The plot of land across from me is for sale at an asking price of about a third of what it would it be if there were a medium-sized (say 2000 - 3000 sq.ft) single family home there, and that’s got me curious. It’s in a neighborhood zoned for single family homes, but how does one find out if building is really permitted on that particular lot? How long does it take from applying for permits to having a house ready for sale. I know there’s probably a lot of variables there, but I’m just wondering about a ballpark estimate. A year? Two? Ten if your lucky?
If the land is zoned for residential development then your pretty much set. Finding a builder who offers some pre-made house plans is pretty easy and they probably do most of the footwork getting the proper permits. Should be able to move in within a year if all goes well.
A Year?
How about 20 hours
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ok not ready yet, but too cool not to share this emerging tech.
Check with your local zoning board. [del]If your county has GIS online (and I can’t imagine a area like San Diego not having it),[/del] you can almost certainly just look it up there and see what the lot’s individual zoning is, any setbacks, etc.
ETA: Sure enough!
Your lucky? What the hell, Greg?
The land is on a bit of slope. Would I get a property inspector to analyze that, or go to City Hall and ask for reports? I didn’t have much luck with property inspectors when I bought my last house. The one hired to inspect the roof specifically ignored basic flaws and pronounced it A-OK. Then we had to have it replaced a year later. I’m worried about buying a property and finding out later it’s undevelopable.
OK, the GIS was helpful. Thanks KTK!
I’ve got this description of the parcel: SEC 23-14-2WSWQ(EX DOC79-470097)MOST ELY PAR PER ROS 5487 IN\
Now, how do I go about decrypting that?
Wow, that makes mine look like a ‘Dick and Jane’ book and mine is pretty long.
You might get more satisfaction from the zoning site. In my county, GIS, zoning, and taxes all interlink, but it doesn’t seem to be that way where you are.
The link I’ve given is City of San Diego. You might need to look here if that doesn’t apply.
https://maps.google.com/?q=32.9362187781843,-117.064819937097
Clearly looks residential. Ask the realtor selling the property if it is zoned for residential construction, and that you’ll need some sort of verification from the city. Talk to a builder about your concerns about foundation, slope, etc.
The specific parcel will likely be in an incorporated part of a city. The city will have a city plan which describes the allowed uses for that particular parcel, usually by groups of parcels all zoned similarly. A home inspector is very different than an inspection that looks at empty lots. Depending on the nature of the slope, certain foundational requirements will need to be met. The most common geo test I believe is called the soils report or something to that effect. That tells you what type of work will be necessary to support the foundation. Since it’s near where you are now, they also probably have the utilities run to the property already which is good because that saves money as well.
If you are serious about it, I would recommend you contact the city planning office or the building permit dept (or whatever your city calls it). They can advise you on the actual steps necessary for them to process the permit. In my experience, a phone call is best and usually you can get pretty solid information.
Once you know that, you can contact local general contractors and they can offer more guidance. Most will do all the legwork for you if you’re willing to pay. I’m not sure about your city, but some process permits very quickly - a few weeks, and some take longer, 6-9 months. Once you get the permits, your time will be limited by construction. A modest sized house without complex foundation work could be just a few months.
Check out the local property values. Sometimes undeveloped property isn’t worth much. A house could make the whole thing worth many times more than the property value, and sometimes the property is worth more than the house you put on it. Either way, good luck with this. It may take a while, but it can be very fun and exciting.
Good work! But how did you do that? Did you Google the parcel description and get a match, or did you somehow glean meaning from the description itself?
Meanwhile, city planning office, and building permit dept. Great, thanks! I’ll decide if I really am serious, and then give them a call.
Zillow is a nice resource for finding nearby property values. Just put in the address and run with it.
If you’re building from scratch, you’ll almost certainly have to get a survey done. That may cost anywhere from $1500 - $2500. Then you really should talk to an architect or a rather than a builder, or a builder who has the ability to draw up plans.
But I would go to the local planning department, ask to speak to a planner, and ask about what you can do with that property. The planning dept probably has counter hours set up for exactly this type of purpose. They can help you with things like FARs (how much house you can build on a given lot), slope considerations, setbacks and also if there are any easements on the property (even if it’s just a housing tract where no other property owner would have an easement, there might be a utility easement lurking there somewhere). You might even be able to call and set up an appointment, but most places take walk-ins as long as you’re willing to wait your turn.
Five to ten years ago in Ann Arbor, there was an article in the news about a vacant lot that was purchased, but which was unbuildable. Here’s a link to the property. The lot is to the right of the house with the marker in front of it, just below the end of the cul-de-sac, and to the left of the sidewalk. It shows up as a lot on city maps, but it serves as the detention pond for that street. If you go to street view, you can see how the lot looks like a bowl.
Apparently, there were taxes being assessed on it, but no-one was paying them, and the city took the lot. Someone purchased it for a few thousand, and probably thought they got a great deal for a lot in the city of Ann Arbor. So do your due diligence.
If you go here, and put in parcel number 09-09-14-209-051, you can get to it. If you click on the Sales history button, it was last sold for $1, but in 2002, it was sold for $6800.
Yes, first stop is the planning counter at Poway City Hall (or wherever the planning department is). And the proper GIS to look at is Poway’s.
Assuming you’re talking about assessor’s parcel number 3172417000
(12275 Old Stone Road, more or less)
It’s zoned RS-2 (Residential Single Family 2). Front yard setback is 30 feet; side yard setbacks 15 feet, rear yard setback 40 feet. Maximum lot coverage is 35 percent; maximum height is 35 feet.
One potential complication is the shared driveway serving 12279, 12295, 12309, and 12321. It appears to cross the lot, so at the very least the lot will be subject to that easement.
A slope shouldn’t be a problem. The builder can cut out a level area into the side of the hill. My parents had that done for a house trailer at the lake. The area where the house sat was completely level. The hill rose up behind and dropped below the home. Like a stair case step.
I helped my dad build a stone retaining wall behind the home. There was a dirt wall where the dozer had cut into the hill. It would have eroded without a stone or brick retaining wall.
quick check of zoning laws could be helpful.
For example, in the town I grew up in a lot had to be at least 2 acres to build a house on it. There was a corner that was a vacant lot because the lot was only an acre and a half - too small to build on.
Also, you could to build any building within 8 feet of the property line.
As far as I know, if the zoning is residential and the lot is big enough for the house you envision, the permits are quick and easy.
Other valubale questions: Are there public utilities (water and sewer) serving that property? If you live in an area of wells and septic systems, you might find one or both of those is an issue. My town had a nice paved cul-de-sac with no houses on it because they built the road before discovering the ground there “has no perk”, meaning you can’t put a septic system in it.
Another example of lots in residential areas that cannot be built on: Around here when a subdivision is built a percentage of the land is set aside as “forever green”. Can’t be built on, cleared or anything. The developer is usually stuck with it. (Sometimes the HOA, but we don’t have one. Yeah!) The developer of course has no interest in paying property taxes, worrying about liability, etc. So they don’t pay their taxes. The lots go up for auction. Some idjit buys them. Finds out they can’t do anything with them. Lather, rinse, repeat. We have 3 such lots adjoining us and they are on their at least 3rd owner since we moved in.
We have talked to a couple of them about buying them but they always ask a ridiculous amount.
Why would we buy these lots? Once in a while some jerk buys one a forever green lot and starts harvesting the trees. Not supposed to do that. By the time the local homeowners get the county to stop it, it is sometimes too late. Plus they end up hiring a lawyer to file injunctions, go to court, etc. $$. It’s simpler to buy the lot and not worry about it if the price was reasonable. E.g., around the amount of taxes.
Note that if you own a vacant lot, in addition to taxes, fees, etc., you also need to be insured if someone gets injured on your property.
Well, that all costs money, so not sure it “shouldn’t be a problem”. 
But still, the formula one uses to determine the largest house one can build will generally be tweaked to take slope into account, even if you do some leveling. If you have a 1/4 lot with a significant slope, you can’t use “1/4 acre” to figure out your max house size.