Another interesting couple of properties arrived in my inbox today. The first is a classic example of the typical Calgary land seller today. Essentially the strategy of the land seller is two fold:
1. Capture more than the intrinsic value of the land in the sale, and attempt to take as much of the builder margin as possible when doing so, despite many months of work and investment needed to even begin to develop the site into a viable business venture.
2. When marketing the land, misrepresent and exaggerate the ultimate development potential of the site to further increase the listing price, thus feeding into item #1.
You can pick up this delightful property for an easy $850,000.....
The second lot is now a multifamily zoned site that was re-designated for free (for the seller) thanks to the mainstreets initiative at City Hall. While the land now has the right zone to be useful, the seller of course neglects to mention how terrible the access to the site is for needed requirements (i.e. parking), and how poor the actual development potential is for the site without bundling the land along with another parcel (may be difficult or impossible to do this). Of course the land is priced as if it is immediately suited for a multi unit project (I don't think this is the case whatsoever). The agent doesn't mention that without a lane, and fronting onto a couple busy roads, parking is going to make for some seriously awkward planning. The listing agent claims it has 'excellent development opportunities'. I think not.
Note the poor site access, the detached garage that exits onto 37 st cannot be allowed in future development. How else will parking be accessed here? Well I guess 19 ave can be used, but this is also less than ideal. I wouldn't touch this lot at half the current valuation.
Blog readers, feel free to send me addresses of property you'd like to build on, and I will be happy to identify its failings' free of charge!