Real Estate Question

[eelgrass]

There's this guy I know who is thinking of buying some vacant land around Kenai, AK. He's thinking of maybe building a cabin up there when he retires. (one to three acers, about 8-15K).

He's familiar with the general area, having been up there a few times.

It would cost about $1500 to fly up there, rent a car, motel, etc. to check out any potential property.

Would you feel comfortable buying a piece of property having only seeing it on google earth? Google earth is pretty darned good at showing detail, elevation, etc.

My gut says no way, but I'm not sure. What do you think?

Eel

 

[rutnbuck]

I think it would be ok if he bought it sight unseen providing he lets us use it!!
Ya know I have seen a couple spots for sale that I know the general location I wouldn't have any problems byeing. If I was a sawyer and had your money!!

 

[nmwapiti]

I'd ask for the county or "borough" cordinates, otherwise known as Township, Range and Section. This is usually on the property tax bill. Then you can go to the FEMA website and for 5-10 bucks enter the info and find out if it is in a flood plain. A lot of land around Kenai/Soldotna is swamp land and unbuildable. And any seller of a property should provide a title policy. This is a report on the property showing any liens, encroachments, etc. If it does not have any issues, the there should be clear title. If there are issues, the title policy will bring said issues to the surface. Hope this helps.

 

[eelgrass]

nmwapiti, thanks. Great advise. Title insurance for sure.

Rutnbuck, if I decide to run my sewer line into my well water, like you did at Bobcatbess's, I'll be sure and call you!

Eel

 

[maxxbob1]

I have played around in the real estate market for most of my life. I would never, NEVER, buy real estate without being familiar with the local market and the specific property. If you are buying in a large housing tract with a bunch recent sales of similar houses, you might have some confidence in a market analysis or an appraisal. On rural property you have to do your own homework. You need to make sure know all the legal stuff like taxes, restrictions, easements, access, liens, etc. You should also talk to the county assessor; they are usually a wealth of information. Raw land may be hard to unload if the buyer changes their mind. I would ask the local realtors how long it would take to resell and how much of a loss you would take. Here in New Mexico you can buy some really nice 5 acre, 10 acre or 20 acre vacation or retirement properties when they subdivide a ranch. Or you can wait a couple years and buy the same property at the tax lien sale for a fraction of the cost. $1500 and a few days invested up front sounds like a wise investment to me.
--Bob

 

[nickman]

Call a sporting goods store or an outfitter in the area and explain the situation to them.

You might find a hunter to check it out. Pay them $200 or so for a report, if you have to.

 

[sageadvice]

Eel, don't forget to run a copy of your cabin plans by me. Might be able to cut you one heck of a deal on a part work, part fishing trip!

Joey

 

[Wiszard]

Contact one of the local Realtors so that all of your legalities are covered. As Wapiti said, you'll want a Title Ins. Policy as well as a Natural Hazard Disclosure. Theres a whole lot more to it than looking at a property and thinking it looks ok. You need to cross your t's and dot your i's and do it in a legal and binding way. Make sure you know that it is exactly what you want because once you close escrow and a problem arises, you'll be in court for quite some time. Using a Realtor to purchase the property is the way to go. Good luck.

Steve

 

[Boskee]

Eel, you may want to have it appraised and put that in the contract that it must appraise for sales price or greater. Too many people get sucked in on raw land deals and pay way too much for them. Raw land deals without utilites and other improvements can be difficult to get financing on if you plan on getting a loan to build with in the future. At least with an appraisal you'll have a third party that's familiar with the area tell you what he thinks it's worth. You can pay somebody up there that has access to public records to comp it out for you too to help determine value initially but i would rely on an appraisal for your final value.

 

[HillbillyNnevada]

I saw an Alaskan lot similiar to this situation on Ebay and I had the same questions that you posted.

You can buy any real estate without stepping foot on it if you hire a competent real estate attorney to draft a good sales contract that gives you plenty of outs if the title search turns up something that is a deal breaker for you.

 

[LESGO54]

i would not take the chance, fly up there and see it first hand

 

[eelgrass]

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice. This real estate office links all, or most of their properties, to google earth. Take a peek, if you're interested. They seem like an up front office.

http://www.redoubtrealty.com/

 

[HillbillyNnevada]

Trust me. If you like the looks of it on Google Earth, think it is a good deal and you can see a road leading to it, call up a real estate attorney in Alaska and tell him everything that is a deal breaker for you (flood plain, development, easement, etc.), pay him a retainer to draft the sales contract (might cost a few grand to get him started) with plenty of outs for you. The most you can lose is the attorneys' fees if his title search turns up something adverse to your interests and plans.

On the other hand, if you spend the money to travel up there you will still have to expend the money for the attorney as I have discussed above so it is cheaper to buy site unseen if you like it. The attorney will act as your agent, just as if you were there in person, and if he screws it up, he has malpractive insurance to cover his mistake as opposed to you going it alone with the seller. If you go at it alone and the deal goes south, you have to hire an attorney to litigate you out of the sales contract that you entered on your own with the seller and potentially face the full amount of the sales contract if you lose.

 

[CAelknuts]

Ideally, he should see the property himself. Failing that, if he hires a licensed appraiser to provide a valuation on the property, he'll get photos and any pertinent information about the property. When you combine that with a preliminary title report, you can get a pretty decent idea of what you're getting, but none of that will substiute for a visual inspection of what you're buying.

 

[HillbillyNnevada]

If he wants personal peace of mind, he should visit the property before the purchase. The law will hold him accountable for anything that he could have seen with his own eyes had he visited the property. However, he can legally protect himself and purchase the property without ever stepping foot on it, if he so chooses, if he follows my advice. I have been party to many of these transactons. The law has been designed to treat real estate as any other commidity that can be bought and sold "sight unseen."

He can sign the closing documents and send them to his attorney via FedEx. I don't put much faith in real estate appraisers anymore in light of the recent melt down. There is a lot of evidence that RE appraisers were "I'll tell you what you want to hear" guys "so long as you (the bank) keep sending me work," which helped perpretuate this failure of a RE market. I for one have no faith in real estate anymore as a stable investment--60 years of reliability down the tubes.

 

[eelgrass]

The last thing I need at my age is a real estate FUBAR. I believe I'll cover all my bases. Not worth the small amount of money I MIGHT save. I also have to know what the building code requirements/restrictions are and all that stuff.

Plus google earth is not that up to date. There might be a new sewage treatment plant next to the property I'm looking at.

Thanks for the input. Much appriciated!

Eel