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Topic: Tips for Buying Lots & Land

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Convert Square Feet to Acres for Land

Do you need to convert square feet to acres? Here’s a tool to help you make the square feet to acres conversion quickly and easily (just scroll down to the orange button if you’re in a big hurry), plus we’ve included some other related information that you may find interesting. Square Feet to Acres Conversion The more your work in real estate the more you see that each state or local market has a different way of doing things.  One of those differences is the unit of measurement that is most commonly used in each market for describing the area of a lot or parcel…

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How to Buy Land at Auction: Benefits and Terms for Buyers

Sold …to the highest bidder! If you’re in the market for purchasing real estate, you may want to consider the benefits of an auction. Real estate auctions are an accelerated process for buying properties through public sale, with many potential benefits to the buyer. Here are some of the points to consider if you want to buy land at auction: Commitment to Sale Real estate auctions take the stop, start, false-start out of the land buying process because sellers are committed to the sale. Purchasing property is an important investment, and buyers often invest a lot of time and resources…

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Understanding Property Taxes

Whether you own a vacant lot, single-family home or a commercial building, you likely will pay property taxes. These types of taxes have been collected in the U.S. since early colonial days, and they are not going away. In the words of Benjamin Franklin…”Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Here’s some information to help you better understand property taxes. What are Property Taxes? A property tax is a tax that is imposed by a local government entity, like a county, city or town, on the value of property in its jurisdiction. Unlike income or inheritance taxes that are connected to…

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Home Construction Loans (Part 2 – Terms for Construction Loans)

Home construction loans help you finance your new home from the ground up. This page describes the typical Terms for Home Construction Loans, and is the second part of our article that will help you understand all about construction loans and how they work. [Click here for Part 1 of this Article on Home Construction Loans]  << Previous Page Terms for New Home Construction Loans In addition to construction budgets, draw schedules, converting loans and some of the other unique aspects of construction loans we’ve described, continue reading to learn about how construction loans work and the typical loan terms….

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Construction Loans: Financing Your New Home from the Ground Up

Home construction loans help you get from a vacant lot…into your dream home. So if you’re dreaming of building a new house from the ground up, you first need to understand construction loans. Home construction loans are not like most loans and in this article we describe how they work, typical loan terms and how these loans are different from other real estate loans. Also read our other articles in this series on real estate loans for buying land and building homes: First, generally learn about lot loans, land loans and construction loans so you can decide what type you…

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Why Do Banks Treat Lot And Land Loans Differently?

From a borrower’s perspective, it often is more difficult to get lot and land loans than it is for the same borrower to get a loan for buying a built home. Understanding the bank’s perspective can help explain some of the reasons why lot loans and land loans are treated differently by banks. In the first article in this series we discussed how your own personal situation and needs can help you decide whether you should seek a construction loan, lot loan or land loan for buying a homesite and building a new home. In other related articles we explained…

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Land & Lot Loans: The Dirt on Financing Your Property Purchase

In our first article in this series we help you decide between loan types, and whether your situation means you need a construction loan, lot loan or land loan for financing a lot purchase and building a new home. We’ve also described the details about home construction loans and their unique terms and procedures. This article gives you some more information about the particulars of Land and Lot Loans.  It’s safe to say that loans for vacant land are different than “purchase money loans” for buying already-built homes, and there are a number of reasons why banks treat land and lot loans differently.  In…

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Construction, Lot & Land Loans: What Type of Loan Do You Need?

Buying land and building a new home can be an exciting experience, and if you plan to get financing you need to understand your options related to lot loans, land loans and construction loans. What kind of loan is right for you? Even though it may seem obvious, this question does not always have a clear answer and the subject often is misunderstood by potential borrowers. It’s important to understand that these loans have unique characteristics and the lending options that are available for you will depend on factors like your personal situation, the type of property you are buying,…

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