Texas wildfires and land

**km1602** · 01-18-2012, 10:54 AM

My husband and I purchased 11 acres of wooded land in a restricted subdivision, which has been slow to develop, about 6 years ago. We purchased for investment only. Our land was recently destroyed by the Texas wildfires in June. We have not cleared the trees or done anything to the land. The county reappraised this land for $20,000 less than it was prior to the fire. Any suggestions on what we should do to improve our land to make it marketable in the next 2-3 years?

**TandemRealty** · 01-18-2012, 12:59 PM

Interesting dilemma. Sorry to hear about that. Can you post some pictures so we can see what we're dealing with here?

Tandem Realty Nashville

**CC Lifestyle Realty** · 01-23-2012, 09:10 AM

Are you sure they dropped the value due to the fire? Some properties particularly in rural areas of Texas are having their values decline. Having it appraised for less by the country doesn't necessarily mean it is worth less. With that said the value is driven by the desirability of the property. Is all the land around your property in the same condition?

**MassRealEstate** · 02-04-2012, 10:16 AM

woot woot for free land clearing! hahaha... i can understand that the town may see fire damage to develop-able land as a loss (mainly because tree's do have $$$ value), but the fact is someone is going to have to clear the land in prep for development anyways so hopefully the fire took care of most of that for you. I would like to see some pictures if possible? in any event i wouldent worry at all about what the town assessors have assessed the land for (it has no bearing on the market value) and lets face it less taxes for you is better! as far as making the land more marketable or valuable in the years to come... engineering, clearing, approvals to build, infrastructure (water lines, utilities, etc) all add to the value. The problem is, if you have the town approvals to build they will start charging you taxes as "buildable lots" and you will paying those taxes until you sell them. The best bet until your nearing a time that your selling it all is to prep the land by clearing, making better access to it, preparing any wetlands that may be on it by having them "flagged" (i would personally take a strong look at things myself in preparation before calling in the botanist troups though) cough cough LOL