The whole nine lot subdivision hung on 130 feet of somebody else's yard

Closed out the last four lots of a small infill subdivision in March, so here are the real numbers.

3.2 acres inside city limits, already zoned for what I wanted, minor subdivision process rather than a full rezone. Bought it for $285k from an estate that had been sitting on it for eleven years. Nine lots, 60 foot widths, straight in and out on a single street with a hammerhead.

Horizontal came in at $41k a lot, $369k total. Soft costs, engineering, survey, geotech, plat and permit fees, attorney, ran $60k. Carry on the land and horizontal loan was $38k across 19 months. All in $752k. Sold nine lots at $118k, $1.062M, less about $32k in commission on the two builder deals I didn't source myself. Call it $278k net over 19 months.

The part that nearly killed it: the site drains away from the street. To get gravity sanitary I needed to cross 130 feet of the neighboring lot to reach a manhole in the alley behind it. No existing easement. My alternative was a grinder pump on every lot, which two of the three builders I'd talked to said they'd discount $12k a lot for, so an $108k swing.

The neighbor opened at $75k. I spent five weeks getting to $22k plus rebuilding his driveway apron and a new fence section, and I only got there because the surveyor found that his own storm tie-in ran across my corner without an easement either. We papered both at once.

What I'd keep: I paid $6,500 for a sewer availability and routing study before closing, during due diligence, which is why I knew about the easement problem while I could still walk. And I recorded the plat in two phases so the first five lots closed and funded the back half of the horizontal instead of me funding all nine.

What I'd change: I priced the easement at $15k in my original model on no basis at all. Should have been $50k with a grinder pump fallback priced next to it.

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2karen_whitfieldPG4APRO7

The five weeks of negotiation is the part I'd want people to sit with. You had a $278k deal that depended entirely on one person with no obligation to help you, and the only reason you had leverage was a storm pipe your surveyor happened to notice.

What was your actual plan if he'd held at $75k or said no outright? Grinder pumps at a $12k discount on nine lots plus the pump cost itself puts you near $150k of erosion on a $278k margin, and that assumes the builders still bought at all. Some spec builders won't touch a pump lot at any price in a market with alternatives.

I hold ground for long stretches and the pattern I keep seeing is that infill parcels sit for a decade because someone already found the reason. Eleven years with an estate is usually a title or access problem rather than inattention. You bought the reason and then solved it, which is the actual work. I'd also ask whether you'd have paid the $75k rather than lose the deal, because that answer tells you what your walk-away number really was, and most people don't know theirs until they're in week four.

The whole nine lot subdivision hung on 130 feet of somebody else's yard

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