Buying a proper land for your business can be called one of the major stepping stones towards successfully establishing the same. Hence, it has to be done after much thought and consultation with experts. Following are a few points to ponder on when buying land for your business:
· Have a defined set of requirements
Consider what your business is about; see if the land that you are thinking of buying is at all suitable for the purpose; is the price of the land within your budget? And finally, will the land have a good resale value? If your answer is a yes, then, you can be sure about the plot.
· Budget
The price of a property is dependent on several factors, like, size, location, proximity to different transport links, and whether it can benefit from any kind of planning permission. Plots that are sold with planning permission are generally more costly than the ones sold without.
Besides these, cost of plots is also greatly influenced by the general state of the property market.
· Getting the right plot
The first person to call when searching for a plot of land is a specialist estate agent and land agent. However, agents are not the only option; you can also look around and ask the local developers who may have some plots in hand for sale.
There are several land-buying opportunities:
o Auctions: Land auctions are a great way to find suitable plots, transactions are often conducted on a ‘sold as seen’ basis; thus, you have to pay immediately and that leaves little time for research.
o Utility companies: Cash-strapped councils often have loads of plots that they want to sell.
o Utility companies: Certain utility organisations like electricity, gas, water, etc. have surplus land that is often available for sale.
o Private enquiries: There are many private residential homes which have large backyards or gardens, which may be apt for erecting a building.
· Location
Location is a very important factor that you need to keep in mind when thinking of starting a business. After all, location that is one of the major factors that dictate if a business will be successful or not. Like building a pawnshop in a posh locality is very unlikely to thrive. Similarly, building a departmental store in a lower income locality will surely get to see few customers.
· Survey the land
A proper survey of land is needed to be done by a qualified land surveyor. Doing so tells you about services, boundaries, public and other rights, overhead power lines, flood risk, etc. Land surveyors can also carry out environmental impact evaluations and feasibility studies to find out if plans can be proceeded with.
· Dealing with planning officials
It is necessary for you to have a good relationship with the officials of your local council office. You can expect them to be good people, and if you manage to build a healthy rapport with them and your proposals are not very ostentatious, it is very likely that you will get a favourable response.
Try to keep these points in mind when you buy a plot for your business; you will surely not make a bad choice. All the best!
