Looking for opinons: my store is situated right where a major road is to be constructed and the property will be purchased by the state sometime in the fall of this year making me have to move after 24 years. It is on the plans with funding for the project supposedly in place and all the enviromental work has been just finished and approved. Recently a property has become available which I would need to tear done and build a new building however this would involve a total of around 300K (160K for the landand building, 36K for removal of building and 104K for new building). The location is alongside a busy highway and across the street from a major gas station/convience store. Should I act now on purchasing the property while it is available before the state acts or should I chance loosing the property to someone else and wait for the state to proceed since the economy went south and all the talk of funding cuts?
Now that is a question that no one here can answer. If I was in your shoes I would wait.
But from what I understand the stimulus package that passed included alot of work on the roads and bridges to help create jobs for those in need of them.
Any asbestos in the old building?..Any old oil or fuel tanks in the ground?..How much to equip the new premises?..How much of a “contingency” have you allowed?..Is the state buying the existing location from you?..If so, how much of the new premises will be paid for versus financed?..Is the highway location suitable for your type of business or clients?..Are you DELCO or sit down?..Lots of “due diligence” to do…
Hire an attorney to work with you on the condemnation of your existing property. Making sure you get full value for that property is your first concern.
One possibility is an option to purchase. Ask the seller about an option to buy. Offer about 2-5% of the property value to purchase an option good for a set period of time. If the sale goes through the option purchase applies to the price. If it does not, you loose the option fee but that way you lock in the opportunity without final commitment for reasonable cost. Have an attorney write up the. Make sure the option or at least a memorandum is recorded with the county the property is located in.
In a situation like this do you get reimbursed for expenses associated with moving? It just seems to me that you are happy where you are and if the state wants to kick you out for the convienence of others, you should be made whole, not just compensated for the value of the property they take. To me being made whole would involve you getting established in a comparable situation in the new location at no cost to you.
For me, I would wait for positive word that the project was moving forward prior to making a commitment. The option idea sounds reasonable if the seller will accept it. I guess that depends onthe commercial market in your area. In the interest of full disclosure I must tell you that I dragged my feet on buying a property because the size of the investment intimidated me. A walmart was to be built across the street from the location but there were several issues holding up the approval and there had been talk that walmart was moving out here for years. The day Walmart announced they were going forward with the project and had permits approved that property and adacent property had firm offers made. We are still renting in a shopping center.
Usually the developer putting a parcel together for Wal-mart will option everything close by that they can…So by the time the deal is done with an “anchor” it is too late for the little guys…
I like your idea of grabbing the land now. Dealing with a down market, you might be able to get a deal. Interest rates are at historic lows. Who knows what interest rates will be at in a year or 2 years.
Do you own your current property, or is it being leased? Will you get money from the state for the move when it comes? Maybe you should just go ahead and make the move and get out now?
I own the property where I am now and the state will pay fair market value plus pay me to re-locate. Where I am now is in a highly traffic area and this other place is just as good prob even better. Down side would be buying the property and then having the state cut funding for the project or put it on hold for a few years which would mean I would be making payments on something not bringing in any revenue but then again with the economy as such I could prob get it for around 140-145K since no one has expressed interest in it and the current owner is getting desperate.
Good to see your still popping in from time to time Scott!