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Real Estate Jargon: Flag lots

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Cordon Real Estate 01370983

Buyers, sellers, investors - welcome back to another installment of Real Estate Jargon, aka, simple explanations of real estate terms not normally found in nature.

Ever walk or drive down a residential street and see a driveway between two homes that appears to not lead to either home?  Chances are it leads to a lot hidden behind those homes, typically referred to as a flag lot (also sometimes called a land lot).

Take a look at our simple diagram of a residential block below.  It's a plat map with location and dimension data left off.  We see the shaded area as 104 Miller Street, a flag lot.  The entrance off Miller Street is a driveway leading to the larger area behind 102 Miller Street.  That shaded area kinda looks like a flag, so wahlah!  A flag lot.

 

How are flag lots created?  Many are the product of "lot splitting" - the process of taking one lot and turning it into two (or more) lots.  Often the owner of a large lot wants to sell off some of his land and use the proceeds of the sale to finance construction on the part he will keep.  Some flag lots were created when the street was originally surveyed, just because that's how the original owners drew boundary lines at that time.

An advantage of owning a flag lot is that the property is surrounded by other lots and street noise is greatly reduced.  If there is a fence around the lot, adding a gate to the driveway increases security.

A disadvantage of owning a flag lot is that the property is surrounded by neighbors who must be relied upon to help with maintenance of common fences.  Being surrounded by one or more noisy neighbors could be another disadvantage.  Should the structure ever catch fire, having access to the property through only one relatively small driveway could reduce the speed and efficiency with which the fire department could reach the property and put out the fire.

I'm often asked if flag lots have a lower or higher market value than adjacent lots.  As with any property, it depends upon the lot.  I once toured a home on a one acre flag lot that was elevated about 20 feet higher than the surrounding lots.  The home was like a castle with 360 degree views.  It was the most expensive home for miles.  But generally speaking, homes with normal street frontage will have a slightly higher value than a flag lot.

If you have questions about real estate jargon or buy/sell/investment strategies, drop me a line!  john@jsrealproperty.com

Comments (2)

Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

You raise good points particularly about safey issues. Why does city Planning and Zoning alow them to begin with?

Oct 24, 2010 06:07 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

John: Terrific information for the public or a new agent! Very helpful of you to present it....Here in the Hamptons, we find that flag lots are usually not as desirabler as street side but there are a few houses set back far enough and on huge lots that have very high prices. so, I guess it all depends on who is looking at it and how some want to live...thanks for an interesting post.

Oct 24, 2010 06:09 AM