Of course the priorities and final decision are yours. Your description raises questions in my mind as to whether or not I would purchase this property:

--How is the lot accessed? A view to the north and access from the north means that the "open" side of the house to take advantage of the view is also the public side of the house where visitors and passers-by can see into the house.
--Where is the lot located and what are the climatic conditions, specifically the heating-degree days? A north facing house means no direct natural light and no chance for use of sunlight for passive energy. If winter storms (rain or snow) come from the north and the house opens to the north, that becomes a very bad condition for energy efficiency and operating the house.
--Sloping terrain often means multi-level construction. Is your physical condition and energy compatible with lots of stair usage throughout the day? Day after day? Lugging groceries and shopping items up more than one flight of stairs?
--Sloping terrain can result in some dramatic house designs for custom designed houses that are designed specifically for the site and its particular slope. Usually downhill sloping houses are more comfortable than uphill sloping houses, so try for a design that enters the house "high" and flows down, rather than vice versa.
--Sloping terrain means forgetting stock plans from the house plan factories. None of them are designed for a site such as you are considering. Find an architect! If using an architect scares you, or you think it may not be in your budget, find another lot that will be simpler to build on!
--Trying to adapt a stock house plan designed for a flat lot to a sloping lot automatically means substantial excavation for a foundation that will be "at grade" on the uphill side, and may be a full story or more in height on the downhill side--a very expensive foundation which would be the equivalent of a "walk-out" basement, but with the added challenges of waterproofing against all of the downhill flow of surface and subsurface water. In such site conditions, one would want to know about the rocks and difficulty of excavation, proper waterproofing for pressure-driven water, sump pump and emergency power. And then there's all of the downhill foundation/basement wall on view!
--If you can build where the power lines are not visible from your site, that's a good thing. If there are no reasonable building sites where the power lines are not visible, then look for another lot. Who wants to look at power lines for 20-30 years!
--Does your lot have utilities? Will you have to pay to bring them to your lot? I'm assuming that natural gas, water and sewer lines are unavailable, thus you should check with neighboring properties and your county agricultural agent to see what you can learn about the type and cost of necessary utilities. They will give you a sense of the range of options for well depth, septic leach field extent, presence of sub-surface streams, etc.
--An all-electric house means a need for a very energy-efficient house (electrical power is expensive, but not as much as fuel oil or propane in many areas), so you should be thinking and reading about "tight" energy-efficient construction. If power outages are common during storms, you will also want to think about the options for an emergency generator to be included in your design.
--How is adjacent property zoned? Will it be possible for someone to open a quarry or oil refinery next door? Do you care what's next door and the views, odors, road traffic, etc. of neighboring properties?

Lots to consider when thinking about land. Hope this helps. Good luck with your project!

--

Virgil made some excellent points.

We recently purchased a lot on a mountain after four years of painstaking research. We learned a lot! We also saw others buy lots that turned out to be unbuildable within their budget.
How wide is the lot? Too narrow and it may be difficult to put in a driveway with a reasonable slope.
Do not assume it will be easy to find water. Ask the neighbors how deep they drilled, what flow rate they have.
Check with the county to see what ordinances govern building on steep slopes. They may have introduced more restrictive rules since the neighbors built.
If you can provide the lot dimensions, or one of them, I can calculate the average slope of the lot and comment on potential problems

This post was edited by -henry on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 9:37

Move on.

Is the photo taken facing north?

This post was edited by -henry on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 15:38

Lots like that are the norm here in western PA...

Henry: I was standing at the north boundary of the property when I took the photo, so I was facing south.

Here are some of the listing photos. This is the view to the north:

This one is zoomed in, you can really see the power lines here.

Looking north west I think:

Looking north east maybe:

Further up on the property facing south I think:

This post was edited by olivesmom on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 16:15

Virgil: You raise some good points

-RE: Privacy I do not think the front (north) side of the home will be exposed to the street due to the trees and how far back we could potentially place the house.

- RE: Climate I am located in the pacific northwest, outside of Seattle. Right now we are having a bit of a cold spell, in the upper 20's to low 30's. Generally our winters are mild, gray and rainy. Heat can be on oct- June, but it's not really that cold.

If the backyard of the house was cleared enough, wouldn't we get sun on the south facing portion of the home? Regardless of the lot, it was my plan to have the front of our next home to face north, with the backside facing south.

-RE: Multi level construction. My husband and I are in our early thirties. Stairs aren't an issue at this point in time. I have lived in a home with an uphill slope (drive under garage with two stories on top). One set of stairs from the garage to the main level doesn't bother me. More than that would and I have lived in such a home, a very narrow town home in the city - never again!

I have also seen some plans that have a drive under garage and another to the side on the main level. That might be more appealing.

I'm not sure how common multi-level, drive-under garages are in other parts of the country, but here in the Seattle area they are not uncommon. One of the Architecture firms out here that many of the builders use have several of these sort of plans. In fact, the drive under home I lived in previously was one of theirs. So while we will need some specific foundation engineering and modifications, we might be able to get away with a stock plan.

- RE: Power lines. The power lines are an issue, I'm just not sure how big of one. In the listing photos I'm posted above you can see the lines. Im not sure how visible they would be from a deck at an even higher elevation then those photos.

-RE: Utilities. Power and phone are in at the street. The lot will need septic and a well. Another concern I have is the cost to run the power to the middle of the lot.

RE: Zoning. I need to find out more on this, the lots adjacent to this one are all zoned residential. Behind this lot is the mountain, which I think is a protected Forrest (need to confirm) Across the street is zoned "mineral" and actually there is a quarry, lol. It's more of a gravel lot though, not like the real quarries I've seen elsewhere in the country. I need to spend more time at the property to observe how much can be heard, but I think the truck noise will be the worst. What ive described sounds worse than it is and the power lines actually provide somewhat of a buffer, and then there are all the trees in this property. I need to investigate some more for sure.

From your photos it appears that portions of the lot are quite steep, but a few areas look buildable without major effort (assuming the area in the photograph is deep and wide enough).

I'd walk the property, front to back and side to side, before spending much more time on it. The next step (if there is one) is to check on regulatory controls. A power line across your property most likely means a no-build permanent easement is there. If you can find a buildable site far enough away to be screened by existing trees it should not be a major issue. Of course, if the power lines are at the front of your property, that means a greater distance for access road, electrical and telephone (in other words, greater site development expense).

When you check with the regulatory agency, verify the size of the leach field for a septic system, and add that to the size of the house in order to estimate the size of an overall buildable area that will be required to be cleared.

Good luck on your project.

Regarding a quarry--just because it's a gravel lot today with little activity or noise does not mean it will be a gravel lot forever. There is the potential there for lots of heavy machinery, blasting, and rock crushers.

That alone would cause me to keep looking.

Okay so I got the letters from the county indicating that there is space towards the rear of the property that can be built on. The septic is in question though. A topographical map needs to be done and some sort of soil observation study. The soil study was quoted $3-4,000 in 2007. I have no idea how much the mapping would cost, and then there's the well.

What is the normal process for buying a lot? Are offers typically made contingent upon obtaining suitable soil tests, well results, etc.? Do buyers typically have to invest several thousands into raw land just to determine if they want to buy it?

Virgi: I should clarify, the power lines are not on the property. They are across the street and can be viewed somewhat.

Rrah: the actual gravel pit is some distance from the property I'm looking at. I need to do more research, but I don't think a gravel pit is as bad as other types of quarries. I think some gravel pits do blast, but I couldn't find much information. You cannot see the gravel pit from the road. Across the strees is a patch of tall evergreens, then the power lines, and behind that way, way back is the gravel pit.

Here is a screen shot of the property showing the proximity to the power lines and gravel pit. The property is in yellow (this is just a portion of the property, as it is actually two lots). The power lines and buffer cut across at an angle. The gravel pit is just past the power lines, the oddly shaped sandy spot.

I forgot to add that I checked and the area to the south (rear) of the property is indeed protected and will remain undeveloped.

This post was edited by olivesmom on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 19:13

The power easement is huge. I would be concerned that the utility might decide it needs to add more lines in the future and build them higher. If you decide to purchase you might want to investigate the easement further.

Regarding contingencies you can include anything that you consider important. For example, we discovered that some of our neighbors had to drill two or three wells before hitting water. We made our offer contingent on drilling a productive well and specified minimum flow rate and maximum depth.

Ten acres is large enough to have encroachments that are not obvious without a boundary survey so that became a contingency too.

We spent about 10k prior to purchase, but better to find out before purchase than after. Imagine trying to sell a lot that has one or more dry wells. None of the 10k was wasted as we would have had to spend it later anyway.

If soil tests are required to determine load bearing capability, then better to make that a contingency too.

A new septic test should be done regardless of a prior old test. Ideally you want a soil that percs for a conventional system in a location convenient to your house site. If the soil is poor you may be required to install a more expensive system. Again, better to know this upfront. It may even help in the negotiations.

Good luck!

AT first glance at the aerial photo, this property does not appear to be ideally located. The power line easement and the quarry across the road are big negatives, IMO. Unless the property is extremely reasonably priced, I'd be skeptical about it.

Lots of good advice above about prior purchase investigations and/or contingencies for the purchase agreement. I'd focus on due diligence with the regulatory agency to learn what has to be done (and the cost) to make the lot buildable.

Good luck!

I would walk away based on the quarry. What if they start blasting? Also, if you are THAT close to a quarry, odds are good that there's a lot of rock in your soil too, which can make digging a foundation pricey. We lived about a mile from a quarry once, and when a field nearby was developed, the builder had to blast to dig the foundations. It was pretty unpleasant to live near the blasting, and I'm sure paying for it wasn't great either (but this was in Northern Virginia at the height of the housing boom).

I would also look at how water flows on the property, especially given that you live in the rainy Northwest. You don't want to build where rainwater flows towards your foundation. I know that it's possible to regrade, but I wouldn't want to be constantly fighting nature in that way. The road could be widened in the future, people across the street could cut down trees and put in large driveways... You can sue if people send too much run-off onto your property, but it would be better not to have to.

Also-- I would seriously think about how busy that road is likely to become. It looks like the kind of street that could become much busier as time passes. I have friends who live off of similar roads and one lost her dog in a car accident. None of them let their kids near the road, because people drive past at 50+ mph. I would be especially nervous if it got a lot of heavy truck traffic.

I agree that the lot isn't ideally located. Unfortunately though, the power lines are a problem in the area I'm looking at. There are two other lots I'm considering and they are both close to the lines, though not as close as this one and you cannot see the lines at all from those lots. The other two lots don't have any sort of view however, are smaller, have their own issues and are 125-230K more. This lot is priced extrememly low.

I plan to go back to the lot when we get some good weather and walk around. No matter what, the soil testing that needs to be done can only be done in Dec/Jan so IF we were going to move forward with this lot it wouldn't be for a while anyway. Before the soil testing the lots needs to be mapped and the gravel road needs to be cleaned up, so there's that too.

The road that this lot is on isn't likely to be widened. The road loops around and the area is all zoned for a very low residential rate. The county purchased multiple lots and preserved them under some city development program, so nothing will be built on them.

As I mentioned, we won't be building for a few years so there's no rush. This lot, with it's low price, could be paid for in cash. Whereas the other lots would require financing. Lots don't move very quickly here so I don't fell any pressure to make a decision. In the meantime I'm going to try to find out more about the gravel pit.

This post was edited by olivesmom on Wed, Jan 23, 13 at 16:30

i said it in my earlier post, but I will say it again. I would immediately walk based upon the quarry. As zone4newby pointed out, and as I tried to earlier, quarries can change. My own experience is another case where things changed.

H and I did a great deal of due diligence prior to our last build. We checked the zoning of all the nearby properties within a couple of miles. We're in a semi-rural area. We made sure we understood exactly what could happen with each zoning classification. We thought we had it covered. What we did not know, and the county didn't tell us, was that years ago properties zoned for agriculture could dig rock (a quarry). Being new to the area, that was the question we did not think to ask. When the zoning changed some of those properties were grandfathered in to be quarries if need be in the future. None existed at the time of our build. Since then an old farm, a mile away, has discovered it contains a very specific type of rock needed to clean up some kind of superfund site in an adjacent county. This type of rock is some what rare. Five years ago or so, the lovely farm on the nearby hillside became a very active quarry. That first summer they ran rock crushers 24/7. We could not hear it inside but our neighbors did. We could not enjoy the outside that summer with the constant hum of the crusher a mile away. (Not across the street) It was quite the fight to get it stopped. Today,, at least once a week, we hear the blasting going on. It's pretty disturbing. Even concerns about a nearby watershed expressed by the county, the department of natural resources, the neighbors, etc. could not stop it because the rock was needed.

BTW-if there is gravel, it's pretty likely they use a rock crusher.

A useful tool when looking at properties is the county GIS, if that county has one. It can give you information that is in the public domain such as previous sales history, assessed tax value, soil stability, etc.

For example, say you are looking in King County WA, the attached link is for the King County GIS where you can either zoom down to the lot in question, or enter the address in search. Then click on the lot, you can then view the property report and so on. Many counties have this online software, easy to find thru Google.

Here is a link that might be useful: GIS

Ooh-- you can find a lot of information about the slope, soil structure, etc... using the USDA Soil Survey app. You can select your lot, and then look at all kinds of different information about it. It's a free online app.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Soilweb

The hillier the lot, the more money that the build will consume. The less amenities that the lot has, the more money that the build will consume. And all of the money that we're talking about here will be "invisible" money. Money to bring in the electric, dig the septic, dig the well, to do the earthwork needed to create a flat enough and stable enough spot to build on and still manage to route away the water. There will be a big hole in the ground that all of your nice wood flooring and granite countertops gets spent on, and you have to be OK with that probability.

If you are on a budget, the best money that you can spend is on a good buildable lot that already has much of the infrastructure done. It's just more money up front that's all. Better to have to spend that money there than to (surpise!) have to come up with it because you've encountered unmovable rock right where the basement needs to be dug.

And after you've poured all of that money into the big hole in the ground, if the quarry changes operations and becomes busier, you can kiss all of that money goodbye. You'll never be able to sell at anywhere close to what it cost you to build.