Oh, I think you should definitely low ball them, since this lot has been sitting so long. Why pay more than it's worth? My concern is more about unexpected costs that you run into, after the purchase. So, worst case scenario, you offer 2/3 of the asking price and they either say no, come back with another offer or tell you to keep looking. And, since this isn't someone's home, I doubt you'll offend the developer to the point they won't accept a future offer. If you can afford it, I say go for it...but PLEASE get someone (agent, lawyer, etc.) to look at the paperwork and check on floodplain status, water/septic, etc. I'd hate for you to buy a lot that you find out doesn't support the home you really want. Best of luck and let us know how things go :)

I made one big omelet and split it between 2 tupperware containers. I covered one and put it right into the fridge to get it cold quickly, that one had a lot of water on the bottom of the container the next day. The other one I left out on the counter uncovered for about 20 minutes, then covered it and put it in the fridge, this one had no water on the bottom. So I guess I'll leave them out for a while from now on, as long as that's safe to do. FWIW, I LOVED the omelets, I ate them cold and they tasted great, even better than when I eat them hot right after making them- definitely better than microwaving it to heat it up, IMO.

That is pretty, flyleft. I think the reasons it works are the very high ceiling, the continuing brick work on the wall surrounding the mantel, and the raised hearth. Although that vertical brick makes me wonder about maybe doing stone of some sort in a vertical brick pattern instead of the square limestone tiles. Too trendy perhaps?

Pay for an appraisal. It shouldn't cost more than few hundred dollars. The appraiser (not the same as real estate assessor setting tax value nor a real estate agent doing a CMA both of which will be different values, for different purposes) will know how to find best comps and explain to you how his appraisal was done. (You may or may not wish to share the results with the seller.) It's very important to the value (when considering a lot-sized parcel) to know what is currently permissible in terms of putting a house on it. Get clued in, as well, to any pending changes in your local land use regs. Get it directly from planning and zoning officials, not just what everybody "knows". There is also a considerable difference between "raw" lands and lots with subdivision approval, i.e. those with studies done to know water and septic capacity, build-able soils, surveyed boundaries, etc. As Weedy said, increases in acreage above the minumum need for a house do not scale directly ( i.e. twice as much as the minimum does mean twice as valuable). And twice as big as minumum does NOT always mean a potential to subdivide into two residential lots. There are often other considerations such as overall lot density, shape and frontage when considering dividing a small parcel into two lots even when there appears to be enough acreage to do so.. Be prepared that the seller has heard that "somebody" has gotten X number of thousands per acre for a lot somewhere in your town and is not knowledgeable enough about real estate to know that he can't just multiply his acreage by that figure to come up with a price. I'll give you an example: several years ago we were interested in buying a 125 acre parcel behind our woodlot, (this parcel has no frontage on the road.) In the priciest section of our town there is a development with paved streets, in-ground utilities, public water and sewer, overlooking a large body of water, and deed-restricted only to large luxury homes on half- acre lots. These lots sell for 100K apiece. So our neighbor multiplied the 125 acres by 2 and then by 100K, arriving at a potential sale price of $25,000,000. Never mind that the land he was selling is landlocked (has no road frontage, we own entirely around it already) and is mostly on the other side of a very steep ravine that's nearly 300 feet deep. It has NO development potential because of these natural barriers, and is perhaps worth $100/acre for the timber value, but only to us as there is no way to remove the timber without crossing our land. We begged the guy to get his own agent (who could explain reality to him) but he wanted to save the "commission". So we paid for an appraisal (less than $500 bucks) from the local Farm Credit Agency (they have deep expertise in vacant and timber land). The appraisal turned out to be exactly what I expected ($10-15K) with the timber being the only value, not the land. Needless to say, he still owns the property, and we still enjoy looking at it and walking on it, for free. Eventually this fellow's executors may have a better grasp on things and a deal can be made. Or not. The seller is older than us by a decade, but we are not young, either. Sellers who say "make me an offer" are often unrealistic and have never taken the trouble to do the "work" of being a seller - and want to shift that responsibility to you. Keep in mind that a FSBO (sale w/o a realtor) eliminates the commission, so some price concessions ought to be made to take that into account. However going without an agent means some (or both) parties will have more work to do to get the deal closed. Ideally who ever is doing the "work" should benefit from the lack of commission. If the seller is entirely passive, then the buyer should get a good price break to recompense them for the effort to get the docs drawn up, filed, various checks for clear title, survey etc. I'd always have my lawyer read any contract, before signing, no matter what. Also there is something here in NY called a land contract which is an installment land sale. Be sure you get legal advice about how that works in your state. Be sure you understand who owns (and pays taxes on and is the legally responsible party) during the installment phase. The interest rate you quote seems very high to me. Can you can an unsecured loan from your credit union or bank, or a home equity LOC? Both would seem cheaper for you and give you undisputed legal ownership from the moment of purchase. Land contracts can result, in the event of default, in losing all the equity you have paid in. There maybe income tax benefits, as well, in financing through a bank or a HELOC rather than private debt. I would use installment buying only as the last resort. HTH L.