What Your Land Is Worth

Land values

What your land is worth depends on what can be built on it.

Two parcels on the same street can be worth very different amounts. The difference is rarely the dirt. It is what the ordinance allows, what the utilities cost to reach, and what has to happen before anyone can pour a footing.

Which is why we will not quote you a number from a postcode, and why you should be wary of anyone who does.

The six things that decide it

We check all of these before we quote, not after. It takes about one business day and the answer is yours whether or not you sell to us.

01

The comprehensive plan

What the jurisdiction intends for your parcel, which is often not what it is zoned for today. We also check whether an update is underway, because that changes what is possible.

02

Current ordinances

Setbacks, minimum lot width, and whether the parcel can be divided. A hundred foot lot that splits into two is a different asset from one that cannot, and that single question moves the number more than anything else on this list.

03

Water and sewer

Tap fees vary enormously by jurisdiction, from roughly $7,500 per unit in some outlying towns to around $17,000 inside Charlotte Water’s service area. Whether a main is reachable at all matters more than the fee.

04

Trees and right of way

Heritage trees and street trees carry protection and, where removal is permitted at all, a per-inch cost. Two or three street trees can change a parcel’s economics on their own.

05

Site work

Demolition if a structure is standing, grading, imported fill, and the driveway. A flat cleared lot needs almost none of this. A sloped wooded one needs all of it.

06

The likely exit

What a finished home on your parcel would actually sell for, based on what comparable homes in that town are selling for at the time we look. Not a town average, and not last year.

Why we do this before we make an offer

Because the research is the offer. A number produced without it is a guess, and a guess gets revised downward later, which is how most land deals fall apart after everyone has spent two months on them.

It is also why we sometimes tell an owner their property does not work for us, and why. A parcel that cannot be built on is worth knowing about in one business day rather than after a contract.

What we are not

We are a development company that buys land and builds on it. We are not licensed appraisers, and nothing on this page or in any assessment we give you is an appraisal, a valuation, or investment or legal advice.

Anything we tell you about a parcel is our own reading of the plan and the ordinance as they stand on the day we look. Ordinances change, comprehensive plans get updated, and fee schedules are revised, usually annually. The planning department for your jurisdiction is the authority on what can be built, not us.

An assessment is not an offer, and an offer is not a contract. Nothing binds either of us until something is signed. If you want a formal valuation, engage a licensed appraiser.

Want the actual answer for your parcel?

Send us the address. We will check the plan, the ordinance and what can be built, and tell you what we find. One business day, no cost, and the answer is yours whether or not you sell to us. If it does not work for us, we will tell you that and why.

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Parcel check

Not ready to send an address yet?

Answer five questions and we will tell you how your property fits what we do. No contact details until the end, and nothing you tell us here is stored unless you choose to send it.

Question 1 of 5

What are you looking to sell?