district.

vrudny, land speculators are in as much denial as anyone else. Ask your brother for hard data on inventory and sales, months on market. I would guess the outlying land he is buying now is cheaper than a few months ago, so he thinks it’s a bargain, not realizing the reduced prices are due to the bubble popping. My sister’s boyfriend is building a McMansion on a lake in North Dakota bordering Canada, and he still believes that Californians will pay him top dollar when construction is complete. After all, Californians have been buying up homes all over the lake. He also insists his car dealerships will continue doing well, since there is no way a recession is coming; the economy is too strong. So much for people in the business having clear vision.

[JES]

If your parents need the money for retirement anytime soon, perhaps they should just sell it right now. But in the long run that city will keep growing outward and the land will appreciate. Perhaps not over the course of the next 3 years, but long-term the prospects should be great. But holding it long term wont help your parents take that vacation next year or enjoy their retirement. Maybe they sell 80 acres and pass the other 100 to you, I don’t know. If they want to pass it all to you, then I suggest that you immediately:

-Cover the perimeter with barbed wire, and to the south fortify it with razor wire.
-Establish a defensive position along the most likely avenue of approach to the south, and set up foxholes approximately 15 feet apart.
-Stock pile weapons, food, extra ammo and fuel and see if you can get your hands on some night vision goggles. Buy five pairs, and don’t forget the cold weather gear to include cross country skis.
-Weekly, reherse leaving your day job in the city on moments notice. Maneuver through corn fields if you must, but make sure to use a different route each time.
-Buy a rugged laptop with a wireless data card and monitor piggington.com 24/7. When news breaks that the housing bubble has burst in Minnesota and the nation has fallen into a depression you’ll have nothing to worry about.

Invite powayseller to your first rehersal…

[powayseller]

Today’s CNN article about the slowing housing market in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 10 miles from downtown Minneapolis. I don’t see any reason that land anywhere is going to appreciate; this entire country is in a housing bubble, and all decisions should be made based on the likelihood that prices will drop over the next 5 years.

[waiting hawk]

lol JES im still lmfao!

My website tracking Temecula and South Riverside County

[anxvariety]

Subdivide and sell lots individually?

[Author]

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