Land Loans Available At Favorable Rates?
Posted by Dave Jones on July 29th, 2010
Land Equity Loans
If you are looking into the possibility of land loans, you could not have picked a better time. Because there are fewer buyers (after all there is a bit of a recession going on) lenders are working a lot harder to get your attention. There is something odd related to this apparent shift in power dynamics. You would think that land loans would be available at low rates if the lenders want your business but that is not necessarily the case.
You will soon discover, that land loans are being offered at a wide range of rates for the very simple reason that land often entails a large investment and the impact of even a small percentage point difference could potentially mean big bucks to the lender. If you are considering applying for a land loan, bear this in mind. You are in the driver’s seat, so to speak, so it is worth your while to look around. Even with the variable rates, there are some great deals out there.
Look for a long-term fixed rate at the lowest possible cost. As just noted above, with something as big as land loans can be, a fraction of a percentage point can cost you a pretty penny. This is no time to be getting into short-term or variable rates. You don’t need the surprises either of these can give you.
One of the options worth considering is raw land loans. Just a refresher here – raw land loans are loans for land that is, well, raw. It has no structures on it and has not been developed. It does not even have utilities installed or roads. Lenders look at the value of the land, not your credit-worthiness. The good news here is that once you start improving the raw land, the value can leap to new heights. Side note here, if you do decide to go this route, make sure that your plans for the land are acceptable to the regulatory bodies. It helps if you have a plan drawn up for the land that takes the zoning regulations into consideration. Lenders can be skeptical about such purchases because there is the danger of the grand plans never coming to fruition.
Bridge loans are great when you are buying a new house because there is a gap sometimes between selling your current home and buying your new home. However, these are not all that applicable to buying land. Unless of course, if you are selling land, where purchasing the new land depends on selling the current land. But this is not often the case. If you are having a hard time selling your land, then you might consider land equity loans.

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