LAND & SITE ANALYSIS - Clint Long Appraisals Nashville Tennessee

Real Estate Consulting

Building Site and Development Problems And

How Much Rock? Hidden Costs? Landslides & Test Borings!

Prime Location, High Asking Price For Land ..... and serious reasons that the land is worth far less than the asking price. Somewhere on Split Log road, near Brentwood, TN and east of Wilson Pike, I had appraised a 105 acre tract of land some 5-6 years ago. The location on the map, and it's proximity to Brentwood (high dollar residential housing) would have justified an appraisal of three times the per acre value that I estimated. Why was the estimated land value much less that other tracts of land with it's great proximity to Brentwood.

Recently an experienced real estate broker had this property listed for $3,422,250 which, if we gave the old farm buildings a contributory value of $200,000, would leave the estimated land listing price at $32,000 per acre. The only way this property would be worth close to this amount of money per acre would be if it could economically be used as development property for higher density residential housing. The owner, when asked why she didn't have city water stated that "she didn't want to pay $3-4,000 to run the water line to the house. Listing price of $3,422,250, what was the broker and seller thinking? Buyer from California?

Highest and Best Use

Highest and best use is defined in The Appraisal of Real Estate (Appraisal Institute) as "The reasonably probable and legal use of vacant land or improved property, which is physically possible, appropriately supported, financially feasible, and that results in the highest value.

How much rock? One of the most important forms of research that I completed was studying the soil categories of the property and having discussions with some experienced developers about other land in the area that had been developed. After visiting the nearest comparables, I found small acreage tracts of 7-15 acres were common. Why weren't they split into smaller tracts. This was not physically possible due to planning commission requirements on septic systems (sewer was not available/or costs were prohibitive), the cost of running water lines, and tremendous quantities of top soil would have to be brought in. There was just too much rock.

There are soil books for most of the counties in Tennessee that were printed 25-45 years ago. Most of these books are out of print and I consider myself lucky that I found copies of the books for Davidson and surrounding counties several years back. These books have aerial maps (even though hard to pinpoint locations) that have the soil categories designated.

Aerial Map From The Soil Book

The aerial map has abbreviations for soil categories. Once the category is identified, the next step is to look up the type soil and find out what purposes for which it is suitable.

Aerial Map With Rock Categories

Split Log RD Rc Category

Description of Soil on 105 Acres

Small Sampling of Rock

on the 105 Acres

Note the rock outcropping and cedar trees. Information gleaned from visual inspection and aerial photograph.

General Soil Map Williamson County, Tennessee

Notice the "Soil Associations" color coded chart on the bottom right hand side of the above color coded map with the legend explaining soil categories.

Whether building a house or buying a tract of land, hidden costs can have an extremely negative impact on the plans of a purchaser!
Trencher On Steroids !	A builder that I talked to recently stated that he never accepts a contract to build a house without a rock clause in the contract. The builder understands that he can lose a great deal of money without knowing what is under the ground and that the hidden cost can send him to bankruptcy. A home buyer, on the other hand, may not have the experience to deal with the problems that can arise due to rock, septic tank problems, and other unforeseen problems.
Often a land purchaser has a floor plan and wants to build that floor plan on whatever lot or land he/she/they buy. Unless the budget in unlimited, the house should conform to the lot, not drastically reshape the land to suit the house. What are the drainage considerations? Will the lot percolate and will it percolate in a convenient location? What size house do you need and will the septic system percolate for a house with that many bedrooms. If the site location has to be changed, how much more additional costs will there be for the utilities, driveway, etc.		Reason for trencher on steroids!
Test Boring Equipment	Hidden Costs Can Ruin A Bank Account Stock floor plans don't always work the best when rock causes excessive costs. It could be critical to do your research before buying the lot or getting to the point of no return.
WHEN IN DOUBT ? CHECK IT OUT !!!!!

Landslides and Real Estate Test Borings

When my oldest son, who is now 23, was in the fifth grade, he had a science project that he did on a lunar eclipse. Although he did the research and wrote the paper, he needed me to do the carpentry work. So, after a long weekend soccer tournament, we started working at about 10 P.M. on Sunday night and finished the next morning at about 5 A.M. The project was due the next day!

When he asked me the next year whether I would help him on his science project again, I thought awhile and told him that I would help if I could pick the subject. I chose a real estate project about test borings on a real estate project and landslides. Luckily, I knew a real estate developer that gave me a copy of their geologic and test borings report on "The Crossings", a commercial development southeast of the " Hickory Hollow Mall". Next we met with a friend who was a structural engineer and had a PhD in geology to explain the technical aspects of our project.

Incredible Views on the Hills of Middle Tennessee

Homes with tremendous views bring a premium in the middle Tennessee real estate market, but require careful research before building. Unfortunately many home buyer's either don't understand the need for this type of research.


Incredible View	House Started Moving $30-40K Fix

At the time of Chad's science project, this house was still on land that was sliding and I was able to get a series of pictures.

When we started working on Chad Long's 6th grade science grade project, this house was still on the lot and still moving. We were able to get a series of pictures of the landslide damage.

Brick Wall Falling

House For Sale Cheap

Moving to Solid Ground

Most homeowner's insurance doesn't cover a home for a landslide. Homes built on steep lots, near a flood plain, on rough topography, or other problem area could benefit from diligent research on soil tests, percolation tests, septic system analysis, etc.

SOILS MAPPING AND PERCOLATION DETERMINE NUMBER OF BEDROOMS FOR A HOUSE

In an article in the Tennessean Newspaper dated August 31, 2000 there was an article about several homeowners in a subdivision in Rutherford County who thought they had bought 4 bedroom homes, but according to the health department, the homes were only approved for 3 bedrooms. In the future when these home buyers decide to resale, it would be unethical for them to advertise their homes as four bedroom homes. According to the article some of the homes had been in the multiple listing system and also advertised as 4 bedroom homes. Again according to the article, the builder's plans also showed 4 bedrooms. Despite these mistakes, the builder and real estate agent stated that the home buyers knew that they were actually approved for only 3 bedrooms.

There is a valid need for the soil mapping to determine how many bedrooms a home should have in relation to the septic system's adequacy. When we had our walking horse, I had to build an electric fence, the installation instructions said to drive a six foot rebar pipe into the ground with one foot of the pipe protruding. After driving the rebar about 1.5- 2 feet into the ground, I hit solid rock and almost fell off of the wood fence I was standing on (see picture). During the springtime, the ground in the pasture stayed wet for several months. This presence of rock would have made it more difficult for septic field lines to disperse the liquid from the septic tank into soggy ground.

The more bedrooms there are, the more people that are using the septic system. When the owner the property where we kept our horse, Rocky, decided to split part of the acreage, an engineering firm came out and did the soil mapping. The determination was that it could only handle a 3 bedroom house. New regulations concerning waste water treatment and disposal have been enacted by Williamson County commissioners which could have a drastic impact on building a home with a septic system. Careful planning (and budgeting) is essential.

Much of this research can be done before seeking expensive engineering services. The experience that I have developed from the different areas of real estate (training and cross training) that I have been involved in plus the special studies that I have undertaken to enhance my real estate background could be very beneficial in site selection and in real estate development and recommending the correct experts when needed. This experience includes the study of aerial photography, planning commission research, and the study of geology and soil analysis.