The land itself is becoming a liability

Post #296,093 by dmcarls 11/15/07 3:29:23 PM Reply	The land itself is becoming a liability [link\|http://www.bigbuilderonline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=NaN&articleID=595594&artnum=2\|http://www.bigbuilde...D=595594&artnum=2] [...] "For the quarter ending Aug. 31, Lennar wrote off deposits and pre-acquisition costs on 15,000 home sites it no longer plans to buy. That adds up to a total of 24,000 home sites the company has abandoned in the first nine months of this year. "We look at costs to develop a parcel of land and actually develop home sites and include in that the cost of building a home, and you get to the point where the residual value of the land itself\ufffdeven in well located areas\ufffdis close to zero," says Lennar CEO Stuart Miller. "Lennar has mothballed some large projects because the effective result of selling currently implies the land has zero value," says Stephen East, an analyst with Pali Research. "It also provides the company some accounting breathing room. By mothballing the projects, LEN is able to avoid taking impairment charges on the land that would reduce the value effectively to zero." [...] the article gives more details on other home projects which are being re-evaluated
Post #296,096 by andread 11/15/07 4:36:02 PM Reply	Land -- they're not making any more Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link\|http://westcottradio.org\|Tune In]
Post #296,104 by crazy 11/15/07 8:36:33 PM Reply	Do builders pay taxes on ALMOST developed land?
Post #296,109 by bepatient 11/16/07 6:09:27 AM Reply	They pay on all land if they own it. Based on assessed value, which is higher if they prep it for development. Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry._{Adrian Belew}
Post #296,137 by crazy 11/16/07 6:45:19 PM Reply	But what about when there is no comparable houses? Taxes are based on value. Value is based on what it can sell for. Sell for is judged by looking around the block and seeing what other houses with the same approximate construction, same condition, yadda yadda yadda, have sold for in the last few months. But in this case if an entire neighborhood is empty, with no slaes history, how could anyone judge what the house is worth?
Post #296,141 by bepatient 11/16/07 7:40:53 PM Reply	Dude, there is a market for land only and thats what the valuation is based on. Thats actually the current year tax basis for the homes I'm looking at down here...they are under 1 yr old...so the tax valuation on file is the cost of the land only...and thats what the builders pay taxes on...and they get no break for ownership (resident owners have a tax ceiling). Since we're going to year end...this tax bill is actually going to help me get a really good deal :-) (hopefully enough to offset the really bad one I'm likely to get when the house up there sells:-( Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry._{Adrian Belew}

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