Georgia Land Sold

Zoning is very much a part of everyday life and business when you are new or experienced real estate investors, which includes brokers, agents, and any other professionals in the building industry who would be interested in educating themselves on zoning. When you look into Zoning, you need to be very conscious about where you are looking to develop an area for either commercial, homes, and agricultural needs. You need to be aware of the different types of Real-estate Zonings, such as Spot Zoning, Contract Zoning, Down Zoning, Esthetic Zoning, Subdivisions, and buffer Zoning.

Spot Zoning is when you have a small area of property or land that is zoned different than the other properties around it. Next is contract Zoning in which a person or business signs a contract to allow that person to rezone an area. Down Zoning is the rezoning of a piece of land that is less Dense, such as, instead of a high-rise, you are allowed only one or two story buildings. You also cannot take an industrial zone and turn it into a residential area.

Then we have Esthetic Zoning in which there are certain rules applied to the zoned area such as what is not permissible. Many landowners and realtors will find that they cannot make drastic changes to the landscaping, the color schemes, mailboxes fences, solar panels, decks, satellite, certain materials, the shape and design of the roof, and many more. With this type of zoning, it is a very good idea to look into what can and cannot be done to the property.

Next we have a subdivision, the name kind of speaks for itself but for arguments sake it is an area that is divided into smaller properties or lots. This allows for future development and must be approved through various hearings.

Finally, we have Buffer Zoning, which is where a piece of land is left to be developed into a park, driving range, or to be left with only grass and trees on it. Each of these types of Zoning can and will be found in various cities across the US. However, the laws can and will change according to where you are looking to either sell or buy a property.

When you look into city zoning you need to be aware of all city ordinances and regulations. You also need to consider the type of land you are interested in. If you are thinking of Subdivisions then you need to look towards the edge of the city, the same thing can be said with agricultural properties as well, though many of these will be out of the city limits and in the city limits, you will find that they are a number of animals you can have along with the types allowed. When you look into City Zonings you need to look at the following types, residential, commercial, industrial, combination and special purpose based. These are pretty self explanatory except the combination in which a particular area has been set aside and overlays for identified projects. The Special Purpose Zones are designed to help with the over flow of one type of zones to be integrated with another. This is mainly used in urban areas.

You might be wondering what Zoning is? Zoning is a term used in North America for dividing up Land Uses. Zoning is used to set up a permit system to keep an area from being over developed, either by homes, business, or other types of building and land usage. Zoning also includes many of the rules, which are and are not acceptable.

Most Zoning systems have procedures set up to protect them and to also grant changes allowed with the plans. The types of zonings for homes are R1 for single-family homes, R2 for two-family homes, and R3 for multiple-family homes.

Zones have Codes involved and these can be subdivided into the following categories, Euclidean, Performance, Incentive, and Design-based.

A Euclidean zone is a code brought first into the town of Euclid Ohio, it is also known as the building block zone. You can recognize this type of zone by the separation of land by residential, commercial and industrial, each banning the other types of zoning.

Next we have the Performance Zoning, which is also called the Effects-based Planning. These zones are goal orientated and designed to help developers use credits towards there zoning goals. The Performance Zoning is high flexible and accountable in its design.

Incentive Zoning is next on our list and was based out of Chicago and New York to provide reward based planning and development for urban goals.

Finally, we have Design Based codes, which offer flexibility over that of the Euclidean codes. The concept is fairly new and can cause creative challenges. This type of codes uses pre-existing designs in the local area surrounding it. This type of code can be easily seen in the differences between a traditional neighborhoods compared to a suburb. The property line for the neighborhood might be 15 feet, while the suburb one will not have a limit.

Zoning laws help the cities and government regulate the restrictions of both lands and buildings along with the requirements per lot, also the density of development, not too mention whether or not you are allowed to have certain animals such as pigeons, sheep, dogs, and yes even llamas. They also help the government protect the natural resources such as open spaces and parks, along with schools hospitals, and historical monuments.

Each City or county controls the zoning and there are laws, regulations, and permits you need to file. Be sure to go to your local courthouse, EPA, Army Corps of Engineers or possibly an attorney for any legal issues or questions you might have.

Tony Seruga, Yolanda Seruga and Yolanda Bishop of http://www.maverickrei.com specialize in commercial and investment real estate. As of May, 2006, they and their partners are managing over $600 million dollars worth of new projects.

Tony Seruga, Yolanda Seruga and Yolanda Bishop of Maverick Real Estate Investments, Inc. work with builders, developers and other players in the commercial real estate industry to acquire and develop properties. They use progressive investment strategies that have proved extremely profitable. In addition to their own deals, they teach both seasoned and inexperienced investors how to be big players in the game. Visit the website for more info.

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If a person has waterfront property, “boat docks” are a great addition. A boat dock, available in varying sizes and shapes, is a place to moor a boat and provides easy leisure access for swimming and fishing. There are aluminum docks, steel docks, floating docks and post docks. These classifications depend on materials and style that are used to build the docks. All are designed to offer the best that one could possibly expect in a wet and dry storage facility.

Many accessories, which make it fun and functional, can be seen alongside a dock. Among the accessories are benches, boarding ramps, bumpers, cleats, boat lifts, deep water braces, dock boxes, flagpole holders, handrails, swing and straight ladders, light brackets, shore end wheel kits and storage sheds.

There are a variety of choices in residential lake dock and commercial dock systems. The residential dock is built to fit the location and recreational needs of a customer. Private or single-family docks belong to individual waterfront property owners, while shared docks are partially owned by the adjoining property owners. Community docks are used by many neighbors in a subdivision. The commercial dock systems are constructed to specially fit the needs of a marina that allows access for a fee.

Along with the many positive aspects, boat docks do possess some negative effects. A dock can boost up property values along the waterfront, and consequently the tax base of the area. Other negative impacts are limiting access to publicly owned resources, obstructing navigation for different types of boats, and adversely affecting natural and living resources.

Docks provides detailed information on Docks, Marina Docks, Boat Docks, Floating Docks and more. Docks is affiliated with Pontoon Boat Lifts.

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A distinction is commonly made at law between two types of properties: real property and personal property. Real property generally consists of land and whatever is erected, growing upon or affixed to the land. The term “real estate” has a precise historic origin: in England real actions could be taken in court in respect of land and personal actions could be taken in respect of other types of property. Therefore, a distinction between real property and personal property was developed over time.

In Canada - as opposed to the United States or continental Europe - the application of English law has inherited one of its fundamental concepts: the land itself is not owned. This is so because English law focused not on ownership of land but, rather, on possession of land. The result is that the land itself is not owned or otherwise subject to ownership. Instead the person who has the right to possession is entitled to exercise certain proprietary rights over the land. The only one thing that is subject to ownership is an “estate” in the land.

An “estate” is an abstract legal concept that can be best characterized as a “bundle of rights”. In other words, the owner of an estate has certain rights he can exercise over the land. These rights are limited in nature and are incapsulated at common law in the Doctrine of Estates. Estates still in existence today are the Fee Simple Estate, the Life Estate and the Life Estate Pur Autre Vie.

THE FEE SIMPLE ESTATE

The Fee Simple Estate is what we ordinarily think of as “ownership” of real property. A fee simple owner has more rights over the land than any other owner. Originally the word “fee” meant that the estate could be inherited and “simple” meant that there was no qualification on the type of heir that could inherit it. In practicality this meant that the owner could leave the fee to his heirs in a will. And in the absence of a will, the fee could go to whomever could prove he was the nearest heir to the deceased owner. A Fee Simple is also known as a freehold estate - that is held by a free tenant - and it can be held for an unlimited period of time. An interesting situation that applies to Fee Simple estates even today is that if the owner does not make a will and no heirs can be traced, then the property will “escheat” or revert back to the Crown much the same as in old times.

LIFE ESTATES AND LIFE ESTATES PUR AUTRE VIE

A Life Estate is an estate for the life of a person who is called the life tenant. Again it is a freehold estate, but for an uncertain period of time because it terminates upon the death of the life tenant. A Life Estate Pur Autre Vie, on the other hand, is a life estate not for the life of the life tenant but for the life of another person. This would occur in a situation wherein the owner leaves a life estate to the wife and, after his death and after becoming a life tenant the wife remarries and disposes of the property for the life of another person. Needless to say, situations such as these are very rare and are difficult - if not impossible - to sell for value.

In addition to the foregoing, there are bundles of rights that are less than Fee Simple and less than Life Estates. More specifically, there are three main classifications of interests in land that do not amount to estates: easements, restrictive covenants and profits a prendre.

[] Easements

An easement is, by definition, a privilege acquired by a landowner for the benefit of his land over the land of another. The land receiving the benefit is the dominant tenement, the land over which the right is exercised is the servient tenement. In order to be characterized as such, an easement must have three basic requirements: 1) there must be a dominant and a servient tenement; 2) the easement must accomodate the dominant tenement; 3) the easement must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant.

Specifically as it relates to the third requirement, the easement must be capable of exact definition. In other words, one must be able to identify its boundaries, and the person granting the easement as well as the person receiving it must have the legal capacity to be grantor and grantee respectively. Whereas a life tenant can create an easement while he is alive, it cannot extend beyond his death. Typical examples of easements are rights of way, rights to light and rights of support like the ones found in elevated construction. Finally, the so called statutory rights of ways are those easements created by act of law and typically in favor of public utility companies.

[] Restrictive Covenants

A restrictive covenant imposes a restriction on the use of one person’s land and the restriction must be negative in nature. Again, there must be three requirements for a restrictive covenant to be characterized as such: 1) it must be negative in nature, for example by imposing a restriction on use; 2) the person who imposes the restriction must retain property which will itself be protected; 3) the burden of the restriction must have been intended by the parties to bind the land.

A “Building Scheme” is a special example of restrictive covenant attaching to two or more lots in a development plan. Often this type of restrictive covenant is used by a developer who is selling lots in a residential subdivision and wants to maintain uniformity in the use of the lots to protect their value. Like a restrictive covenant, a building scheme will be registered against the titles of the lots.

[] Profits a Prendre

A profit a prendre is the right to enter into another person’s land and legally take some profit of the soil, like minerals, trees, fish or game, for the use of the owner of the right. Unlike an easement, it does not need to accompany a dominant tenement and, in fact, may be held as a right per se. Furthermore, it does not need to be granted for a definite period of time. And,finally, a profit a prendre cannot be implied by law.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

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Using a real estate option to control land can turn a small cash investment into big profits. And the downside? You can lose all your investment, and many options DO expire worthless.

An option is a simple concept. You pay for the right to buy something within a certain amount of time at a certain price with certain terms. But you have no obligation to follow through and buy it.

Example of a Simple Real Estate Option

Suppose you want to build a home on a piece of land that is for sale for $52,000, but you are not sure you’ll be able to. Since you don’t want to lose the opportunity to build on this particular piece of land, you decide to try to “tie it up” with an option. You tell the seller you might want to buy it for full price, but you are not sure about your financing yet.

You explain that if he will give you an option to buy it at $52,000 within the next six months, you’re willing to pay an option fee of $1,000. You don’t have to buy it, but if you don’t buy it within that six months, he gets to keep the $1,000 - and presumably sell it to somebody else. If you do buy it he gets his full price plus that $1,000 (although sometimes the contract is written so that the option fee applies towards the purchase price).

Now lets go one step further with this example. You add “or my assigns,” “or assigns” or something similar (ask an attorney) after your name on the contract. This means that if you can’t buy the property, you can assign the option to somebody else, and they can buy the property according to the terms of the contract. In other words, they can take your place in the deal. You can let your friend buy it, or you can assign it for a fee to someone, and maybe get your $1,000 back.

Example of Big Money Option Deals

The big money is made when options are used in inefficient markets. These are markets where it is tough to put a price on things, and in real estate it includes markets where value can change dramatically according to use. For example, a corner on the edge of a town can be worth $65,000 while used car dealers are the likely market, an then a year later worth $200,000 when several fast-food companies realize how much traffic goes by there.

Where do options come into this? You use them to connect a property with buyers who will put it to it’s highest use, meaning they will also place a higher value on it. Basically, you “tie up” a property with an option - preferably for a year or more - and then go looking for the right buyer. Find that right buyer and you can sell your option for a large profit.

Many times an option will expire and nothing will have happened - you didn’t find a buyer for it. That means you lose the option fee. That is the primary complaint that would-be options investors have against this strategy. On the other hand, those who know how to work this game just play the odds and don’t worry too much about losing several small option fees to win an occasional huge profit.

Lets put the theory into a simplified example. Farmer John has 80 acres just out of town, and you think it would make a fine new subdivision. Developers are making subdivisions in the area with great success. John hasn’t given too much thought to selling, but when you approach him with the idea, he says that he figures the land is worth $280,000.

You tell him that you are not sure if you can buy it or not. You need time to talk to possible partners, and to look into financing. You tell him that if he will sign an option giving you (or anyone you assign the option to) the right to buy it in the next 16 months, you’ll give him $5,000.

16 months is a long time to tie up the property, he says. You remind him that he wasn’t planning on selling yet anyhow, and he gets to keep the $5,000 if you don’t buy. Not only that, but you will set the price at $300,000, so if you do buy, he’ll get even more than he hoped. He agrees.

Of course, you have done some homework before this, and you know who the biggest developers are and what prices they have paid for land. You have sixteen months now to get one interested enough to buy your option. Otherwise you lose $5,000.

You get to work developing a marketing plan. You get a plat map of the land and make photocopies. You lay out on paper how the land can be split into the highest number of lots. You find sales of nearby homes, and work up some numbers for how much in total sales is possible.

You present the property and plans to several developers, letting them know that you want to do business with whoever will give you a decent price. One developer offers you $10,000 for the option, and will pay cash now, and take the risk that he can’t make the deal work. That isn’t enough, so you talk to others.

After a few months, you find a buyer for the land at $420,000. You sign a contract and plan simultaneous closings. In other words, you’ll buy the land at $300,000 and at the same time sell it for $420,000. After your costs, you net around $105,000. You can see why options investors are willing to lose on a few real estate options on the way to the good deals.

Copyright Steve Gillman. This article was an excerpt from 69 Ways To Make Money In Real Estate. Want to know the other 68 ways? Visit http://www.99reports.com/make-money-in-real-estate.html

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Rezone a property and you can instantly make it more valuable. Of course, zoning is not your decision, and there is no guarantee that you can get a property rezoned. There are some ways to make it more likely, however.

Rezoning can instantly increase or decrease the value of a property. The value of real estate is not determined just by where it is located and what is on it, after all. It is also a matter of what the owner can legally do with the property. For example, I have even seen small lots in mobile home subdivisions sell for more than bigger pieces of land nearby, just because there were so few places where the zoning allowed mobile homes.

A house on a small lot might be worth $90,000 if it can only be used as a rental or as an owner-residence. But that same piece of land might be worth $150,000 after the house is torn down - if it is zoned to allow a store in its place.

The idea, then, is to buy a property, and request a new zoning designation which makes it more valuable. If you can get the zoning changed, you can then resell the property for a profit. And if that sounds too easy, you are right. It takes some work.

Start by finding properties that are on the edge of better zoning, or even mixed in with properties that have a more valuable zoning. Often an area’s zoning is changed by the authorities over time, but they don’t change the designation for all the properties. Since a property zoned residential in the middle of a business zone doesn’t make sense, getting it rezoned may involve simply asking.

The primary problem with this strategy is that there really is no guarantee that you can convince the zoning officials to zone your property the way that you want. And if you get the property zoned before you have an accepted offer, the seller will realize that the value has increased and ask more for the property. So how do you avoid the risk of buying a property that is worth exactly what you paid for it?

Do your homework, for starters. Look at the city’s master plan, to see what they expect the city to look like in the future. If the zoning you want is in line with their plan, they usually won’t refuse your request once you point that out.

Don’t expect to get a home in the middle of a single-family home subdivision rezoned for a duplex or a business. You are looking for properties which you can reasonably argue should be zoned the way you want. Other properties adjoining it should already have the zoning you want, and you are more likely to succeed if properties on two sides or more are zoned the way you want.

Another thing to watch for is what has happened with other property owner’s requests. If the local authorities have been systematically approving zoning-change requests on a given street, buy a cheap property there and get in line.

Of course, you also have to look at how much of an increase in value you’ll get with the zoning change, and how much it will cost for the whole project. A property with a ragged old house might be worth $50,000 more once it is zoned commercial, but what if it will cost $45,000 to buy it, get it rezoned, pay the holding costs, tear the house down, and sell it? I wouldn’t even consider doing a project on that narrow of a profit margin.

There are other possibilities that don’t involve selling right away, of course. If an area is changing, becoming more commercial, you might buy a little rental home that at least covers your costs every month, just to be ready when the zoning changes in a few years and the property values soar. You might also get zoning that allows you to convert a home into offices for attorneys or other professionals, and so get higher rent than from a residence.

To just buy with the expectation of getting a property rezoned is speculative to some extent. To reduce the risk, at least buy at a good price based on the current use and zoning designation. That way, if your plan falls through and you have to sell for close to what you paid, you’ll only lose your transaction costs.

Copyright Steve Gillman. For a Free Real Estate Investing Course, and to see a photo of the home we bought for $17,500, visit: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

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Buying and then leasing farmland to farmers is an investment you may not have ever considered. What are the advantages? Management is easier than with residential rentals, and you can simultaneously speculate on the land value for an eventual large profit. The disadvantage? It may be hard to find a new tenant if you lose one.

This is how Warren Buffet started, long before Berkshire Hathaway. When he was just a teenager, he parlayed his newspaper route earnings into the purchase of farmland, which he leased out.

This kind of investing has its appeal to those who want a simple investment. Tenants can’t totally destroy your property like renters of a house can. They won’t be calling you to fix a broken sink either. Other than to collect the rent, you may not have any contact with the property or the renters for years once you have a good lease in place.

Of course, farmland has the same problems as commercial real estate. It can take some time to find a renter, and you have no income during these long vacancies. On the other hand, your expenses may be relatively low with land - just property taxes if you paid cash.

Some research is called for here. How much is farmland in the area renting for? What kind of farming is your land suitable for? If you know nothing about what makes good farmland, this can be a risky investment. Is there a way to reduce that risk?

There is. You can learn more about farmland. There is also another way to keep the risk to a minimum, while increasing your chance to make a decent profit.

Find farmland that is near the edges of a growing city or town. Ideally, you want land that is likely to be developed into a new residential subdivision in the near future, but is still priced as farmland. If you can find land like this, you can likely rent it out to a farmer at a decent return, plus have the opportunity to sell it to a developer five years later - possibly for a large profit.

Even if the town has not grown as fast as anticipated, and there is no huge increase in value, you are safer this way. If you lose your renter, but the land can also be used for residential purposes, you have a second market to sell your property in. Farmers - or other investors in farmland - may buy it, or a developer may buy it, or you could possibly develop it into lots and sell these yourself. Having other options make buying and leasing farmland a safer investment.

Copyright Steve Gillman. For a Free Real Estate Investing Course, and to see a photo of the home we bought for $17,500, visit: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

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By creating shared water frontage you can dramatically increase the value of property. This can get complicated, but then that’s why you won’t have much competition.

What do people buy when they can’t afford a house on the lake or ocean front? They buy a home near the water with shared water frontage. This is a piece of land on the water that is commonly owned by more than one home owner.

Usually, this is arranged when a subdivision is developed. A lot on the water is purchased, and each of the owners of the lots in the subdivision have a shared interest (part ownership) in the waterfront lot. There may be rules in the subdivision conditions and covenants that limit how the waterfront lot can be used. For example, perhaps boats cannot be left on the property for a long time, or fires built.

While this certainly isn’t the same as walking out your back door onto your own beach, it is better than having to drive to a public beach. Generally the water frontage is within walking distance of the homes that have an interest in it. As a result, these properties can sell for substantially more than others nearby that don’t have water frontage of any kind.

How do you use this knowledge to make money? You could build a subdivision that has shared water frontage, of course, but you may not be ready for that. There is another way.

Creating Shared Water Frontage

Suppose you have three houses up the street from a lot that is on a nice lake. They are worth about $100,000 each. You have been watching the sales of properties that have shared water frontage, and have determined that your properties would be worth about $130,000 if they had shared water frontage. You see that an empty lot on the lake is for sale.

The math is not certain, but it is relatively simple. If you can add $30,000 in value to each of your properties, that is a total of $90,000. If it costs you about $7,000 for the legal costs and closing costs of buying the water front lot and deeding an equal interest to each of your three properties, you have a potential net gain of $83,000. Buy the lot for $60,000 and you are doing okay, right?

That is the basic idea. Of course, you can also specifically buy a lot on the water first, and then buy as many empty lots nearby as possible, and deed a share in the water frontage to each buyer of a lot. To do this you want to watch for subdivisions that are near water, and with a lot of unsold lots. Then you need to find a waterfront property and do the math.

One more thing. In the first example, you could deed a one-fourth share to each of the three properties, and keep a share for yourself. It might not affect the prices of the lots much (if at all) having the ownership split four ways instead of three, and you’ll have your own water front property for when you want to take the kids to the beach.

Copyright Steve Gillman. This article was an excerpt from 69 Ways To Make Money In Real Estate. Want to know the other 68 ways? Visit http://www.99reports.com/make-money-in-real-estate.html

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Contracts of Purchase and Sale are typically written in Real Estate using ‘subject to’ clauses, that is conditions that must take place prior to the purchase being finalized. Conditions precedent are the opposite of conditions subsequent, which are conditions that must continue to exist for something else to continue. Since the contract is the instrument that signifies the common intention of the parties to be legally bound by their respective obligations, it is diriment that contracts be written in clear and unambiguous terms. If the parties have not expressed those obligations with sufficient clarity, there is no contract because there does not yet exist the necessary common intention to be bound by definite obligations. It is a requirement at law, therefore, that all of the terms and conditions of the contract be sufficiently clear, the reason being that the law does not enforce arrangements whose essential terms or conditions are uncertain.

The ideal ‘subject to’ clause is one whose criteria are so clear that it is completely obvious whether the criteria for satisfying that clause are met. To determine the certainty of a ‘subject to’ clause the courts often consider whether the criteria for satisfying such ‘subject to’ clause are subjective or objective. A subjective criterion is one that depends on the personal view of the individual who decides it. In contrast, an objective criterion is one that depends on an external event. Therefore, the more subjective the wording of a ‘subject to’ clause, the more likely a court will find the clause to be uncertain. To be absolutely technical, furthermore, in addition to be subjective and objective the courts have recognized that conditions precedent may also be partly subjective and partly objective, and that different results occur depending on the circumstances.

Each ‘condition precedent’ case must be considered on its own facts. Some conditions precedent are so imprecise or depend so entirely on the subjective state of mind of the Purchaser, that the contract process must still be regarded at the offer stage. An example of a subjective ‘subject to’ clause would be: “This Contract is subject to the approval of the Buyer’s parents”. This means that if a condition precedent is wholly subjective (sometimes called a ‘whim and fancy’ clause), the courts may view the arrangement in law as nothing more than an offer by the Seller that the Buyer may accept by removing the ‘subject to’ clause. In other words, even though there was an initial offer followed by an acceptance, and even though the instrument is called Contract of Purchase and Sale, the arrangement at law is nothing more than an offer until such time as the ‘subject to’ clause is removed (by the Buyer).

On the other hand, when the condition precedent is clear, precise and objective, a contract is completed. Neither party can withdraw, but performance is held in suspense until the parties know whether the objective condition precedent is fulfilled. An example would be “Subject to the Buyer obtaining satisfactory financing” by a certain date. If a ‘subject to’ clause is objective, a contract comes into existence as soon as the offer is accepted. The obligation to carry out the contract to completion is suspended until such time as the condition precedent is removed.

But, as stated before, there is a third class of conditions precedent. Into this class fall the types of conditions that are partly subjective and partly objective. An example would be: “Subject to the Planning Department approval of the attached plan of subdivision”. This clause looks objective but, in fact, it differs from a truly objective condition precedent in that someone has to solicit the approval of the Planning Department. Perhaps some persuasion of the Planning Department will be required. Can the Purchaser prevent the condition from being fulfilled by either refusing to present or otherwise convince the Planning Department not to approve the plan of subdivision? Clearly, the Purchaser must take two steps to fulfill his obligation in this respect: the first step is to submit the plan of subdivision to the Planning Department, and the second is to use his best efforts to make sure the Planning Department approves it.

The law in relations to implying terms in a contract is no different in relation to conditions precedent than it is for other terms of the contract. Contracts must not be permitted to fail over an omission that the parties would immediately have corrected if they had noticed the omission at the time the contract was made. The courts have at their disposal the ‘efficacy test’ and the ‘officious bystander test’ to guide them through their evaluation of contracts. In the example above, the efficacy test would require that someone submit the plan of subdivision to the Planning Department, and the officious bystander test would be met by both parties answering the hypothetical question as to who will present the plan – obviously the Purchaser. In essence, where a condition precedent is partly subjective and partly objective the court must determine whether its features are objective enough to constitute a contract. If, on the other hand, the clause is predominantly subjective, then the arrangement will amount to nothing more than an offer, which the Buyer may accept by removing the ‘subject to’ clause.

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

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The Internet is obviously the best place for Buyers to find land to buy, but as a Seller what is the best way to sell land online? It’s like any other sales situation – get it in front of the right folks and lots of them – but make sure it counts.

The key to selling land online comes down to two easy items anyone can improve on so they can have better odds of selling their land online:

#1: Photos, Photos, and more Photos. The more – the better! What if you left out the photo of that awesome view that a buyer was looking for or the picturesque barn that could have lured in a phone call. Don’t chance it! Put as many photos as you can online with your listing. When people go to buy farms and ranches there are also emotions involved and if you can stir those up with your vivid photos you’ll be that much closer to selling your land.

#2: Descriptions – Tell me about the land for sale! No details should be left untold. It’s the same with photos meaning that what if someone is looking for land with mineral rights and you don’t even mention 100% of minerals are included? “Nice land” doesn’t provide a very exciting look into what the property includes and looks like. “Mountainous country with live creeks, views to kill for, and soils any plant would love” sparks a little more interest. Another good point with descriptions is that when it’s online search engines are going to pick it up so the more description you have, the more chances you have of someone finding your property in search engines.

There is no better application of the Internet in the real estate market than rural property. Finding a home in your city 10 minutes away is nice to do on the Internet, but when you’re looking for a farm or ranch for sale 100 to 500 miles from your home it’s much more critical to be able to pull up these properties in your office or home, find that perfect one – then go take a look.

Good luck with your land for sale.

Allen Shannon is Founder of LandsofAmerica.com which is an online marketing service for farms, ranches, and waterfront properties for sale all over the country. More information about the land for sale they market can be found by going to http://www.landsofamerica.com.

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In the midst of the strong residential building market land developers are struggling to keep pace with the demand for developed property. But some homeowners aren’t waiting for new lots to come on line. Eager to build their dream home, they’re considering bypassing the traditional residential development and are building on larger plots of undeveloped land in rural or semi-rural locations.

In the simplest sense, developed land has been fully prepared for homebuilding while undeveloped land hasn’t; each has advantages and disadvantages. If you’re thinking about building your home on undeveloped land, be sure to consider the additional work and expenses.

Are We There Yet?

One of the most important things that a developer does with raw land is bring roads onto the site and connect those roads to the public right-of-way. Lots are usually located adjacent to the new road and have direct access to it. If the subdivision remains private, the homeowners will maintain the roads but often they’re deeded to the city and maintained by the municipal service department.

Vehicular access to undeveloped land can be more difficult, although isolation might be one of your primary goals in choosing a rural location. You’ll almost certainly spend much more to build an access road back into the site (I can recall several “driveways” that are more than 1/3 of a mile long) and you won’t have city snowplows to clear it for you.

Red Tape and Green Paper

Buying a lot in a subdivision means buying into additional layers of government regulation including building departments and homeowner associations. Both groups will have a say about the size, location, design, types of exterior finishes, and maintenance of your house. Municipal building departments usually hold builders to a higher standard of construction quality than rural departments - a definite benefit to the homeowner - but that can mean higher construction costs, too. Subdivisions also usually have minimum house size requirements so your home might even end up being larger than you want.

On a rural property you’ll have much greater freedom to decide what your home looks like, what it’s made of, and how it’s arranged on the land. And with that design freedom comes more control over the costs of construction. Because the options are far less limited, undeveloped land is where most truly unique custom home designs are built.

Power to the People

The development of a lot in a new subdivision typically includes bringing all utilities onto the site, where the new house is easily connected to them. Electricity, gas, water, and sanitary sewer services are available at the edge of the property, ready to be used.

Undeveloped property won’t have water and sewer taps on site. In fact, there may be no utilities anywhere nearby. Building on undeveloped land usually means providing your own private septic system and water well; installing a propane storage tank for gas appliances; and bringing electric service lines in from a distance - maybe a very long distance.

Can You Dig It?

By the time a subdivision is ready for construction, the developer’s engineers have tested the soil and graded the land for proper drainage. You’ll have access to information about the possibility of sub-surface conditions that might affect your construction plans and in many cases the developer will take some responsibility for the site’s suitability for building.

If you want the same information about your rural property, you’ll have to order and pay for it yourself. Your County Extension Service can provide some of this information but it may not be recent, or specific to your site. If you discover bad soil or underground rock in your building area you’ll have no avenue for redress except your own pocketbook.

More Than One Kind of Value

A house in a subdivision may have a temporary price advantage over a “stand-alone” home, since its value will be related to the selling prices of other homes in the area. If you value predictable price appreciation, closer neighbors, and want less “hands-on” involvement in the creation of your house, you’ll probably find your dream home in a development. The majority of American homebuyers do just that.

Building on undeveloped land will require more from you, your Architect, and your builder. But if you’re willing to assume the risks of undeveloped land; if you’re interested in a truly custom home design; and if you want to be more involved in the creation of your home, you might find your piece of paradise somewhere a little further outside of town.

Richard L. Taylor, AIA is a published author and recognized expert in Residential Architecture. He is President of Richard Taylor Architects, a 5-person firm in Historic Dublin, Ohio. Residential Architect Luxury Home Plans

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