How to make money from your property

Many property owners especially in urban and sub urban areas are sitting on money without knowing while some who do know are not sure of the options available to them. Where a property owner has a large size of land or one that could be subdivided into two or more plots of land it makes good sense to consider the possibility of making money through subdivision.

I recollect meeting a real estate investor who had a prime property in a prime area who was lamenting the fact that he was too consumed with ego when he bought the land and built the property rather than working with plain old common sense. He asked the architect to design a mansion on the land with several bungalows surrounding it. He used up practically every space in constructing this building with the aim of making a statement.

However, many years after when his children had all left the house the property had become too big for himself and his wife. Unfortunately, it was also not attractive to real estate investors who wanted to buy property in that area because of its massive size.

The opposite of this investor’s dilemma is where a real estate investor under utilises a prime land. This is often the case with individuals who own big-size land but due to cost decide to build a bungalow on one corner of the property or right in the middle of the property.

Some do not even develop the property at all because of financial cost. Others build shops on portions of the property that are facing the major road in those areas. In many of the above instances, the property owners know that they could put their property to better use and make money in the process.

One of the first options that such a person should consider is whether it is possible to leave the property as it is and still be able to sell or develop a portion of that property. This is a possibility where it is possible to partition the property without demolishing the existing building on the land. The critical factors are land size and accessibility. If it is possible to get a reasonably sized land and good access to the new plot this is certainly an option to consider.

Although our principal focus is land, it is possible to technically subdivide a big building and with innovative renovation come up with two instead of one property. If you have a big property that has occupied most of the available land space it might be better to consult with architects and builders to explore this option further.

However, if the above options are not feasible, the clear option is to demolish the structure on the land and subdivide the land into two, three or more lots depending on the size of the land. The options open to an investor in this regards are to sell the lots separately, or to develop one and sell the other.

There are even individuals who have proceeded to sell both and then reinvest the proceeds. If an investor gets this right he or she will definitely make more money from the subdivision than selling the property as a whole.

There are also property developers that work on this arrangement and are always looking for such opportunities especially in urban and prime sub-urban areas. Of course, in areas where the cost of a full plot of land is affordable, sub-divisions are not generally attractive or profitable.

It is also important to engage professionals in your decision making and implementation process because of the technical nature of this aspect of property investment. It is possible to assume that subdivision is so straight forward that you do not need to engage professionals but that would be a big mistake. You need a qualified and experienced surveyor and town planner to advice you on the practicality of this process without flouting the building regulation. You need to secure the necessary approvals and ensure that you understand the cost of getting the necessary approvals.

To give you an example of what is possible if you get it right I recollect the experience of a friend of mine who was able to sub divide his property into two successfully and made from the sale of the other half the sum of the whole property. This provided him with enough capital to develop the property. The possibilities of making money using this strategy are worth your consideration.

– Abiodun Doherty

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