Laguna Niguel had a population of 62,979 as of 2010 and is one of the most suburban among the various cities in Orange County, California. It is located in the southeastern portion of the county and it is a master-planned community, which was one of the very first in this county. The purpose was to develop a bedroom community and this has now become a rich community. Its median household income is 31% above the average of the county and is almost 50% higher compared to the national average. It is believed to be one of the safest cities in the county and it is considered to be a beautiful city with its many parks and public trails.
The Community Services District of Laguna Niguel was established in1986 and then on November 7, 1989, 89% of the members voted to incorporate the city. Thus, it became the 29th city in the county on December 1, 1989.
Laguna Niguel Land for Sale & Lease – Should You Buy or Lease?
If you are interested in land space in Laguna Niguel, you have two broad choices: buy or lease the land. Naturally, there are pros and cons to both of these choices.
Looking first at buying land, the pros include the fact that:
- You can lease out your land without having any income tax consequences, so long as you pay your income tax on the rent that you receive on the land.
- You become the owner of the land. This means that you have the opportunity to have a truly productive economic use out of the land for a longer period of time.
- You may retain a certain degree of control over how the land can be used and developed. There are usually zoning restrictions in place, which you will have known about before you purchased the land, and this means that those who lease from you will not be able to redevelop your property in a way that you do not want them to.
On the other hand, the disadvantages of purchasing land include the fact that:
- If you have leased out your land, it is possible that you might have allowed a tenant to use the land as security for a loan. If the tenant defaults, the land could be at risk of foreclosure.
- You will pay income tax at ordinary rates on any rent you receive. This may or may not be a disadvantage, depending on your personal tax situation.
- You must ensure that the lease document has ground control included in it, or the tenant could potentially completely redevelop the piece of land.
- You usually cannot borrow against the equity on the land while it is leased to a third party.
Meanwhile, when you lease the land, benefits include the fact that:
- You will have far lower initial development costs, because you do not have to purchase the land.
- You can deduct all your rent payments from your state and federal income taxes.
However, there are some downsides to leasing the land as well, including the fact that:
- Usually, the amount in the long term that you will pay for your lease will be much higher than if you had purchased the property. This is not always a disadvantage, however, as it will depend on whether or not you intend to be at the same location for a long period of time.
- You won’t have as much flexibility when it comes to how you would like to develop the land that you are leasing, and this may make it more difficult to run your operations in the way you want to.
- You will probably not be able to take any equity out of your business or refinance anything due to ground lease limitations.
- A lease is classed as a “diminishing asset”, which means that, towards the end of your lease agreement, your business value will also be decreased.
To help choose between the two options, being aware of the trends and statistics in terms of prices, supply, and demand, can be very beneficial.
Laguna Niguel Land for Sale – Trends and Statistics
One plot of land is available for sale in Laguna Niguel at present. This is a development site known locally as Siena Summit in the affluent coastal South. The land contains 5.98 buildable acres, with amazing ocean views. It is available for $7 million.
Laguna Niguel Land for Lease – Trends and Statistics
There are currently no land parcels available for lease in Laguna Niquel. This is mainly due to the fact that most pieces of land are earmarked for development, which means they must be purchased.
What these statistics consistently show is that investing in land, whether through a purchase or a lease, has a big caveat attached to it, which is that of zoning. In many cases, due to zoning, it is only possible to use a piece of land for a very specific goal. While rezoning applications can be considered, this has to be paid for by you what is worse is that they are rarely approved.