# Anyone have trouble finding comps for a loan?



## Temescal (Jun 20, 2011)

I've talked to a few mortgage bankers about land & home construction loans, and one of the bankers thought I might have trouble finding comps. Has anyone had a problem finding comps for a loan? Most of the properties around here are less than 5 acres (more like 1-3 acres), a few are up to 10 acres. I'm looking for one of the few 25+ acre properties that come available. A banker thought I may have better luck if I separate whatever I buy into 2 deeds: one deed for 1-3 acres (the homesite) and the second for the rest of the land. I would have to pay cash for the land to do this and then get a construction loan to build on the smaller lot. Has anyone else done this? How expensive would it be get 2 deeds?


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## billinwv (Sep 27, 2013)

Careful with two lots. If you own a lot here that is not your primary residence the taxes are a lot higher. If you plan on an exemption for farm product production make sure you don't go below the allowable acreage. land to home value ratio can affect your ability to get a loan. Expensive land would be the negative. Banks don't like to loan money for "dirt". IF they are in your area, check with Farm Credit.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Not unusual at all. 

If the norm for the area is 10 acres, you don't have a problem with traditional lenders same thing applies to unusual homes like log, berm homes, dome homes etc. You have to have comps similar to the subject property.

I believe your best bet may be a farm credit loan..


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## Temescal (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought about taxes changing. The banker was from a regular/traditional bank. I'll check in with Carolina Farm Credit to see what they think about the problem.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

Keep in mind that a 5 or 10 acre piece of property is not a comp for a 20 or 40 acre piece of property. The smaller the piece of property, the more it's worth per acre. It's not unusual for a 10 acre piece of property to cost almost as much as a 20. Your comps should all be the about same size.

Laws vary from state to state. Don't take anything anyone, including a gooberment official, tells you is the truth until you have researched it. Around here the county assessor hands out a piece of propaganda with the property assessment notices that says that they have to have at least 6 comps to assess a piece of property and that they can only use properties that were sold from September 1 to August 31 as comps. Both statements are false. The State Board of Equalization, which is charged with making sure that adjacent counties are assessing their properties equally, does have the 6 comp rule. The law does not say that county assessors have to follow that rule and there is no law the county assessor can come up with that does. If you research case law for the Minnesota Tax Court, you will find multiple instances where the court used comps that sold up to 4 years on either side of the date of the assessment in question. 

Good luck.


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## Temescal (Jun 20, 2011)

Carolina Farm Credit told me that they have different lending guidelines because they are a farm credit and deal with more rural properties. Their appraisers can go as far as 50 miles away and up to 2 years back for comps where banks will usually only search a few miles and up to 12 months. They seem much more capable of handling a loan for the type of property that I want.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Temescal said:


> Carolina Farm Credit told me that they have different lending guidelines because they are a farm credit and deal with more rural properties. Their appraisers can go as far as 50 miles away and up to 2 years back for comps where banks will usually only search a few miles and up to 12 months. They seem much more capable of handling a loan for the type of property that I want.


Good, hope it works out for you.


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## Marthas_minis (Jan 28, 2014)

Yes. We were under contract on a house on 20 acres that ended in Dec. Three days before closing, the underwriters requested more comps. Unfortunately due to the low volume of houses on the market right now in Texas, there simply weren't any. So we lost the contract. It was a Fannie Mae restriction based solely on the homestead and from my understanding, buying homes on acreage is about to become even more difficult due to stricter guidelines coming down the pipeline. 

The house is still for sale and we have been unable to find anything else that suits our needs so we are exploring other alternative mortgage methods but we're still having issues there too due to lack of comps. Even Ag banks are wanting a minimum of 25% down.

We're doing what we can but after our former nightmare buyers and now this; we're unlikely to ever move again once we finally buy another homestead. For now, we're camped out in my grandparents converted stables. I count my blessings we have a roof over our heads but I sure miss having a garden and tending to my animals.


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