Building a House – Buy Land, Residential Lot or Plot
After you have found the best location or neighbourhood to build a house, you should search for land or a residential plot to buy in that location. There are many ways to find plots or land for sale in a specific location. From real estate websites to local classifieds publications, you can find suitable space to build a home. The following is a list of 7 sources to find building lots for sale:
Search Vacant Lots Online
A quick Google search will show you residential lots from different sources that are available for sale. However, in order to get what you are looking for, you have to type in properly defined keywords that confine your results to a specific city or suburb. For example, let’s say you want a building lot in the City of Cape Town. Cape Town is a big city with at least 160 suburbs, so you have to narrow-down your search to a specific suburb. Pinelands, Durbanville and Somerset West are some of the suburbs in Cape Town. To get what you want, you have to type in appropriate phrases:
“Plots for sale Durbanville, Cape Town”
“Vacant plots for sale Somerset West, Cape Town”
“Vacant land for sale Pinelands, Cape Town”
You can also search for land that has been serviced by the municipality.
Real Estate Agency/Website
There are a lot of real estate agencies which specialize in selling and buying land, including residential property. Look for a real estate agency in your city or town. You can find these companies by searching on the internet. In order to get well defined results that are confined to your location, you have to use proper keywords on Google Search. For example, if you are searching for real estate agencies in the city of Cape Town, you have to type a phrase like:
“Real Estate Agencies Cape Town”
If you are searching for companies in Austin, Texas:
“Real Estate Agencies Austin, Texas”
This search phrase will bring local results of all real estate agencies registered on Google business listing. Google business listings appear on top of search results. The name of the company, including its street address and telephone number are listed, so you can call the company or visit the website to see what they have to offer. User ratings are also shown on each listing, so you can find out what other customers have to say about the real estate agency.
Start by browsing the listings on the website, and if you can’t find what you are looking for, move to the next agency. Check the top 5 websites, and if you didn’t find what you are looking for, you should ask the agency to find a vacant lot for you. Estate agencies are always looking for leads, and in most cases they will ask you to leave your contact details. If they happen to find a building lot, they will call you to find out if you are still interested.
Property Developers/Website
Property developers specialize in the purchase and development of land, including properties with a goal of letting or selling the developed properties and land. They can specialize in all types of developments (e.g. commercial, industrial and residential developments) or one type of development. If you are looking for land to build a house, they can give you an offer, which might be a vacant lot in a proposed community or a newly built residence that is part of a new community e.g. flats, apartment, duplex house or patio house complex. You have to choose what you want. If you need a custom-design home, then you would need to buy a vacant plot to build your unique house.
To find property developers in your area, go to Google Search and type the following phrases:
If you want a company in Cape Town:
“Property Developers Cape Town”
If you want a company in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
“Property Developers Grand Rapids, Michigan”
Telephone Directories
You can find a listing of real estate agents and property developers on local telephone directories. Check the yellow pages at the back of the directory to find a list of trades and professional services.
The City/Town Municipality
The city recorder of deeds as well as the department of housing and land zoning are responsible for apportioning and selling land. You can approach your municipality or county office to find opportunities of buying land for residential development. Most of the times, if there is land on offer, it is advertised in the press and other publications. Land may be sold on a bidding basis or it may be reserved for specific buyers who meet the requirements of the local authority. Land can be sold to anyone including people from other regions. Look for plots that have already been serviced by the municipality as these are ready for sale.
Real Estate Directories
A real estate directory is a special listing of real estate agents. Just like Craigslist, it can be a listing of companies in all states and cities in the country or it can be a regional directory covering a single state or city. Some of the top online real estate agent directories are Zillow, Realtor, Reals, GlobalPropertyGuide, AgentPreview and RealEstateAgent.
Property and Real Estate Magazines
If you want to be in the know about what’s happening in the real estate industry, then you should probably subscribe for a real estate magazine. There are a lot of online magazines that you can start reading by simply signing up with your email. Some of these magazines feature a list of top realtors and land opportunities. If you are not a fan of online magazines, there are several print periodicals with a loyal following. You can find these in local stores or you can subscribe and have the copies delivered to your doorstep. Some of the best realtor magazines are Realty411, TopAgent, TheRealDeal and Realtor (by National Association of Realtors).
Classified Ads
Almost every popular local newspaper has a classifieds section with a listing of real estate and property for sale. Buy a regular copy of a local newspaper to find vacant plots for sale. If you are looking for vacant lots in another city or town, you would be better served by using an online classifieds ads website. Some of the most popular classified ads sites are Gumtree, Craigslist, BackPage, OLX, Kijiji and Facebook Classifieds.
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