A woman in a San Antonio suburb wrote the Real Estate Center recently complaining about a Wal-Mart to be built a mile from her $600,000 home.   ?My home is on a 5?-acre lot . . . at the top of the hill, and we have a beautiful view of the Hill Country from our deck,? she writes. ?We would not be able to see the Wal-Mart from our home, but the glow from the parking lot lights might be visible off to the west.?

While I can appreciate the woman?s wish to escape all signs of civilization, she should not be surprised by this development (no pun intended). One of the cardinal rules of real estate is that retail follows the rooftops. Anyone who buys a home outside an established neighborhood should never be surprised that vacant land attracts developers, especially when it?s on the outskirts of a burgeoning metropolis.

The number one mistake homebuyers make is not doing their homework. That may be what happened in this case. Someone looking at a home in an incorporated area can find out how nearby vacant land is zoned. If it?s zoned other than residential, they need to understand what might be built there. And they should not forget that zoning can be changed.

Before buying in an area with undeveloped lots or acreage, it?s always a good idea to check with city or county officials about their long-range plans. Was there a written land-use plan for this suburb? If so, how old was it? How was nearby property (or that within sight from the back deck) zoned? Were there plans to change the zoning? If the property wasn?t inside an incorporated area, what were the chances that a municipality would annex it or adjacent land?

As far as the homeowner?s concern about Wal-Mart?s lights, Dr. Harold Hunt, associate research scientist with the Center, explains that such development may or may not hurt nearby home values.  He notes that one mile is quite a distance. Unless the building is visible or noise from it is audible, it is unlikely potential buyers would be concerned. Increased traffic congestion, on the other hand, could affect home value negatively.

?Another thing to consider is whether a new Wal-Mart would make shopping more convenient for homeowners,? says Hunt. ?If there is currently little retail in the area and residents have to drive a great distance to shop, Wal-Mart could actually be beneficial to homeowners, and this could positively affect home values.?

Regarding changes in appraised value, Hunt says only time will tell. Appraised values are supposed to represent true market values and should be based on actual sales of comparable properties in the area. If Wal-Mart is built, and sales prices of homes around it do begin to decline, then nearby homeowners have a case to get the appraised value of their homes lowered. Again, it should be emphasized that this process could take several years because homes must be sold before any comparable sales exist.

?Despite all the research, hand-wringing and discussion that go into buying a home, one thing often goes unchecked by the suburban buyer,? writes Paula Lavigne in the Dallas Morning News. ?[It?s] the plan others have for the empty piece of land nearby.?  Lavigne interviewed city planners in North Texas, and heard the same story time and again. Faulty assumptions, laziness or believing misleading information has led to many surprises for homeowners.

Land that homeowners were assured would be a city park is now covered with homes. A four-lane highway now crosses the ?back 40? of a pastoral ranchette. Despite what a neighbor said about new homes being built there, the vacant land across the street had always been zoned for retail. 

The good news is that it is getting easier to discover what?s planned for vacant land. One telephone call to the city planner may suffice. Also, cities are putting more information on line. Some cities even have interactive websites that allow you to type in an address and pull up a zoning map.

Source: Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University

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