The other day in class we had two guest speakers, Dr. Samuel Harris and his attorney Mike Gentry, talk to us about their journey trying to develop a piece of real estate that Harris owns. The land in located in Bryan and has been in Harris' family since his great-grandfather won it in a poker match. They are currently in the process of building a hotel on this land, but have run into many problems. The biggest challenge was moving a oil pipeline underneath the ground where some of the oil spilled out. The ended up having to spend a big chunk of money for the soil replacement, but was able to resolve the issue. They also plan to build a gas station and a retirement community on this land.
The topic of rollback struck my interest during this lecture. Dr. Harris' land was taxed as agricultural land, which meant the land was idle, making the tax very cheap each year, but once Harris sold that land the rollback was applied, causing him to pay taxes for the previous five years based on the market value of the land. In addition, 7-percent interest is charged for each year from the date that the taxes would have been due.
There are so many rules along with problems that come with developing real estate, making each developing process unique. I have been thinking about attending law school and this lecture has sparked my curiosity in real estate law.
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