Residential vs Agricultural Land Development Considerations

When investing in residential land to develop, a good question that project owners should consider is whether they want to buy plots for urban/suburban or agricultural land development, as both can be profitable endeavors.

A good way to decide is to consider the benefits to each.

Residential agricultural land development might not be the most obvious choice for developers to invest in, but there are plenty of positive reasons why land developers should consider it. 

Why Is Residential Land Development A Popular Choice?

Urban and suburban residential land development as opposed to agricultural land development is an obvious choice by many development investors, as this is where most of the population lives and where more homes are always needed.

These locations provide important necessities like nearby schools, shopping, dining, medical, and more with more reliable utility services like water, electricity, gas, cable, and internet.

Homes in cities or suburban neighborhoods may cost more to develop due to higher land prices, but they also sell fairly quickly for higher prices due to higher demand, as most people prefer to live in these areas. 

What Is The Benefit of Agricultural Land Development?

In comparison, agricultural land development projects can also be worthwhile, but for different reasons.

Two of the biggest benefits of doing agricultural land development work are that rural land is usually less expensive and there are fewer development restrictions on how the land can be used unlike the tightly controlled zoning usually found for urban and suburban development.

Developing rural land is also perfect for agricultural land development companies wishing to cater to customers seeking the ability to build custom homes, small personal farms, and similar properties.

The main disadvantage to these types of properties is their proximity to the conveniences so closely available in urban and suburban neighborhoods, but there is still a market for these properties, regardless. 

Residential vs Agricultural Land Development Work

In weighing the two types of properties, investors in both residential and agricultural land development work can do well simply based on investment costs and selling prices.

Although both require land development work and urban/suburban development can cost considerably more than agricultural land development work, stepping outside city boundaries to develop a more rural property has many rewards, especially as city living becomes more expensive, and more congested every year. 

Adding All This Up

Noting this, a project investor that partners with an experienced agricultural land development company to work on custom home sites and other types of projects can please a whole other segment of the home-buying community.

Of course, the first step in starting any residential or agricultural land development work is finding a great contractor that can help every step of the way.