Okay, so I've spent some time looking around out there, I am limited to how far I want to commute--with two small children and working outside home I have a pretty busy lifestyle. I'm limited to Santa Rosa, Forestville, Sebastopol, Graton, Healdsburg and Windsor. So far the stuff I've seen all falls into three catagories, all bringing interesting challenges:

--affordable because the site requires an investment ~$200,000-300,000
--pricey because the site is ready to go ~$400,000+
--pricey because they aren't motivated to sell (or so I'd assume, given the nature of them)

Still nothing that makes me really enthusiastic. Actually, that's not true there is MLS#20602847 which is great but it looks like it will be a probate property and it may have some rather intense site constrution costs.

Someone mentioned finding property on your own--contacting owners privately. This sound very creative and I am curious to know more. I understand you can go to the tax assessors office and get in contact with the owners. But the part about getting an attorney to help with an offer I didn't quite get. If that means keep realtors out of the deal it may be a win-win for everyone. Love to hear more about that!

Then of course there is always looking for defunct properties but that seems to be a whole territory for the wise and experienced. But I'm into this for whatever it takes and I appreciate the dialogue.

Jennifer at jmckenz@comcast.net

It seems as if land prices are up everywhere. In my area on the SF peninsula coast, decent lots used to go for 200-250k a year ago. Talking with my RE agent, she said that the prices went up overnight to 325-400. She also indicated that land prices lag home prices, so it could be that land is finally catching up to the overheated housing market? At any rate, 300k for a lot with some kind of challenge doesnt exactly sound affordable. With a construction cost of 225/sqft(simple)+ challenge project + land + cost of loan = building is rapidly becoming just as unaffordable as buying an existing house, especially with the cost of matl's increasing daily .

We bought a piece of land off the previous owner for ~250k - that person bought the land for 8k or something. So, unfortunately, there are a lot of land owners with no mortgage or large tax bills forcing a quick sale. Perhaps buying in bulk would alleviate the high cost of a single lot?

San Jose has some redevelopment opportunities.

$250,000 for a lot in the Bay area seems cheap. There are lots all over Dallas that are $250,000 for a 50x150.