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Off topic Building a house on your own land.

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Huw from west w

10-03-2003 08:22:38

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How hard is it to get permission to build a house on your own land in the United States. I have 40 acres of land which i own and paid for and part of it is only couple of feet outside the zoning line but the local authority will not give me permission to build a house for myself and my partner. I was just wondering if it is hard to build on your own land in the US.

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Jack M

10-04-2003 13:57:12

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Here in the town I grew up in (northeastern Ma.)it has gotten to the point that if you don't have a six figure job you can,t even afford the land. (goes for 250k for 40,000SF). I bought my house many years ago before the yups infested the town. Gone now are the farms and the rural charactor of the town. What is here traffic jams, nasty people for the most part, and very high taxes. I'm getting ready to get out. Our kids are grown and we have bought an old farm in Maine. There it is easy to build as long as you have a suitable land for septic. We bought 60a, and will put the house so no one can build next to us. I hope I don't live long enough to have those***** yuppies invade where we are.(they probably won't,too cold for them) I wish you luck.

Jack M.

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Ray

10-04-2003 09:27:16

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

I live in rural California, building depends on the County you live in. When I moved here in 1978, a building permit cost less than $1000, you needed 5 ac. and enough separation for a well and septic. Now it costs $30,000, still mostly the same requirements. It all comes down to population density. There are more and more rules the more people are crowded together. There is always someone who abuses the system, and rules and regulations proliferate afterward. Example: the guy who moved half a dozen old trailers on his place and collected rent from all the people living there. Sewage flowing down the hill, junk scattered everywhere. Then come the rules to prevent it from happening again. My County is close enough to a city, there are lots of commuters, the road capacity is filled with cars, and we get $25,000+ in building fees to pay for new roads prior to building a house. Nobody likes it but too much population = more fees, restrictions, etc. Without it the greed of a few make life miserable for the rest of us. Just my $0.02.

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Van

10-04-2003 07:08:30

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

I second the one from Indy about every yuppie with a compact and credit card moving in. They seem to bring their way of life with them and then expect us to live by their standards. They are also driving the land prices up to the point I will not be able to afford to expand my farm in the near future. I have my share of the bunnie/tree huggers (several families) right up the road from us and they think I am just a crude redneck because we actually eat some of the animals we produce and hunt. (They think meat comes from the store) A farmer in the next county shot two dogs running his calves last spring, the folks that owned the dogs came looking for them two days later and he told them where to find the dogs and what happened. Needless to say they filed a complaint with the sheriff and DA and it went to court. He was fined $3000 per dog and told to leave his rifle at home when checking cattle in the future. The city is moving in boys and there is nothing we can do but VOTE. In time if this trend continues we will regress to the point of each little "farm" having to grow thier own groceries because all of the great farmers that feed the world will not be there anymore. I have vented for the day, sorry about the long post.
Van

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Rod F.

10-04-2003 06:11:16

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Here in Nova Scotia, it seems we are getting the same problem. The morons are in the drivers seat. My county is not too bad, but the next one over, well, I'm glad I don't live there. A developer in the city recently bought a piece of land in the city which used to have a hospital on the site. It was torn down a number of years ago, and the province left the land vacant. The locals started using it as their own little park. Then the province decided to sell, as it was surplus. Big stink. Now the developer has to get the land re-zoned from instutitional to residential. He wants to build duplex housing for rent. Upper middle class, for people retireing who don't want the worry of looking after a house, and don't need the room anymore. He has to get a development plan that suits everybody in the neighbourhood, and the municipality doesn't have the spine to do what is right and approve what he wants to do. His plans would certainly add to the apperance of the area, as these homes would blend in nicely, generate tax revenue, which it never did before, and also creat some much needed work in the area. It's just a sad sad political process. I think they deserve a nursing home or a cracker factory on the site. After all, it is zoned institutinial. As far as building is concerned, in the country you need a perc test, good water (no coliforms, or treatable), electrician, and I think a plumber as well. Funny thing too, the taxes are very high....

Rod

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Indydirtfarmer

10-04-2003 05:43:13

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

In my area, it's a bit too easy to get permits and such. If you've been following my "situation", I would prefer that it was MORE difficult to build here. Every Yuppie with a compact tractor, and a Home Depot credit card, is putting the squeeze on our farm. The "requirements" are; minimum of ONE acre, pass perc test, and pay for permit ($250). Some "developements" have restrictions, but that can be circumvented quite easily. Across the road from my sisters house,the first Indiana stae lotto winners built a $5,000,000 home, only to have someone move a 1960-ish mobile home right next to it. Laws that we don't need, and no laws where we need them. Aint it grand?

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Kelly C

10-05-2003 07:10:51

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Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on your own la in reply to Indydirtfarmer, 10-04-2003 05:43:13

I noticed that when I lived a few years in IND.
You drive down any country road and it looks like a very long city street.
House after house on both sides of the road.
Farm land all in the back filling the section.
I have never seen that anywhere else.

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newgen

10-04-2003 06:09:25

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Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on your own la in reply to Indydirtfarmer, 10-04-2003 05:43:13

Here in our county you need 75 acres to build a new house, unless you can prove that there was one there at some time. Not good for the developers and the yuppies but who needs them anyway!!

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Indydirtfarmer

10-04-2003 06:30:55

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Re: Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on your ow in reply to newgen, 10-04-2003 06:09:25

I would guess that holds the property values down somewhat? Here, we can sell an acre "building lot" with a marginal road frontage, for around $25,000. (Let's see, that's 1500 acres, times $25,000....somebody stop me!)

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newgen

10-04-2003 10:04:08

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on you in reply to Indydirtfarmer, 10-04-2003 06:30:55

Yes and no-existing building sites in the country are sky high-as is farmland-but property like you just described isn't worth much.

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Steve - IN

10-04-2003 00:25:06

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Another good reason we got upset in 1776!

In all seriousness, some parts of our country are just as bad as yours. There's not as much overriding national regulation here - it's mostly state and local regulations.

New England and the Pacific Coast are generally the most restrictive. In the south, midwest and some of the west you can do most anything you'd like with rural land. The basic idea is that you want to go somewhere they have little in the way of governmental "services", that's no where close to Federal land, and is not populated by tree huggers. In short, if you check which states have the lowest taxes; that's where you'll find the most liberty and freedom -- there seems to be a direct correlation between the two.

As a guy who lives in the land of Adam Smith and John Locke, you should be telling us about this stuff -- but we, like you, seem to have forgotten some of those 18th century principles.

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lp in la

10-03-2003 21:00:59

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

We had the start of that same problem in la.All it took was a serious change on election day and all that changed.If you people would quit complaining on these boards and take it to the polls you could stop this crap.Make your local politicions know that there going to do whats right for the people or not get re-elected.

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Dan in Ore

10-03-2003 18:57:24

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Here in Oregon it is almost impossible with all the environmentalists telling us what is best for us and if you can get permission to build, the building permits are extremely expensive. I know of one family that couldn't build because the cost of permits were too high.

Here you don't own your property even if it doesn't have a mortgage. The state, county and city will tell you what you can and can't do with it and when you can do it. Property taxes are so high that it just seems like you are renting it from them.

Got that off my chest, thanks for the opportunity.

Dan

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MarkB

10-03-2003 16:33:40

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

In most areas of the US, if you have 40 acres of land, it is not difficult to get permits to build your house. The main exception would be if your property is in an area designated as wetlands. Come pay us a visit!

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stan

10-03-2003 14:04:46

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

If you are't under a city code you may be under the county you live in. This is the kind of stuff that makes people go nuts. Government just has too much control over US

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KURT (mi)

10-03-2003 12:54:36

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Not too hard to build on your own land as long as the house meets local, state codes for electrical, plumbing and framing, concrete and so forth. You have to apply for a building permit which was $500 for me in central Michigan. and by the way you cant build a house on designated wetland, or swamp and you must pass what is called a soil percolation test, in short this test is performed with a local health department offical and a backhoe. You have to dig down 4 feet in Michigan and not hit water.

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rhouston

10-03-2003 11:48:32

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

had one built 5 years ago in N.Y. state. It was very easy the town sees the tax dollars, Which makes them agreeable. Had to have the septic right they check that. The only other issue was the wood I beams, the town inspecter was concerned about the span. He checked them onsite and was satisfied. Now if you are somewhere where the environmentalists are thick (there is a joke there son) you may have lots of issues.

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Lloyd

10-03-2003 11:33:25

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

In connecticut,we are having a difficult time,they are making me jump thru many hoops, I own 50 acres near the 5 acres my current house is on and want to build a new one there,much red tape from people in local gvmnt who do not live in or near my property. I dont get it but thats the way of the world, People move in because they like the town, then do everything they can to change it to reflect where they came from.

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markct

10-03-2003 17:09:20

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Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on your own la in reply to Lloyd, 10-03-2003 11:33:25

yea thats for sure, we have 20 acres and wanted to build a barn on an old foundation we have and it turned itno a huge mess with the town and paperwork. i was just thinkin today when i was brushoging one of the hayfields i use (i was too late with my first cutting to get a second cutting) the farm the field is a part of is owned by a lady who is about 90 years old i think, so i imagine she wont be around too much longer, and then im sure it will be houses, but o well. by the way where in connecticut are ya from, i am from the town of northfield

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Steve (Magnolia, TX)

10-03-2003 11:04:52

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

I (technically) built one, 5 years ago, on 5 acres. I sub-contracted most of it out, but I was the general contractor.... It was almost TOO easy...

The toughest restrictions, here, were for the septic system and the fresh water well. Building permit was easy...

Steve

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Jack McGann

10-03-2003 09:07:32

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Re: Off topic Building a house on your own land. in reply to Huw from west wales uk., 10-03-2003 08:22:38

Some localities/states are more restrictive than others and might require you to be licensed in some of the trades.

Generally though, if you are building a house to live in yourself you can do most of the construction as long as the work meets local building codes, especially in rural areas where codes may not be enforced. If you are doing work for others you would probably need a license, particularly for plumbing, heating, and electrical work. Other than that its fairly simple--pay the fees for building permits and have at it.

I'm just starting my 3d. First was in Minnesota-pretty tough restrictions but it was near Mpls. 2nd was in rural Colorado but still near Denver-I could do everything but the septic system and gas furnace. The place I'm starting now is in very, very rural Colorado and they don't have any enforced building codes although require a state inspection for plumbing and electrical. I can still do everything myself.

40 Acres in Wales? You could probably sell that for $$$ and buy several times as much land and pay for the house too in many areas here across the pond.

Good luck!

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Pitch

10-03-2003 20:01:55

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Re: Re: Off topic Building a house on your own la in reply to Jack McGann, 10-03-2003 09:07:32

In my county it is very easy all you need is your land not to be a wetland and it must be large enough for the well and septic to be seperated by 100' have an adequate supply of potable water and the soil to perc. You can even get around the perc requirement if you want to spend the money on a sand filter system. You can do every bit of the work yourself,it all must pass state code the county inspector signs off on everything but the electricity which must be signed for by an approved electrical inspector.

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