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Due diligence period on property

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Some might recall I posted about GIS discrepancies on a 30 acre property I was interested in. The seller agreed to a price per acre addendum contingent on the survey so I am now in the due diligence period. You guys were very helpful on the first run so I'm looking for some thoughts on this next part.

 

Some quick background: there is a house built in 1894 and some old, dilapidated farm buildings on the property that I will tear down ASAP. Other than that, it's a big piece of land that I am buying as is. There's a farm directly south and houses on the other side of the road all around the property so I'm not too concerned about electricity or well. 

 

Besides the survey, what else should I be trying to get done during due diligence?  

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Determine what future building restrictions there might be. If, for example, you can't touch the old house, can you build a new one on the property?  Are there any rights of way? woodland/forestry restrictions? protected lands?

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8 hours ago, sota said:

Determine what future building restrictions there might be. If, for example, you can't touch the old house, can you build a new one on the property?  Are there any rights of way? woodland/forestry restrictions? protected lands?

Yes, impervious surface, run off and the like are big these days.  We're putting up a small office building (12,000 sq ft) at work and you wouldn't believe what we're going through.  Even the rain water coming out of gutters is and issue.  May I ask where this is?  Area or township?

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I've been told by an "authority" recently that compacted gravel is no longer considered permeable.

I wanted to strangle the guy and shout "TELL THAT TO THE FUCKING GRASS THAT'S GROWING THROUGH IT!!!

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Not sure if this falls under due diligence but title search.

Be aware that demoing the existing may not be in your best interest if there are other building restrictions. IE it may be necessary to tear down to the slab (or equivalent) in order to let you "build what you want" later. 

Also be aware of restrictions like the Highlands act that basically prohibit additional modification of your property. 

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Where is the property? In NJ or In Pa or another state that is on a shale formation?

Was completely foreign to me until I started dealing with some of these oil and natural gas investments, but.... in states like PA, VA, WV, etc, it is not uncommon that the land you are buying.... may not come with all of the rights, namely mineral rights.

Since it is an older property... may want to have a lawyer double check to make sure you know what if any land rights have been stripped away or sold separately. 

In layman's terms, and I know just enough to be dangerous with it, you have the actual land rights, ie what you build on it, and typically the air rights to it.  Then there is the separate mineral rights, ie below the surface.   In states that are close to drilling, many times landowners sell off those mineral rights to a third party who would either develop it or sell the lease on it to an exploration company.  For the owner, they get the cash and never thought the rights would be valuable, particularly if the land would be "too expensive" to develop.  Fracking technology and this drop in gas/oil prices has put pressure on everyone in the production line to the point that a few companies we dealt with, in the WV area had a break even of about $12 per barrel for oil. 

Parts of NW and Western Jersey are in the zone... but still a bit expensive to develop.  As such... something to watch out for or at least be aware of.

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I found that buying property outside of NJ was a lot less hassle.  In NJ you are conditioned to look for regulations on every aspect of your life.  When I moved in to my house in VA I asked about a permit to have my driveway modified along with some other improvements. The county person looked at me and said " Why would you need a permit for that? It's your property".  Freedom takes a bit of time to get used to for a refugee from NJ.

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13 hours ago, Sevenshot said:

Some might recall I posted about GIS discrepancies on a 30 acre property I was interested in. The seller agreed to a price per acre addendum contingent on the survey so I am now in the due diligence period. You guys were very helpful on the first run so I'm looking for some thoughts on this next part.

 

Some quick background: there is a house built in 1894 and some old, dilapidated farm buildings on the property that I will tear down ASAP. Other than that, it's a big piece of land that I am buying as is. There's a farm directly south and houses on the other side of the road all around the property so I'm not too concerned about electricity or well. 

 

Besides the survey, what else should I be trying to get done during due diligence?  

The only thing I can think of would be a water test. You don't want to outlay too much$ until your 100% sure your buying. Even with a new well it's the same groundwater. Unless it's contaminated it should be treatable.

Other than that, ask about refuse, you may be hauling your own garbage. Open burning.etc

Anything that may dissuade you from purchase 

 

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After all is said and done and you presumably have the property look into saving or even making money on the tear downs. Depending on what you have there are outfits out there that are looking for old wood to salvage, wood beams, flooring, siding ...

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3 hours ago, siderman said:

After all is said and done and you presumably have the property look into saving or even making money on the tear downs. Depending on what you have there are outfits out there that are looking for old wood to salvage, wood beams, flooring, siding ...

Really? Make money on tear down? 

I would think it is a pain and have passed a few with some acres and buildings to tear down. 

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16 minutes ago, Maksim said:

Really? Make money on tear down? 

I would think it is a pain and have passed a few with some acres and buildings to tear down. 

Like I said , depends on what kind of structures and condition they are. An old outhouse or garage probly not. Big old barn, very possible. For example  http://www.old-barn-wood.com/  It is an actual industry.

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32 minutes ago, Maksim said:

Really? Make money on tear down? 

I would think it is a pain and have passed a few with some acres and buildings to tear down. 

Flooring and timber. Barn siding is big.

Sider is right100%

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55 minutes ago, siderman said:

Like I said , depends on what kind of structures and condition they are. An old outhouse or garage probly not. Big old barn, very possible. For example  http://www.old-barn-wood.com/  It is an actual industry.

Wow, thanks for that. Learn something new.

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2 hours ago, siderman said:

Like I said , depends on what kind of structures and condition they are. An old outhouse or garage probly not. Big old barn, very possible. For example  http://www.old-barn-wood.com/  It is an actual industry.

Shooters purchased old barn wood for the inside structure. It is a good business.

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Hey everyone, thanks a ton for the advice. Passing along a lot of this info to the agent and lawyers to make sure we are covering everything.

 

Wife and I moved up here after we graduated for jobs. She has a lot of family up here so easy transition, but we are looking to move back in a couple years to live much closer to our parents. This is our first time doing anything like this so a lot to consider and want to make sure we are thorough.

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