Homebuying Homework

Developments are funny things, they get planned and for ages, but most often still surprise everyone!

One of the cardinal rules of real estate is that retail follows the rooftops. This means that shops will always eventually be built in new neigbourhoods. Anyone who buys a home outside an established neighborhood should never be surprised that vacant land attracts developers, especially when it's on the outskirts of a burgeoning city or town.

Do The Homework

The number one mistake homebuyers make is not doing their homework. Someone looking at a home in an incorporated area can easily find out how nearby vacant land is zoned. If it's zoned anything other than residential, they need to understand what might be built there. Oh, and don't forget that zoning can be changed!

Before buying in an area with undeveloped plots or erven, it's always a good idea to check with city or town officials about their long-term plans for that area.

There is usually a written land-use plan for most suburbs. Ask how old these land-use plans are. Are ther any new changes to consider?
Ask how nearby property is zoned. Are there plans to change the zoning for any nearby properties?
If the property isn't inside an incorporated area, what were the chances that a municipality would annex it or adjacent land?

Positive Or Negative Impact

A nearby shopping complex development may or may not hurt nearby home values. Unless the building is visible or noise from it is audible, it is unlikely your potential buyers would be concerned about it someday, when you would like to sell again. Increased traffic congestion, on the other hand, could affect your home value negatively.

Would a nearby shopping complex development make shopping more convenient for homeowners? If there is currently little retail in the area and residents have to drive a great distance to shop, a nearby shopping complex development could actually be beneficial to homeowners, and this could positively affect home values positively!

Only time will tell if changes in the appraised value of properties near a shopping complex development will be affected positively or negatively.

Appraised Values

Appraised values are supposed to represent true market values and should be based on actual sales of comparable properties in the area. Recently, laws have been passed in South Africa that will see the phasing in of property taxes, based on appraised values. If the shopping complex gets built near your new property, and the sales prices of homes around yours do begin to decline, then homeowners in the area of such a shopping complex would have a case to get the appraised values of their homes lowered.

Your Neigbours

Despite all the research, hand-wringing and discussion that go into buying a home, one thing often goes unchecked by the suburban buyer: the plans other property owners have for the empty pieces of land nearby!

Faulty assumptions, laziness, or believing misleading information, has led to many surprises for homeowners. That piece of open land, which homeowners were assured would be a city park, is today covered with homes. A long-planned, busy, four-lane highway crosses a previously serene small-holding.And yes, the vacant land across the street from your "dream home" had always been zoned for retail, d espite what a neighbour said to you about new homes being built there. It is your responsibility ase homebuyer to get the REAL facts!

The good news is that discovering what's planned for vacant land is getting easier. One telephone call to the local city planner's office may be all that is needed. Cities all over the world are nowadays also putting more and more information online, to be easily accessible on the internet, so "google" for it! Some cities have interactive websites that allow you to type in an address and pull up a zoning map. Most South African municipalities have a website of some sort, in any way...