Buying Land

Purchasing land can be quite different than purchasing a home.  You may have purchased and sold several homes but never purchased unimproved lots or larger acreage tracts with or without a home.  At Rose Real Estate, we’ve been selling land in Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country for over thirty five years and are ready to help you find the piece of land that fits your needs and desires.

The following are some considerations:

  1. Establishing your ability to pay for your purchase:  In many cases, there are lenders who specialize in land and ranch loans and provide expertise based on local markets and needs. This specialization can be very helpful because buying land requires a different type of loan. Down payments, interest rates and term of the loan can be different from home mortgage loans.  Your Rose Real Estate Realtor will be able to put you in contact with lenders that specialize in land purchases.  The lender will review your credit, assets and income and pre-qualify you for a purchase up to a certain dollar amount.  The lender will issue a pre-qualification or pre-approval letter which will then be in your file ready to attach to the offer you make on a property. If you do not have this letter readily available, it can prevent you from securing the property of your dreams – in an active market, timing of offers and their inclusion of your ability to pay are very critical.

If  you are a cash buyer, you will want to have readily available proof of funds to present with any offer you make.

  1. Determining your goals for purchasing:  Your Rose Real Estate Realtor will discuss what you want to do with the property you purchase which, to name a few, might include building your dream house; utilizing for recreational purposes only;  using as a working ranch or farm;  holding as an investment only; purchasing for mineral rights or hunting. What you want to do on the property will guide your Realtor in examining with you such things as deed restrictions, easements, access to surface water such as creeks or rivers, privacy, grazing potential, views, exemptions, terrain, flood plains and fencing.

Chambers of Commerce: Check out our links to find the local Chambers of Commerce and you will find loads of information on area communities.

County Appraisal Districts (CADs):  These sites can offer a lot of resources.  Some are more advanced than others but most allow buyers to search tax assessments and understand property boundaries and recorded subdivisions.

  1. Searching for properties:  Rose Real Estate is a member of the multiple listing services for the Austin, Central Hill Country and Central Texas Boards of Realtors so will be able to go to work matching your requirements with properties available for purchase. Your Realtor will be able to notify you immediately when a new property comes onto the market or a price is changed.  Your Realtor will be able to secure available surveys, deed restrictions, copies of easements and other information on properties of interest to you and schedule appointments to show properties at times that are convenient to you.

While there are various public sites available to buyers for browsing properties for sale, these sites are often not accurate, not updated frequently and frustrating.  Your Realtor will have up to date information from the multiple listing services through local boards of Realtors.

  1. Preparing to make an offer:  When you find a property of interest to you, your Rose Real Estate Realtor will work diligently in assisting you in structuring your offer on the property. You will be provided a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) which, although it is not an appraisal, will provide data on active, pending closing and sold comparable properties in the area to help determine a price to be offered on the property.

There is certainly more to an offer than just the sales price.  There are many finer points to the offer that will be discussed with you including survey, option period, closing date, buyer closing costs to be paid by seller, non-realty items to be conveyed – to name a few.  You will want to work closely with your Realtor to navigate the complexities of the offer and put yourself in the best position to purchase the property under the best terms possible for you.

  1. From contract to closing:  Once you have a property under contract, it is placed in escrow usually with a local title company. Your Rose Real Estate Realtor will guide you through the option period by scheduling inspections that you order; reviewing inspection reports with you; negotiating for repairs you request by presenting proposed amendments to the contract; providing contacts for survey companies, well drillers, fence builders, land clearers and septic installers; assisting you in finalizing any financing, understanding closing costs, examining the HUD (settlement statement) and making other final preparations for closing.

Rose Real Estate uses only the highest ethical standards in assisting you in your purchase of property.

 


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