land or an existing rental property?

[aseret]

I am buying a site, 5 acres, in the country, €100,000 subject to planning....My plan is a) to hold on to the site for the duration of the planning permission and then resell in 4 years time, does this sound like a reasonable investment? I am really not sure but feel that land prices are unlikely to fall to the floor? or b) build on the the land with a view to resell.......is this a good investment or am i better to put my money into something with a better guarantee of return, ie a letable property ...all advice welcome......

 

[z109]

Depending on the council area you are in, you may have to stay resident in the house for 7 years. Depending on how mean your council is, they may also require you to sterilise the rest of the land (i.e. no building allowed on it for 7-10 years).

There are three good looking houses built near me as a private investment by an individual. They are still on the market after a year. You need to look at the local property market and be sure that you are going to be able build a house for enough to make some money. You have the cost of the land, stamp duty, build costs, selling costs, costs of mortgage for the build and continuing cost of the mortgage while you sell the house. So you also want to have a clear idea of how long houses in your area are taking to sell.

By all accounts (I am no expert) rental yields on buy to let properties are below available deposit interest rates.

 

[aseret]

Thanks for that, I will check out the how long I may have to be resident issue.......hadnt thought about that at all.