Any ideas what to do please?

[Steve1]

Hi,

We have a small family business running a garage workshop but want to retire soon. Last year we succeeded in getting planning permission and had plans drawn up for a small housing development where the business now stands.
This week, sealed bids were received from various property developers to purchase the land from us, but obviously the "credit crunch" means that the type of price we had hoped for has not nearly been reached...only 2 bids came in which were both well below what we need to retire in comfort.
Can anyone make any suggestions what we should do? We really don't want to keep the business running any longer. Perhaps we should rent the space out for storage and wait until property prices pick up?

Thanks
Steve

[googler]

I think what happened in the run-up to your sealed bids being received might be of relevance. Who marketed the site for you? Where was it promoted? Where was it advertised? What websites did it appear on? How long was it marketed for?

Could it have been better promoted, in order to attract more than two bids? Could it have been more widely promoted?

That sorta thing....

Self storage is a big business these days. Is it feasible to restructure your business as this, appoint someone to run it day-to-day and take a back seat...?

[MarkSev]

Hi Steve,
I'm afraid the market has collapsed for land as it's impossible to know what's around the corner so if you can get a buyer then they are pricing in the potential market 'adjustment'.
My advice would be if you can sit on the site and let it out then perhaps that might be best. Our opinion is that house builders are factoring in every bit of the drop that may or not happen. Actually we've suffered from some buyers offering better prices (we have a couple of similar sounding sites for sale) but then when it comes to valuation and bank lending the deals fall through (2 so far and onto our 3rd). We're looking at 20% drop in price from our intial agreed sales prices at the start of Feb.
Any chance you could make the time delay pay - ie increase your density/development land value? We specialise in this area and could help with this if it's of interest. Alternatively negotitate an uplift agreement if they're factoring in a large reduction in end values so you benefit from any increase once the build is complete....of course if things don't improve you wont benefit - a risk we all have to face unfortunately.

[Psl]

What part of the country are you in and how many homes can you get on the plot?

[edstoner]

yeah, that is significant

[edstoner]

it can change the fees enormously

[Melsa]

Rent it out in the mean time and when prices improve again try to sell it then