Moving parts
We have a deal working right now that I’d like to tell you about. It has a lot of moving parts.
The property is located on over four acres in Gordon County. It has a 3-bedroom brick ranch on it that is in need of some repair. Our intent is to flip this house. And while doing our due diligence on the property, we noticed that there was not a significant difference in sales prices for that house on 1 acre versus all 4 acres.
With that knowledge we decided to see if we could divide the property into two lots and get another home out there. Our first step to answering this question was to go to the Zoning Office and see if we could do such a thing. There the zoning administrator told us it was possible and then laid out the steps for what we would need to do.
It was a busy process to begin with because lots of things had to get started and it felt like they had to get started all at once. We needed to apply to have the properties rezoned, get a surveyor to subdivide the property and get a soil analysis engineer to come out and make sure the land could support another septic system.
It turned out we had to wait on the surveyor to draw us a plat of how we wanted the property subdivided before we could apply for the zoning. So, we got him and the soil analysis engineer scheduled. The soil analysis engineer confirmed we could put another septic system on the new lot and mapped out where it had to go. The surveyor then used that information to draw out a new plat and we applied for the rezoning.
The rezoning process was interesting. We had to send certified letters to all the property owners who touched the property letting them know of our intent to change the property’s zoning. We also had to put a yard sign on both lots letting people know we were planning on rezoning them and when the public meeting would be held.
Next, we had to attend the County Planning Commission meeting. There we saw the zoning administrator and provided her with the receipts of where we had mailed letters to all the adjacent property owners and then waited for them to call our case number. When they did, an official, of whom I’m not sure what their role was or capacity, read off our application and made sure the utility and public agencies
in our area had not objected to our rezoning.
They motioned for our application to be approved, and all were in favor.
Next, we had to go to the County Commissioners meeting. This was a cool meeting. They went over minutes, agendas and then each commissioner gave a report of what they had been working on since they last met. Then they started the public hearings.
Ours got called pretty quickly. They read off our application and then made sure we understood that we had to have proper permitting for our septic in order to put another house out there. After that, they put our application to rezone the property to a motion, it was passed, and we were awarded our rezoning.
Now that that is done, we have to decide what to do next. Our plan was to put a double wide mobile home on the new lot. And we need to decide if we want to keep the property as a rental, or resell it, because that will change how we move forward with the purchase of the mobile home itself.
And even that has a lot of moving parts because in order to keep it, we have to keep the cost low enough that it makes sense to rent. But, if we want to resell it, we’ll have to buy a home from the factory because FHA and VA loans now require that a home have never been moved to finance it.
That means if we put a used home out there, and we want to sell it in the future, we won’t be able to sell it with those type loans — that is a big deal, especially when you consider the large price difference in buying a used unit versus a new unit.
I tell you what, we are running out of space this week. Let’s come back next week and look at the numbers associated with putting in a used unit and a new unit and see which one makes more sense on this deal. I’ll see you next week.