I have 8 acres of raw land. How can I make money off of it, beside simply selling it?

My grandmother has 8 acres of raw land (1.5 acres on frontage on one of the main streets in our city) that is paid for 100%. Her house is now on the land, but the zoning is going from residential to commercial, with strip malls, gas stations, apartment complexes and more. There are three lone holdout houses right next to one another. We have tried to sell the property a few times but the price is always too low because either the neighbor won't sell, or someother mishap.

Since we carry no loan on the property, how can we develop it commercially and be able to get financing from a bank for doing so? Instead of selling it, we want to develop it into some sort of storefront, strip mall, or something. How can we secure the funding for this? I just heard in the same neighborhood that Starbucks pays $95,000 (and a profit %) per year for 20 years to the site owner - how can we score that?

lumber is very lucrative. if you have good forestation, consider contacting a lumber yard for harvesting some of the wood. they do all the work, and you get the check. get a couple offers and make sure to mark off what trees can go, and which will stay.

Contact Starbucks and see if they would be interested in the site.

mini golf course.

So you have 8 acres of commercial land I'm assuming. Financing shouldn't be a problem because you could use the property for collateral for a construction loan. You'll first need to go see a local civil engineer to develop a plan (this isn't free of course) to see what you can develop to maximize the site and abide by the local regulations. A leasable strip mall is always profitable no matter where it is, but you will need to advertise early so you can have some commitments to lease so you can as they say "Build to Suit". Another option would be to get a partner, one who already has money so you would be putting up the land and the other would be fronting the money, therefore you have no financial risk, but only gain, although now your gain would be less since you are splitting profits. Hope this is helpful.

Raw Land Loans are an agreement in which a lender (usually a bank) gives money to a business who is performing a Raw Land Development Project. The business agrees to repay the money with interest, at some future point in time. Raw Land Loans are very flexible and comes in a variety of terms to meet your specific needs. Money issued for Raw Land Loans are usually distributed in increments as the Raw Land Development Project meets certain milestones.

A qualified high volume/high traffic retail or foodservice operation can own and operate a Starbucks licensed store. Examples include: hotels and resorts, healthcare, college and university campus environments and business and industry. http://www.starbucks.com/business/leadSubmission.asp

Open up a bordello!