Selling your land to a commercial developer can often be the best way to maximize the value of your land, yet it is important to understand what this process looks like and how long it will take.  Within this article, I am going to cover the stages of selling your land to a developer and give you a better idea of what to expect.

The three major steps that a developer is going to take before closing on your Forsyth County property are due diligence, entitlement and permitting.

1.     Due diligence is the developers time to study your land and make sure that it is suitable for the project they have in mind. During this period a developer will typically complete an ALTA survey, environmental testing and engineering work.

·      ALTA Survey: A survey is completed to determine the boundaries of your land, and identify any encumbrances that might be present such as a cemetery, a power line easement, a cell tower, a neighbor’s driveway easement etc.

·      Environmental Testing: Environmental testing typically starts with a Phase 1. A Phase 1 is a report that is prepared to identify potential or existing environmental issues. For instance, a Phase 1 report might note that there’s a large volume of petroleum contaminates in the soil from a mechanic shop that must be remediated before development can start. In addition, environmental testing will also take into account flood plain, the trees on the property etc.

·      Engineering Work: At this point the developer will take the survey, environmental studies and see what else is going to be required for the development they have in mind.
An example would be providing sewer to a neighborhood, the developer will be looking at the feasibility and cost to bring sewer to your site or connect to it.

2.    Re-zoning is not always required, but often will be a contingency on the sale of your land. An example would be a home builder telling you that they will purchase your agriculturally zoned 28-acre parcel, only if Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will allow them to re-zone the property to R3 with a minimum of 84 lots. This process typically take 4-6 months.

3.    Permitting is the final step in the process, most developers will not want to close on your land until Forsyth County issues what is called a “land disturbance permit”. The LDP is what allows the developer to break ground and begin construction, typically once the LDP is approved most developers will close within 30 days.

If you have any questions about selling your Forsyth County land, have questions about working with developers or just want to get an idea of what kind of developers might be interested in your land, feel free to contact me.

Thanks, Luke Crawford

404-983-6710

Luke@crawfordlands.com