Vacant land, small ranches, basically rural properties here in the Eastern end of my Palm Springs, CA valley have not done much selling the past 3 years. This summer saw a huge spike in activity and in the past 6 months, there have been 4 sales of vacant land parcels. Land that was "worth" approx. $150,000/acre in 2005/2006 is now selling at $22-26,000/acre. The good news..it IS selling!
I have a lovely 28.6 acre alfalfa farm on a corner parcel right next to the La Quinta border. Probably the most desireable small farm in the vicinity. Close to polo fields and maybe 10 minutes from Grocery stores, cleaners etc. The only such location available right now. Just reduced to $33,000/acre for the coming season. The past several weeks, I have received several calls on it.
My dilema: I have a client that I showed the farm to on Sunday. He loves it and it is in a perfect location for an addition to his land holdings. He asked me to write an offer..yeah, right??
His offer goes something like this...
$22,000/acre.
COE: End of year..a long escrow.
Property is part of a 1031 exchange.."and if my exchange doesn't go through, I'll let you know so we can cancel."
What exactly would motivate my Seller to pull the farm off the market for the first 3 months of the buying season with this type of offer, when activity is increasing steadily?
Hmmm..
I've got some ideas of how we are going to spice up the offer for the Seller, but unless there is a non-refundable amount put into Escrow or a 72 hr. escape clause in the offer, the Buyer should ask himself, "If I were selling this, would I accept this offer?"
If you are selling, put on your Buyers glasses. If you are buying, put on your Selling glasses. The market is changing and Sellers are not nearly as desperate..at least not here in the Palm Springs Valley.
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