There are several factors that come into play when you are choosing a buildable site for your kit home.
The time to do the research is BEFORE you buy your land. It's often a good idea to ask the same questions of different people to see if you get the same answer. Some good sources of information are:
- County Assessor & Recorder
- Title Company
- Realtor
- Building Dept.
- Planning Dept.
- Water & Sewer Districts
- Road dept.
Listed below are some major issues that you should consider and research. While not an exhaustive list, this is a good starting point, and generally through this research you should become aware of any major drawbacks of a particular lot.
ZONING
If the lot that you are considering for your kit home is not zoned for Residential use, you may be able to get a variance to change the zoning. However, strongly consider whether your new kit home would be valued the same if it ended up being surrounded by commercial buildings. It pays to be aware of the zoning of other nearby properties, too. If the area you will be building in is changing from Residential to Commercial, chances are that the home values are declining in that area.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Check out the overall environment of any lot that you are considering. Make sure that there's not a moratorium on building on a particular lot due to water availablity or other issues.
If there are environmental/soil studies required in order to build, you should know what extra costs you will be responsible for, or better yet, negotiate for the sellers to perform this work prior to close of escrow.
Also, look carefully at any set-backs on the property other than what the county requires. Be sure to measure any set-backs on the property and compare buildable spaces to the footprint of the kit home you are planning to build.
For our second kit home, we bought a parcel that's almost an acre, but our house barely fits on the only buildable site on the lot!
Take into consideration any prohibitive building costs due to:
- Steep grade of building site
- Long water lines
- Long sewer lines
- Long electrical line
- Fire requirements for the driveway
As we've proved with our first kit home, these things may not deter you from buying a particular property, but it's nice to be able to budget for them. A buildable site for one person is not necessarily buildable for another, it usually is 'just' a matter of money.
DESIGN RESTRICTIONS: CC&R's
Before you worry about design restrictions that may be out of your control, you should consider whether your design will suffer due to the surroundings of your building site. It's generally not a good idea to overbuild a property when compared to the neighborhood (i.e. building a 3,000 square foot custom home in a trailer park).
Some neighborhoods may have established building standards that you must follow, also known as CC&R's (covenants, conditions and restrictions). These will usually be favorable items that require everyone to adhere to a certain standard of building, but if they won't let you park your RV or ski boat, then it might not be the neighborhood for you.
Historic neighborhood's may also have restrictions that require you to adhere to an architectural standard. Make sure you know what extra costs that would entail before committing yourself by purchasing the land!
LEGAL STATUS OF THE PROPERTY
Obtain a map and legal description using the APN of any property you are considering. This most often is done while you are in escrow, but is easy to do before you even make an offer. Verify existing liens (and whether they will be removed when you buy the lot), easements, encroachments, or any other encumbrances recorded against the property. Make sure that the property has sufficient legal access!
If you're doing this research while in escrow, keep an eye on the clock, as you will usually have a set amount of time to back out of the contract if you discover a major problem. Your county recorder and assessor, realtor and the title company are your best sources for information in this area.
BUILDING DEPARTMENT REQUIREMENTS
Check with your local building department to see what requirements they have to make a site buildable. One major item is water and sewer service. If the lot will not have access to public water and sewer services, you will need to make sure that the property will adequately provide for a well and septic system.
Other issues that may need to be addressed:
- Soil stability
- Storm-water control
- Seismic or flooding hazards
- Any environmental studies required
- Soil engineering requirements for building on slopes
Obviously this is just a partial list, and you may not run into any of these issues - but it's far better to be prepared and make an educated decision. Now is the time to begin familiarizing yourself with the building permit application process and local building codes for your area. As you become more familiar with the building requirements you will be better able to assess various lots. Plus, we found that our local building department was easier to work with when they could tell that we made a good effort to plan ahead and do things correctly from the start!
AVAILABILITY & COST OF UTILITIES
As mentioned previously, lengthy water, sewer, or electric lines can add to the cost of building, but there are other costs that you should research thoroughly. If you will be connecting to public services, be aware that the connection fees can vary a great deal in different areas. For instance, the cost to build in the city may be thousands of dollars different than the county, even if the actual lots are only minutes apart. Some areas may also be subject to impact fees. When comparing different lots, be sure to take these figures into account - that expensive lot outside of town may end up being less costly than the lower priced lot in town (or vice versa).
