Considering buying an odd lot

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

We've been planning with the assumption that we'd build on the land we've long owned -- a 45 acre farm. However, we're kicking around the possibility of buying a lot in the city instead. Why? My husband (who is a bit more into the buying-a-lot idea than I am) has two legitimate concerns: 1) we farm the land, and cutting off a portion of it decreases our crop income. We don't make that much from renting the land, and we aren't going to actually live on more than an acre. 2) across the road and across another large field is a new school. We are in an area that is GROWING FAST, and it is common in this area to build additional schools next to existing schools (this is practical: for events, two parking lots are available, schools can share expensive baseball fields, cuts down on busses needed to distant areas, etc.). He is very concerned that we'll build our house, and then the county will take the land against our will and expand the school. And/or, our county likes to place parks /playgrounds next to schools; I grew up with the teacher taking us across a small side road to access a city park during recess. This could happen; however, two other farms are also adjacent to the school, and to be truthful, ours is the least accessible to the school -- I kind of think that even if this happened, they'd pick one of the other guys.

Anyway, we are looking at some lots and kicking around the idea of building somewhere other than my land. Will we do this? I don't know -- he doesn't know -- but if you know me at all, you know that I come up with some oddball ideas and reject most of them ... on with my thought of the day:

We have found a lot in a prime neighborhood. The neighborhood is mostly 1.5 - 3 acre lots, all with nice, all-brick houses, all nicely landscaped, a smattering of pools. Expensive houses for this area. They've been building in this neighborhood since the mid 1990s, and only two lots remain unsold (though a few others are standing empty).

It is connected by a walking trail /bike or golf cart trail through the woods to the growing "Town Center" area, which includes the library, the senior center, shopping, a pharmacy, and restaurants. This is a nice area with plans for expansion, and I think that we would enjoy being close /connected to it.

The neighborhood really is nicely located -- and if we should ever decide to re-sell, we would be the ideally situated smallest-house-in-the-nicest-neighborhood. This neighborhood is in a country setting, but it's only 3 miles from a major road, and 30 minutes down the road is the biggest city in our state -- so it's kind of a best-of-all-worlds location: Quiet, country lifestyle, with quick access to big city amenities.

Now for the oddball question: The lot in which we're interested is 1.23 acres -- not huge, but plenty big enough for the 1900sf house + pool that we intend to build. The lot contains some moderately-large trees, and it is already cleared and ready for building. City water and sewer run by the lot, but we'd have to pay to be connected. The front of the house would face North-East, and the back (which we value more highly in terms of light) would face South-East; the garage would fall on the preferable side of the lot, blocking the cruel Western sun.

But it is sort of wedged between the main road, a twist in the road, and a cul-de-sac road. It's definitely the lot that was "cut out" last; I'm sure that the designers portioned out the prime lots first, and said to themselves, "Well, this is the best we can do with this oddball corner that fits where the roads come together." It is a rectangular lot ... but instead of the rectangle facing the main road, one of the "corners" touches the main road ... thus, the road frontage is small -- I'm horrible with measurements, but I'd estimate we're talking about no more than 30 yards of road frontage ... and then it widens out. It's a bit like a cul-de-sac shaped lot ... but it's not on a cul-de-sac. I'm thinking we could have a small front yard, then the pool and back yard would set in the wider, open area, and we'd have a shed /pool equipment building behind the pool in the back corner where the lot narrows again. Like I said, odd.

So, would you go for this lot?

I'm attaching a picture, though it's not a very good one -- they cover up the road frontage with an identical map. On purpose? Probably. The road that comes in from the left is the "main drag" through the neighborhood. The road that appears on the right is a cul-de-sac road. So our driveway would have to be located at this intersection area. This is not a problem: People don't cut through this dead-end neighborhood going to other places, and these are not busy roads.

I am concerned about difficulties of bringing in utilities through a small area.

I am concerned about the driveway being forced into that small road frontage, and -- a related concern -- I am willing to shift the garage to front-facing, which would probably be necessary.

I am aware that headlights from the other road would shine right into my guest bedroom, but I'm not really concerned about that -- just ready to install both plantation shutters AND good, thick drapes.

The lot hasn't sold because it is definitely "lesser" than the rest of the lots in the neighborhood. However, at this point the builder is "done" and is selling the lot cheaper than he sold the others -- lots cheaper. I could write a check for it right now, even if I didn't negotiate -- and I always negotiate.

So, my question is, would you buy this oddly-situated lot?

Featured Answer

manhattan42

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Have you spoken to the municipal Zoning office regarding this lot?

Did the municipal Zoning office tell you this lot was buildable?

There is likely a reason this lot has not been built on before.

It could be too small by current zoning standards to build upon, or there may be easements or other legal encumbrances associated with it that could make building impossible.

It doesn't appear the property has direct access to the road in your photo.

Will you have to get a driveway easement from another property owner, the County, the State, the Municipality just to access your land? Driveways are usually not permitted to enter roadways on blind curves, and your only access to the road (if you have any) seems to be at a blind curve.

What about utility easements if your property is 'landlocked"? How much will you be willing to pay to neighbors to bring utilities through THEIR property?

Any wetlands on the parcel? Wetlands don't have to be a deal killer but they can drive up the cost to build immensely, or limit the area upon which you can build....and then you might not be able to meet building setbacks in a reduced buildable area.

Too many unknowns here for which you need answers.

You wouldn't be the first buyer who believed land was buildable, bought it, then found out later it was not.

Scrutinize intensely before you buy and remember: if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

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Comments (10)

AnnKH
9 years ago
Sounds like a wonderful neighborhood!

I can't see the dimensions, but my Mom's house was on a lot about the same size, so I have a feel for the size. I think you could easily tuck the garage on the NW side of the house, side-loading.

I wonder, though - maybe the picture doesn't show the exact property lines. Who owns the triangle between the curved road and the upper right lot line? You mentioned small front yard, pool in the "wider" back yard, but if the lot itself is as shown in the picture, the front yard is as wide as the back. Unless you're thinking of orienting the house so it faces N, instead of NE.

I think it would be useful to zoom in on the lot lines, and make a scale cutout of the house/garage and pool, to see how it would fit onto the lot.
DLM2000-GW
9 years ago
It's really hard to see but is that a neighboring house on the upper left corner of the property you're considering?
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amberm145
9 years ago
I can't see that map at all. I see a blue rectangle and a yellow dot?

Anyway, we have an odd shaped lot, and we love it for that reason. The front yard is typically wasted space. It was popular in the 50s to have large front yards just to show off to passers buy how much lawn you have. It's no longer practical. So a tiny front yard with a big backyard sounds awesome to me.

I am building inner city. Like, almost downtown inner city. Ours is slightly wider that your frontage. But most of the inner city lots here are 25' frontage. They get the water and sewer and electricity in just fine. Most of them don't have driveways. We have back alleys where you build your garage and park in the back. But I imagine a very private approach to the house, with just the driveway and a few trees at the front. It sounds quite nice.
sheloveslayouts
9 years ago
Yes I would go for that lot.

For a long time we thought we'd live out in the 'country' about an hour from the city center. All of my real estate searches were in that area. Then almost two years ago, a home in a wonderful close-in location on a dead end street popped up and we bought it.

Every time we go for a walk and every time I hop in the car at night for a quick trip to the store I am so very glad we didn't move to a rural location. I grew up in the country surrounded by wheat, alfalfa, apples and cherries orchards (my folks lease out their land.) We couldn't safely walk on the shoulderless country roads, we couldn't breathe outside when they sprayed, we didn't live near any convenient shopping.

I love the idea of living in the country, but it just isn't for me. I'm 40 and our parents are in their 60s. A lot of our renovation decisions were made based on accessibility in aging, so I totally think a golf cart trail from my house to the town center would be awesome!

Even if the lot is odd, you can make the best of it. You're always very thoughtful and creative on GW.
Lavender Lass
9 years ago
I don't know...is there a rush? I would want to know about the utility access and driveway location BEFORE I put any money down.

As for going from country to small acreage...I can see the advantage. This is more of a forever/retirement house, right? The last thing you need is all the upkeep and travel that you will have with living in the country. I do it (and I love it) but it's a real PAIN sometimes :)

If your husband (and you) believe this will be a better location for your lifestyle, then I would consider it. As you say, the lot is very affordable and in a good location. Make sure there are no other issues (as I'm sure you will) that make this lot difficult to build on.

And the diagonal layout...that can be a real plus! You'll have more space on the sides, in the middle of the property. Do you plan to set the house on an angle? Maybe curve the driveway along the top side and around? There are a lot of possibilities...if you can get the utilities and driveway access to work with your plan :)
Butternut
9 years ago
How far away are the other houses from your house? You say 30ft of frontage but if it's 1.23 acres and not incredibly deep, then the other houses must have more, correct?

I think you need information from the builder/developer about where the house would be ideally situated, where the driveway would go, and your questions about the utilities. They should be able to answer that pretty easily. They should be able to provide you a better map.

We have 110 ft of frontage now, but 200 ft is minimum in the town we are planning to build. So 30 ft does seem really small.

I would consider the idea of an in-town lot versus your farm though. It doesn't seem like you think the school is a big deal, but like others said, it may be more convenient in the long run.
Lavender Lass
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Also...school means traffic. Lots of noise, too. Not really the picture-perfect country setting. Did I mention the bus diesel exhaust? It's bad enough with farming...just saying :)
mrspete
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for all your thoughts! However, I've been researching and talking to a real estate agent, and I found out I was WRONG -- DEAD WRONG -- on something massive:

When I went out and looked, I was looking at the wrong lot! Yes, I was being completely and totally STUPID. I have two college degrees, and I was shut down, befuddled, and confused by street signs and a map. My husband also has two college degrees, and ... well, in our defense, none of the lots have "for sale" signs. No, that's not enough: We have no defense. We're only part-time idiots, I promise.

So ... the correct information:

The above-shown map is correct, but the roads look totally different in person. The lot is actually located on a cul-de-sac; yeah, I know, it doesn't look like a cul-de-sac on the map. Only two lots are placed on the cul-de-sac, and the house that's already built doesn't face the cul-de-sac.

The thing is, the cul-de-sac isn't going to STAY a cul-de-sac. The road is going to be extended out towards the aforementioned Town Center (right now it's connected to the neighborhood with a trail, but it'll be a real, driveable road eventually). They're planning more houses between the neighborhood and the Town Center, which I knew; I just didn't know that road would be extended in that spot.

That's why the rectangle looks odd: Eventually this rectangle will face the road straight-on. So the lot has plenty of road frontage, but that road frontage is going to change at some point in the future.

So ... I don't think I'm interested in buying a lot with a road that will DEFINITELY be changing significantly. I think it's too much risk. And it seems pretty certain that at some point I'd have to do some re-work on the driveway /mailbox.

However, there's another lot for sale by owner -- why don't people put up signs? -- slightly larger at 1.5 acres, 30K more money, and backwards (meaning that the back of the house would face North). BUT it has really nice hardwood trees, and it's on the road leading towards the will-be-altered-cul-de-sac.

In response to your above comments:

- The city owns the triangle in front of the lot -- knowing that this will eventually be a road, it makes sense. This may be why a lovely cul-de-sac lot is available ... but, then, a couple other very nice lots are owned but not built upon yet.

- No, having seen the lot personally, that's one of several piles of wood in the corner of the map. Not another house. I had to study it carefully and think back to what I saw to figure it out!

- Now that I am looking at the right lot, only one house is next to this empty lot, and it's a comfortable distance away. The other side is empty for now ... but eventually when the road opens up, other houses will be built on the other side. How close? Can't say. Again, this is awfully uncertain.

- Yes, we're retiring in about five years, and we're building this house with the intention of living in it the rest of our lives. I do not welcome the idea of building, and -- at some undetermined point in the future -- having to re-do a bunch of stuff. Sounds expensive and problematic. And if the road doesn't follow the anticipated path, which could easily happen, they could end up taking a portion of my lot against my will. I don't think that's likely, but it is possible.

- No, no rush exists at all. I'm not hurrying into anything, and I will definitely talk to zoning people -- if I decide to pursue this lot. I'm well aware that the real estate agent has "an agenda", and it isn't to make me happy long-term, so I'm not taking everything he says as gospel truth.

- This is a really great neighborhood, but it's not the only game in town. If I heard that someone else bought it (and the other lot I just found out about) this afternoon, I would not be upset -- I'd just figure God didn't want me to have it. I will not be the person who buys an unbuildable lot.

- No, I don't really have big concerns about my 45 acres of farmland being near the school. I agree that it means extra traffic, but really only twice a day. And it's not like I'm right next to the school -- they're set back over perhaps 30 acres plus a two-lane road. That's one reason I suspect that IF my husband's fears ever come true and the school annexes someone's farm, it'll be one of those other two, which are closer /more convenient to the school. I'm near but not right on top of the school. Incidentally, the exisiting school is a middle school, so no teenaged drivers; however, our fear is that they might build a SECOND school adjacent, and an elementary school would mean more pick-up parents, and a high school would mean teen-aged drivers -- that's what I really don't want.

If my husband suddenly said, "I give up the idea of a city lot, let's stick to the farm", I would be happy. Some things about a city lot are appealing (good places to walk being one of them), but so are some things about the farm (like more privacy).

- As for living in the country, I'm well aquainted with it! I grew up in the country -- real country, on a farm. And for the first decade of our marriage, we lived in the country. We really only came to "the city" for the schools we wanted our kids to attend. We want to go back.
Darla Grossman
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I grew up on a 500 acre grain farm. I didn't realize it was such bliss until I started living in a subdivision. We are planning to build on 4 acres soon. My need for privacy is great! I think your last sentence is telling. Go back and build in a private area of your acreage . It's money you won't have to spend for land and can use for your house. The money you get from renting can't compare with the pleasure of wide open ( or forested) vistas!

Considering buying an odd lot

manhattan42

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Considering buying an odd lot

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