Hidden Dangers of Buying Land in Florida [DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES]

Have you been exploring the option of buying land in Florida to either eventually build a home on or hold it for a few years? Buying land in Florida, especially in North Port Florida, can be a difficult process if you are looking to minimize risks, such as environmental threats and any other risks that could cost you $$$.

Helping people weekly with buying land and now also helping other build house we have come to deal with many situations that cost both TIME and MONEY. We want to make sure your land buying process is as smooth as possible, which is why we are going to be discussing all the hidden dangers most people often overlook when buying land in Florida.

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Noah Ward is a Licensed Florida Real Estate agent that specializes in New Construction and Real Estate Development. Over the past couple years he has grown a large social following by focusing on helping both future homeowners go through the new construction process and also investors with building houses at scale.

Noah is a Managing Partner at JN Development Group Inc, where the primary focus is providing the highest level of service for custom house builds and also helping real estate investors maximize their profits through real estate development.

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So you're looking to buy vacant land Here in the State of Florida well there Are some hidden dangers that you need to Be aware of before you even think about Buying vacant land welcome back everyone To the Florida real estate podcast with Your host no aard in this episode we are Going to be breaking down some of the Most common hidden dangers that are Overlooked when buying vacant land if You guys are new to the podcast don't Forget to follow us as we drop weekly Episodes and if you guys want to see a Little bit more about you know behind The scenes go and check out our social Media especially our Instagram where you Guys will get an in-depth idea of what We do in terms of new construction and Real estate development here in Southwest Florida but to kick off this Episode we are going to be talking about Some environmental threats when it comes To buying land and a lot of people Overlook this but being a real estate Agent that focuses on new construction And partnering up with a private Builder And also helping investors build many Spec houses to either sell or do build To rent we have run into a lot of Different situations that we can help You guys mitigate throughout the process When it comes to buying a piece of Vacant land so let's talk about Environmental threats the first one is

Going to be protected trees so Especially in Northport Sarasota County There are you know protected trees Protected species and all that kind of Stuff but specifically in Northport and A lot of City municipalities have this Is a tree regulation so in this city of Northport we have protected trees I Guess in the State of Florida we have Protected trees but in the city of Northport and other municipalities Across Florida you also have to pay to Get rid of those trees so it's based on A point system we have released an Episode regarding the new tree Regulation that is in the city of Northport so be sure to go check that Out if you guys want more in depth um In- depth tutorial about you know how to Calculate how much you're going to need Um in terms of tree permits but we have Protected trees to be aware of such as Heritage trees that are over 24 in in Diameter and then the next one is we Have gopher toris so gopher tortoises Are a protected species and with gopher Tortoises they are very costly little Guys to remove even though they look a Little bit harmless they are very Expensive that is why we have Environmental assessments done whenever We are having someone buy a piece of Vacant land or we are also building for One of our investors so gopher tortoises

If you find a gopher torist on your Property it is going to cost you Anywhere from $6 to $8,000 to remove one Single gopher tortoise uh off the Property and back into a state issued Sanctuary however if you can if your Property is large enough to where you Can actually stay 20 to 25 ft away from Them you can actually relocate these Gopher tortoises and that costs you About $2,500 per gopher tortoise so Depending on how much you really want The land those little guys are going to Be costly and it may determine if you Buy or don't buy that lot next one is Going to be another protected species And that is going to be the elusive Scrub jay so we have a lot of Scrub Jays Here um in Charlotte County at least of Southwest Florida and so we have a map That shows where all the Scrub Jays are So what happens is depending on the Municipality and the county that you are Located in within the State of Florida For example Charlotte County has its hcp Website where you know we can go through The permit process for getting a scrub J Permit scrub J permits are probably Around you know ,500 to $2500 just depending on the size lot It's going to be more obviously if it's More than a quarter acre but that's just The general consensus um and you know Those permits are relatively fast to get

However they are restrictive so you Cannot start clearing land during mating Season for the scrub J you only can Clear land about 6 months out of the Year the other six months you got to Leave because it's nesting season and Bird hatching season so that's one Downside of buying in a scrub J Zone but If you are buying in a scrub J zone that Does not have its own hcp that's a Little bit more of an issue because for Example Northport doesn't have that and What happens is it takes us about 11 to 12 months to get uh scrub Jet Permit Back and issued so that we can start Clearing trees so that can that can Hinder um your building process so if You're looking to get started building Soon I would not buy in a scrubjay Zone Um but if you're in an area that you Know has relatively fast scrub J permit You know there's no issue I would see as Long as you're flexible with the Building process the last and final Protected species is going to be the Majestic bald eagle bald eagles so we Have to keep away um about 660 ft away From a bald eagle nest and these bald Eagle nests are Rec recorded online so You can see where the nearest bald eagle Nest is and especially if you get an Environmental assessment done they will Go through and map it all for you to Make sure that bald eagles are not a

Threat you just if you are on a lot that Is close enough to a bald eagle you just Have to have someone that comes out and Watches your lot for an extended period Of time just to prove that no bald Eagles are using your land as you know a Highway or anything like that to Nest on Or anything of that nature nature so That's another thing and then the last Part of an environmental threat for Florida is going to be the wetlands so Here in at least in Northport for Example our maps are still from like the 1980s late 1900s and it still shows Northport's in a wetland area however Northport has been drained and it has Canals it had canals created to you know Prevent flooding and all that kind of Stuff right so that's why we have our Envir our environmental assessor come Out because I would say 10 to 15% of the Lots that we help our investors by and Our homeowners by um they say that They're in a wetland based on the map But we have our guy go out there and dig Soil samples and show that the Vegetation is not would not be habitable If it was a wetland so you just got to Prove it to the county when you do Submit a building permit so that's is a Very minor issue but it's something to Be aware of when you are buying a lot And that kind of goes into our second Major topic and that is flood zones so

Depending on where you are in Florida we Have a variety of flood zones ranging From a flood zone X to where means you Don't need flood insurance if you don't Want to even though I would highly Recommend it after Hurricane Ian um all The way to a flood zone V which Basically means you are on a coastal Waterway and you will flood so we have Different flood zones and the biggest Thing is when you are looking to build Is how high and how much dirt you need To be bringing in uh ver for truckloads Right because when you are Trucking in Dirt especially here in Southwest Florida it's very hard to come by Good Dirt is hard to come by that's not Sandy And it's costing us about $450 to $500 Per truckload to bring in some dirt so If you guys can do the math say if we Need you know let's just say we need 10 Truckloads multiply that by 500 we are Looking at $5,000 just in dirt to come In and add for our concrete pad to be Poured so it's very important to look at You know the elevation Zone obviously if It's if it's in a flood zone X it's not Going to be too much of an issue but if It's in a flood zone AE you may want to Build it up just a little bit extra so You will need a little bit extra dirt as Well and then the third and final you Know hidden danger is going to be Public Utilities you know depending on where

You are in the state of Florida you may Have City Water you may have city sewer You may have to drill a well you may Have to add a septic or you may not have Electricity so with City Water that's Probably the easiest one city water all You have to do is once your house is Built you connect to the city water line It costs several thousand dolls to do so But that's about it you have some guy Come out and connect it then city sewer Same thing um same thing as the city Water you just go out there and connect It uh during a certain process of the Build now with the well septic it's a Little bit more tedious and timec Consuming however it's it's very common In the State of Florida for example if We need to drill a well which pretty Much all of our houses that we are Helping build in Northport are going to Be on a well and septic so to drill a Well it costs anywhere between $6 to $9,000 and we usually have to drill About 60 to 100 ft deep to hit water uh I should say good water 60 to 100 ft and Then septic costs us anywhere from 11 to About $177,000 just depending on you Know the time of year and depending on How big of a septic that we really need That is going to need to be engineered By an engineer to show where the septic Field is make sure it's you know away From the neighbor's septic field and

Also similar to the well make sure that Our well arcs are not colliding with our Neighbors so that's one thing that we Need to be aware of when drilling well And septic is that we have varant we Have um zones that we need to stay Within and parameters to stay within so We do not intrude on other people's well Arcs or also septic fields so that it Contaminates the neighbors then the next One is going to be electricity so even Though probably a lot of people think That electricity is very common however In some parts of Florida such as Northport there are some areas that Don't have electricity so that's why When people see lots for $10 to $15,000 They're like ooh this is a deal however When it comes to electricity if there's No electricity there it costs the local Electrical Company $3,500 every single time they have to Drop a power pole to get to your house So if you have to drop let's just say You have to drop two power poles that's 7gs right there that you have to spend Just to bring in electricity now if you Spend $155,000 on a lot and you spend $7,000 you're not really into it for $115,000 you might have been you Probably would have been better just Buying A1 19,000 or you know $20,000 lot Um and it would probably would have been Cheaper at the end of the day those are

Just some things to keep in mind now There's a whole plethora of different Things to keep in mind and everything That we look for when buying vacant land I mean luckily for us what we have done Is especially after Hurricane Ian what We did was we mapped Northport Personally with um we had a guy go out With a drone and we were able to map Northport to make sure that when we do Help people buy Lots in Northport that It's not within a flood zone um but it More importantly it didn't flood during Hurricane Yan cuz hurricane Yan was an Unprecedented flood so if it doesn't Flood during Hurricane Yan I think we Have pretty good bets that it is going To be fairly protected from future Hurricanes so that is going to wrap up This episode of of the Hidden dangers of Buying vacant land in Florida if you Guys don't want to deal with the Headache of buying vacant land because It can be a very confusing process we Have a whole entire team that's wrapped Around all of this from evaluating lots To helping people buy lots to building Their dream custom house as well so go Check out our Instagram and go reach out To us there if you guys have any other Questions or anything of that sorts We're more than happy to help you Consult with you or provide you any kind Of advice all across Florida

Specifically though in the southwest Florida area but once again if you guys Are also interested in what we are doing In the Sarasota um area go and check out Our Instagram and Tik Tok for all the Behind the scenes things because we post Content on a daily basis about Sarasota And Florida real estate and if you guys Are interested about learning more about A specific topic go reach out to us on Instagram message us on Instagram and We'd be more than happy to provide you More in-depth episodes on certain topics That you guys are very curious about but Once again thank you guys for listening To this episode and we will catch you Guys all later