Land investments. need some help

[kansasblue]

I'm thinking of buying some land. It would could to about $80,000. No buildings on it.

What should I expect an normal down payment to be? What interest rate do you think I could get?

What's the normal lentgh of land loans?

Thanks

[scruffy]

1. A lot of it depends on what you're doing with the land

You've probably already found out - banks don't care too much for raw land . . . and it seems the larger the parcel, the less they like it. Which means that your down payment might need to be higher than if you were buying a house . . plus the loan terms may be shorter and/or the interest rate higher. It definitely helps if you are planning to build something on it.

When we bought land a few years ago, I think we ended up putting 25% down and making a special arrangement with a local bank for a one-year note . . . but we were planning to build.

Your best place for a loan may very well be a local bank in the town where you're purchasing the land. You want a bank where the loan will stay in its portfolio and they won't be selling it to another lender.

[trof]

2. You may be able to get the seller to hold the note.

Set up a land purchse contract with them.
So much down, so much a month for a set period of years.
Many times sellers don't want ALL the income in a single year due to income tax issues.