This is the second article in this Lots & Land series. Read Part 1 here.
Yamhill County is a massive rural county with two ‘cities’ and 8 additional small towns. We have a lot of land on which people can build. Some of this was a result of Measure 37 and then the more limiting Measure 49, but we also get buildable parcels from Forest Template conversions which allows build-ability if your property meets the template/overlay requirements. Land has also become dividable and buildable because a farmer can show proof of $80k in income (often grapes or nursery stock) for 3 years and then consistent with zoning laws it can be made buildable (usually on EFU 80 acre zoning). There are also many legacy tax lots which through persistent and esoteric measures can be made buildable. As towns expand, close-in land may also get re-zoned for smaller and smaller parcels.
In the past 36 months we have only sold 48 parcels between 2-20 acres. Many of these parcels are really residential parcels with sub-standard housing such as an obsolete manufactured home or a deteriorated farm house. Some are still livable while the buyer ‘builds their dream home’. Some are just vacant land and then those are differentiated by some having ‘improvements’ – well, septic, barns or shops, etc.
In the attachments you will find the lists and listings of the properties that have sold in 3 years sorted by town. In the list you can see the pricing per town and see the number of acres for each. Clearly Newberg, then McMinnville and Dundee can achieve the highest pricing. The listing information on the comparison format (side by side) is near the top and the sold date and price is near the bottom so you can see the last advertised price and the actual sale price. The Client Full version will give you more details in the write-up and will address issues such as water, power, septic, views, fencing, build-ability (some may be questionable), outbuildings and the like.
Regarding pricing, people have asked, and can ask anything they want. We have seen that in the past 3 years the original numbers have changed dramatically as our markets on average are down about 25-30% from the highs. The SOLDS are our only authority for market value and the only thing an appraiser can use to document value for a buyer or lender. Remember, the appraiser needs 3 good and local comps to substantiate the value so just one ‘good’ comp will not necessarily allow us to score big!
I have also attached the last 12 months which are our current comps. There are only 10 solds for the whole county and really 9 because one of these is commercial land. We will be re-evaluating pricing with all our clients in the first quarter to help with decisions, and if to sell, help to accomplish the task.
Finally, I have attached an over view of solds in other areas surrounding Yamhill County. Remember, one of our challenges is that right now people may be able to buy economically closer to Portland and have better prospects for equity growth. I have included the north of Yamhill County which is Forest Grove through Hillsboro (including Bald Peak), east of Yamhill County including rural Sherwood, Tualatin, and Wilsonville, Marion county to the southeast, and Polk county to our south. Some of the areas only contain bigger parcels than the 20 acres in our purview.
The next post will focus on the active and pending listings – your current competition.
As always, I would love to have your comments, observations, and ideas…
Randy
Randy McCreith, Principal Broker Bella Casa Real Estate Group Cell: 503-310-9147 Fax: 866-281-6653 [email protected]
