Morgage on empty land?

[Kuyuk]

Is it possible to get a morgage to buy empty land?

I'm trying to buy 4 acres for 17k, but naturally, dont have it in my bank account (my uber gemstone character didnt sell as much as I needed)

Do lending branches give loans for empty land? or just houses?


I have being a noob.

Thanks for any help.

K.

[Trouble]

Generally speaking you can get a loan for any tangible property. Your rates may not be as favorable for undeveloped property though. Not all lenders will do land loans either. Ask around or search online and see what you get.

Don't forget you will still have to pay property taxes (depending on your jurisdiction) even if the propery is undeveloped.

[Celephais]

According to my real estate agent (who I just off the cuff asked, so in no way official):

You can, but the down payment is larger than on developed property, sometimes up to 50% of the cost depending on credit. At $17k you might even be able to just put it on a credit card, but then the interest would not be deductible (uggh, I would hate to have to pay CC rates for $17k... I think you could just get a personal loan).

[Gan]

Most lenders will want to do what is called a lot loan. This is where its a 3 year baloon thats non-renewable. Mostly its used for construction. Once building is completed then you get a bonafide home mortgage that pays off the lot loan as well as the construction costs of the new home thats been built.

What you're wanting is more of an acreage loan, the difficult part is that its undeveloped. So I'm betting once you find a lender (going to have to be a local bank 99% of the time) they will require you to put some sort of down (10-20%) in order to secure enough security to convince the lender its worth the risk to loan you the rest.

If you do get it and plan on just sitting on the property as undeveloped, then fence it up and throw a cow or two on it to see if you can qualify for an ag exemption for tax breaks on property taxes.

For starters look for a local WAMU, CountryWide, or Wachovia branch. If no luck then go to a Chase or NationsBank and inquire about getting a loan for it.

Depending on where you're at, also inquire into who has ownership of the mineral rights to the property you're buying (the title company thats handling your title insurance/closing can find out for you). Mineral rights can sometimes be a cheap investment that can pay off big time (depending on your area (oil, gas, etc.), they are just very hard to get hold of since some owners are very reluctant to let them go.

[Oniros]

There mere thought of putting a piece of vacant land on a credit card is truely scarey. That the thought even crossed your mind makes me worry for the future of this entire country! :)

[Celephais]

There mere thought of putting a piece of vacant land on a credit card is truely scarey. That the thought even crossed your mind makes me worry for the future of this entire country! :)

Hah, yeah I know it's scary... but hell it might even be financially sound if you do it right... get one of those 15 months no interest credit cards, put the land on it, and then when you're at the end of your 15 months, pay it off with a personal loan. I just got an offer in the mail for a 15 month 0% then 8.99% afterwards... (It wasn't 15 months defered payments either). I would hope he isn't planning a 30/15 year mortgage for $17k, so if he's paying it off fast enough that might be a better deal.

[Amaron]

We bought undeveloped land at an auction. someone died and the kids did not want the farm. So they cut it up in parcels and did have it perk tested.

I called our bank and they did a fast app over the phone and said we could spend up to 40k on it. They also said they would use the land as colateral so no down payment.


land in our area goes for 30k and up an acre and we got 2.25 for 11k.


Call the bank you deal with and just ask.


J

[Oniros]

Those deals are usually for balance transfers from an existing credit card.

Plus, in all likelyhood in order to put that kind of deal on a credit card you would have to use the "cash advance" check features of a credit card and most of them would not let you take 17,000 cash and if you did and were allowed to it would be at a rate much higher then your regular card rate because it was a cash advance AND in all likelyhood there would be a loophole exempting it from the 0%.

Also, if you had that much credit that would allow you to take a 17,000 cash advance then in all likelyhood you are not in the position were you wouldn't have access to some other LOC or source of funds. Even a home-equity LOC would be tax deductible.

There are many, many, many reasons why putting that on a credit card would probably be one of the worst ways you could fund such a purchase.

[Celephais]

Those deals are usually for balance transfers from an existing credit card.

Deal I mentioned was for balance transfers and purchases


... because it was a cash advance AND in all likelyhood there would be a loophole exempting it from the 0%.

Very likely true


Also, if you had that much credit that would allow you to take a 17,000 cash advance then in all likelyhood you are not in the position were you wouldn't have access to some other LOC or source of funds. Even a home-equity LOC would be tax deductible.

There are many, many, many reasons why putting that on a credit card would probably be one of the worst ways you could fund such a purchase.

Agree with you completely, it was all just prose. I'm in no way suggesting putting it on a CC would be the way to go.

[Sean of the Thread]

I've got a card with a 50k limit that I've made large purchases (10k+) on and then transferred to a 0% dealio and paid it off prior to interest kicks in. It's not far fetched of an option if you've got the resources. It's actually fairly solid.

[Oniros]

It seems to me you are coming from a stand point of someone who has a lot of cash or a lot of assets and is VERY open to risk. That is not for everyone. It goes back to the old saying that "it takes money to make money"

I may be way off base, but I would assume you have a pretty big sized pillow to land on if a 50,000 credit card deal falls through.

For those of us who don't have a fortune or a possible trust fund, the risk is just not worth it.

If you can't afford to buy something using normal resources, then you probably shouldn't be buying it.

Unless you like to play very fast and loose with your money.

Which if you hadn't guessed by now, I don't and would never suggest as much to one of my clients.

[Sean]

Sean2 spent his $50k on the construction of his empty beer can fortress.

[Sean of the Thread]

It's magnificent!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/co/COANTcano1_cattano.jpg

[Celephais]

It's magnificent!

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/co/COANTcano1_cattano.jpg

heh, that's awesome... (Hotlinked red-x for everybody... just go to the link and you can see it: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/co/COANTcano1_cattano.jpg )