Vacant Land W/ Pool

[444nutman]

I am doing a vacant parcel which has a pool. The deal is the parcel was part of a larger parcel. The larger parcel was split so that the pool and a shed are left on a seperate parcel and the house on the other. The county has the split recorded with a pool on the vacant parcel and the lot is buildable. I have went back 3 years to see if I could find a vacant land sale with a pool in order to determine some sort of market reaction. I was unable to find any. The market area the vacant land is in is located in between two large salt water rivers which has one of the higher land values in the county so I went outside to find a vacant land sale so I could get some sort of percentage but still no luck. My thoughts are I dont want to give value to the pool. I personally think it would be a detriment but have called some realtors and appraisers and got varying answers. The other problem is this is a review and the original appraiser made a 20k across the board adjustment. The rest of the appraisal is great and I would have used the same sales but would not have made the adjustment. I also know cost does not equal value. What say the learned minds of AF? Thank you in advance

 

[Michigan CG]

How big is the land?

What kind of houses are nearby?

What condition is the pool in?

Are vacant lots selling there?

Why did they split it off?

 

[Alison Swain]

Damn! I'm glad that's not my assignment.


Appraise it as vacant land and deduct the cost to pump the pool with fill dirt.

 

[444nutman]

The pool lot is 9400 sf. There a million dollar houses nearby but they are riverfront. The subject is 2 blocks from the river. The owner has purchase the property next door and assembled that to the lot with the home to have a .5 acre lot. He still uses the pool. The pool is older. There has been 23 vacant land sales within the last year. The riverfronts have a high of 900k +/- and interior lots going to a low of 149,900. He wants to put a house on the pool lot.

 

[Jerry Bone Jr]

Perhaps, on this specific site, there is only one spot to build a home. If the pool is in a spot where one would build the house, then it might even have a negative contribution value.
About the $20k adjustment: If you can't prove it wrong...then you can't prove it wrong.

 

[Wendy]

Jerry has identified the root of it.

If the pool in any way limits the placement of the house, it could very well be a negative.

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

I think Jerry has it right. Unless you can envision a house being built on the lot, where the pool could still be used, (which would seem to be unlikely), I would give it no value, or possibly consider it a negative. I can remember a vacant lot in the San Diego area which was for sale several years ago, which consisted mostly of a tennis court. The lot had been split off from a larger site. The tennis court had no value, because it was right in the middle of the building site.

 

[444nutman]

I have a survey and it is 56' wide to the edge of the pool by 80' wide. So that leaves me with basically 50 x 80(can't build right up to the pool). I have left a message with the county in order to figure out easements and how big of a house I can put there. Then I need to figure what kind of house is typical for the market. This is turning into a nightmare but got a decent fee.

 

[Wendy]

44nutman,

Consider these items also:

1) Potential damage to pool while building.

2) Nuisance factor of pool for reaching back of building w/ construction equipment.

 

[Robert Hronek]

Call a builder as ask them if they would build a house on a lot with an existing pool. Would they charge more? Would they guarantee they wouldn't harm the pool.