To sell or not to sell??

[TayBai2]

My DH and I own 18 acres across the street from our house, we have 7 acres with our house which we are not selling. We our considering selling the land across the street and paying off our house with it. We would like to get out of debt and thought this would be a great starting point. We do not use the land for anything, but listed are my reservations for selling.
1. My FIL has race horses and uses the land to train his horses. My MIL and FIL know we are thinking about selling. MIL ok with the idea, FIL???
2. My DH brother lives across the street meaning he would have next door neighbor. He will not be happy at all with this. We are not close with them but I do not want to start a family feud. They do not know about this yet.
We have gotten the land surveyed this week so we can put it up for sale.
Any outside input would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[simba928]

Would it be possible to sell it to your FIL and MIL? Maybe even a portion of it. That way they would be happy and BIL will be happy. If not, I wouldn't worry about what any of them think. It is YOUR land. YOU own it. If they don't like it, they can either buy the land or suck it up.

 

[disykat]

I agree - if you want to sell, sell, but offer first dibs (maybe at a reduced price) to your family. With 18 acres you have to realize it will probably be bought by a developer and there will probably be quite a few houses there. I'm sure you've already checked the zoning for your area - is it something you can live with? It will definately affect your home.

I think selling land you don't use and paying off your mortgage sounds like a wonderful idea.

 

[2BigKIdz]

It's your land, I'd do what I wanted. I would tell the IL's first and offer them the chance to buy, maybe the brother and parents could split the land or something.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would say no, but you already sound like your mind is made up. Not that I blame you.
I would say wonderful to have 18acres of land with nobody on it. Getting out of debt is sure nice, but you have peace and quiet.
I always hate the "getting out of debt" idea, unless you are going to stay out of debt, you know?

Are you in debt because of overextending or just want to pay off a house? I guess be honest with yourself there.

If you sell and go back into debt, then you are right back where you started and now have a neighbors you may not like. Could get lucky though.

I am sure you have thought of all this. Tough decision. Good Luck!

 

[TayBai2]

BIL and FIL will not want to buy the land. BIL has horses that come in their and out but he has land for his horses his fence is down in several places and will not fix it so his horses go where they want including my house to get the dogs food. We have people stop by our house all the time to tell us our house is out, but it is not our horses. They just wonder around! Thanks for the input it is really helpful to get someone elses views on this.
The realtor said that we can put convenants on the land when we sell it. Hopefully it will help. I have never done anything in real estate before. We have lived in our house since we got married 12 years ago. If we do sell it will be nice to have a house paid off at our age (32 and 30), especially since we have put soooo much work into our home trying to get it the way we wanted it and we are still doing work.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The realtor said that we can put convenants on the land when we sell it. Hopefully it will help. I have never done anything in real estate before.

That doesn't sound right to me. I would check with an attorney.

 

[TayBai2]

I would like to get out of debt and stay out and save up money and pay cash for what we want. We are able to pay our bills and do things on the weekends. My husband works off so when he is at home he likes to go anywheres we can (shopping, waterparks, movies, etc) which we are able to do. We have a house note, vehicle note, 1 credit card which I owe $1000.00 and DH cringes when he sees it. So I do not feel like we are over extended like some. I guess I'm looking towards the future. We have a son that is almost 14 and a daughter that is 10 and they are getting more expensive as I type this. I would like to help them with vehicles and college. I do not know if my mind is made up I go back and forth, I want to make the right decision.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would not trust a realtor when it comes to convenants. Not that they don't know, but that seems odd to me...
I was a trustee for a neighborhood and things were hard to enforce.
You will need a real estate attorney to help you if you want to have restrictions on the property.
Frankly, I can't see how you would do that?

 

[tnhillbilly]

Hello,
Here are some more questions? What is the rate of increase in the property you have? Is it more than the interest rate you are paying on your loan? If so great investment for future, if not, is it something you can develop or develop with a contractor and really gain some money? Is your family really close? Could be someplace for your DS or DD to raise there family? You said your husband wants to be on the go when home, nothing wrong with that, but 15-20 years down the road will this be an investment to finance his and your retirement so you can really spend some time together.

 

[golfgal]

You can put conditions/convents on the land, you put it on the deed. It is often done, especially for things like access to lakes, etc. We did that when we sold my Grandfathers property. He had a large pine forest and there is a restriction as to how many trees must remain on the property, no trailer courts/homes to be put on the land, the kind of developments that can/can't go up on the land, etc. We still own some of the property and we want that to stay nice. It is completly legal and very common.

Another thing to look into, if your area is booming and buildable land is at a premium, you will make more money developing the land then selling it outright. You will probably have to put in sewer/water, curb/gutter type thing, which is expensive, but you work that into the lot cost.

Around here if you buy an average, you probably pay $2000-3000 an acre, if you sell a 2 acre lot for to build a home on, they will pay about $70,000 for that lot (and lots are pretty cheap here).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You can put conditions/convents on the land, you put it on the deed. It is often done, especially for things like access to lakes, etc. We did that when we sold my Grandfathers property. He had a large pine forest and there is a restriction as to how many trees must remain on the property, no trailer courts/homes to be put on the land, the kind of developments that can/can't go up on the land, etc. We still own some of the property and we want that to stay nice. It is completly legal and very common.

I am sure it is. I was just saying that I would get the advice of an attorney to make sure, since she is planning on living there.
Things get challenged in court and if they are not written correctly, you lose.
So just be careful!!!!

 

[puffkin]

In your situation, I wouldn't sell. The land will most likely increase in value over time and it is a nice investment vehicle. It doesn't sound like you are horribly overextended. Yeah, it would be nice to pay off your mortgage and stuff, but what happens if a true emergency comes up in the future?

I would first talk to a good money manager. See what your options are if you would sell. Most likely they would suggest investing the money rather than paying off your house. You also have to consider your childrens educations and if you are going to pay for their college or not. Then, don't forget about retirement.

Also, have you committed to the realtor. If not, shop around. My parents own 38 acres and their friend owns the 50 acres next too it and they are constantly getting contacted from realtors about selling their land. Many of the offers are extremely low. In fact, a parcel down the street from them sold for more than double what their best offers have been. They are not interested in selling anytime soon though, but they definitely know to shop around if they ever do decide to sell.

 

[TayBai2]

The realtor that we would use has been out to the house which we were originally going to sell but changed our minds for now. We have not signed a contract with her yet and she knows that we have not decided for sure. Yes, we have talked to a financial adviser (another BIL) and we would look into doing something with the money for a couple of years. My husband and I both have a 401k with our jobs, so we have that also.