buying site in unfinished estate

mazaboy

living in a housing estate with 16 finished houses, approx half sold and occupied. the site next door to me is for an end house which had a foundation laid 3 years ago but no work done since. The builder is finding difficulty in selling any house last 2 years and has told me he would be willing to sell the site next door to me. I am interested in a bigger garden/option of building an extension.The houses currently on sale for 320k but no-one biting. my question is, what nett profit would the builder realistically expect to get if he managed to sell this house(if he went ahead and built it) for 320k and by extension, how much should i expect to have to pay to secure the site. In other words at what figure would he decide to sell?
I realise i'm not giving much info here regarding the houses etc but just want a rough idea of what profit he would expect to make in current climate. Also will the base/foundation last indefinitely?

nacimroc

Thats like asking how long is a piece of string to be honest. First off, I don't think any builder could even consider making any profit on a newly built house these days so in turn he should be very happy to get what the site cost him.

Personally I would offer him half of what I thought the site cost him and wait for a response. If you could sweeten up the deal with a part cash sale he could be very inclined as he may be struggling financially. (Nothing illegal about that, but what he does with cash is his business)

We all hear stories of property prices being ridiculously low, but I know 3 newly completed, furnished dormers on half acre sites sold in a midlands village a few weeks ago for 120k....for all 3! So realise what you can get value for money these days before doing anything in my opinion.

mazaboy

thanks for the advice