Why the lot next door
may not be worth the same

What a lot is worth turns on what can be built on it, and that comes from the lot itself, not from the lot next door.

The first thing looked at is the shape of the lot itself. Width, depth and the town's setbacks decide together which house plans fit, and that is checked before anything else. On an acre or more in a township like Elk or Pittsgrove most plans fit comfortably. On a narrow lot in Deptford or Glassboro the choice narrows quickly, and a plan that will not fit is not a plan a buyer can price.

Then there is the question of sewer. Sewer service areas are not drawn along roads. They are delineated lot by lot in a county wastewater management plan, so two properties facing each other across a street can sit on opposite sides of that line. Which side of that line a lot sits on usually decides whether it can use public sewer or needs a septic system instead.

Where there is no sewer, the septic system is sized by how the soil on that lot drains, and the state rules require the testing to happen at the site of the proposed disposal field, not somewhere nearby. That is why the answer belongs to your lot specifically. Our own land form lists three utility setups: public water and sewer, public water with septic, or a well and septic.

Last, it matters what the town has already approved. If the town has already approved splitting the lot, a buyer values it with that approval in place. If not, the buyer works that out while checking the land before closing. That is often the largest single difference between two pieces of ground that look identical from the road.

Two lots that match on every point above can still price apart on access, frontage, an easement, or whether a buyer already has land nearby under contract.

Lots vary; this is what usually moves the number, not a valuation of any specific property. Written by Justin Kelly, NJ Real Estate Broker-Salesperson. More at South Jersey New Construction.