Gonna be time to build a fire!
5 years ago
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Comments (21)Sitting around Sunday night, chatting with a friend while hubby watched TV in the next room, my ears suddenly caught "43rd St. and 7 Mile Rd." on the news. That is my street and the cross street north of me. Seems a guy was dumb enough to drive his van into water so high that he had to be rescued by divers! Glad we are high up and have mostly raised beds. Really, a lot of this trouble is because of climate change and strange weather, but also it is people being stupid. Those people on Lake Delton, I have little sympathy for them. Sorry they lost their possessions and things, but what were they thinking, building on a lake with no flood insurance available? When hubby and I first looked for a house 22 years ago, we went around with a realtor. Anytime the description of the property said "Lender will require flood plain insurance" we just refused to even look at the house. Why live where the house will likely flood? We lived one street over from River Rd. for a while. No problems by us ever in 12 years there, but the houses on River Rd. repeatedly got flood damage. And they got insurance money to fix them up, some houses 3 different years of the 12 I lived there! Finally the local government said this is insane, and used emminent domain or condemning or something to buy all the houses next to the river and wouldn't let anyone live there anymore. If you want to take the risk of building a house next to a lake when you know that no one will give you flood insurance, then, sorry to be blunt, you are stupid and taking a big risk and you know that. Bodies of water need buffer zones, how many disasters will it take for us to learn that? You can't just pave and build up to the shoreline because you want a nice view, it doesn't work in the long run. Marcia...See MoreFirst time build, where to start?
Comments (11)Great questions! And here are some more things to ask before buying raw land... GENERAL LEGAL ISSUES 1) Is this a legal lot? If not, how do I make it legal? 2) Are there any existing liens against the property? 3) Does the Zoning on the property permit my project? 4) Are there any existing zoning violations on the lot? 5) Are there any cultural heritage sites on the property? 6) Does the deed also convey the mineral rights to me? (Don't be surprised if it doesn't b/c on almost all land, the mineral rights have been divided from the surface rights. But do find out what minerals are likely to be located in your area and who owns those rights. Consider the possibility that the owner of the mineral rights may decide to mine for them. Laws generally give mineral rights owners amazingly broad rights of access to the surface property as NEEDED in order for them to reach their underground minerals. You do NOT want someone deciding to drill an oil well or strip mine for copper in YOUR back yard. It might be worthwhile to find out who owns the mineral rights and whether they would be willing to sell those rights to you for a small fee.) NATURAL HAZARDS 7) Is the site subject to flooding? (Get a FEMA flood plain map and do NOT plan to build inside of or very near a 100 year flood plain. Even better, don't build in a 500 year flood plain!) 8) Is the area subject to any other natural (or semi-natural) hazards? (landslides, forest fires, earthquakes, faults, subsidence, liquifaction, etc. ACCESS ISSUES 9) Does the lot have legal access to a public road? (For example, if the only access to the public road system is via a private road over a neighboring property, will the buyer of the lot acquire a legal right to drive over that private road?) 10) Does the existing access roadway meet the fire department access requirements? If not adequate, what will it cost to improve the road? SEWER/SEPTIC 11) Is the lot served by a public sewer system? If so, what is the sewer connection fee and does the sewer district have the capacity to serve my lot? 12)If public sewer connection is not available, will I be able to install a septic system on the lot? If a perc test has already been done, what were the results? (IF NOT, AND YOUR ARE GOING TO NEED A SEPTIC SYSTEM, MAKE THE CONTRACT CONTINGENT ON PERC RESULTS THAT WILL ALLOW FOR AN ADEQUATELY SIZED SEPTIC SYSTEM!) WATER 13) Is the lot served by a public water system? If so, does the water purveyor have enough capacity to serve the lot? Do water lines already run to the edge of my property and if not, how far away are there and how much will it cost to get them to my property? How much is the water connection fee? How long does it take to get a water hookup? 14) If the lot is not served by a public water system, is it possible to drill a water well on my property? How much is drilling a well likely to cost? 15) Does the local fire department have water pressure requirements that I must meet before I can build? OTHER UTILITIES 16) Does the lot already have access to electricity, gas, telephone, cable, trash pick-up services, etc. If not, what is it going to cost to get these services to the lot? HOA 17) Does a Homeowners Association have jurisdiction over the lot? 18) Are there any Homeowner Association or Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R�s) related to the development or use of the lot? 19) What deed restrictions exist on the lot? SURVEYING 20) Has the lot been recently surveyed? (Get a copy of the survey but also have your own survey done BEFORE you buy... and either be on site when the survey is being done or have the survey company mark the boundaries with very clear markers that YOU can see. You don't want to purchase land, start building and then discover that the land you actually purchased is the next one over from the one that you thought you purchased and started building on! BUILDING PERMITS 21) What building permits are required to build on the property and what do those permits cost?...See MoreDo you go thru times of disinterest with the build?
Comments (23)i have had to really control myself when discussing issues with the builder because I know it can backfire. learned that from reading many posts on GW. the way i have approached it is that i bin things into 3 buckets a) gotta be addressed right now, b) needs to be addressed - but wait for the right time , and c) address at the end - cosmetic issue. Very few things make it into the A bucket. And when an items does pop up, I am very careful about how I approach the builder. I am always pleasant - even when I am fuming mad. I try to figure a way to let the builder save face "oh, the electricians kinda let us down here" even if I knew it was his direction that caused the issue. If I am steaming, i wait until I cool off before I call the builder. This is very hard for me - I got 1/2 italian and 1/2 german oil in me. Had to do the same with DW - when she get's frustrated about the house progress. So far - it has worked very well. I have only had to pull on the handle twice. The first time was at the beginiing - after a 4 week delay in the foundation being dug. I had to wait until there was no reason for excuse (we had all the permits, we had good weather, we had all the plans - everything was in place). I waited long enough - then I called. I explained to the builder that we were concerned that something was wrong. Was there anything we needed to do to help? Within 3 days after that call - digging started. The second time I pulled on the handle was when the siding started - then the guys disappeared for a week (my limit). This was after the electricians had been pulled away for 2 weeks - back again for 1.5 days - then off again - then back on again (drove me nuts!) and we were a month behind schedule for drywall. Again - I waited until there was no room for excuse. All of my work was done (I did some wiring), the electricians were done, we had all the inspections. Called to ask the builder if he knew that his subs were not on the job for a wekk (like he would not know why) and was he ware of that. "I love the work they are doing - great job - but the Tyvec is starting to rip away from the wall" Day later - siders were back on the job. I think timing for raising issues and the approach to interacting with the builder is key. If you pull on the handle to often, or yell and scream - you will go further down on the priority list. My builder always answers my calls or emails - because I never yell or scream at him. I am always very calm about working through issues. It's a very professional working relationship. But I have had to work very hard at it too. I have learned, and finally accepted the fact, that we are not the only project the builder has (even though we think ours is the most important of course) and that stuff happens. There are a lot of dependencies in the many tasks required to build a house - and if one thing slips on any job - it can have a big ripple affect on everyone. Builders like to use the same subs they have counted on for years - these subs have schedules to. There are life issues (builders mom passed away), weather issues, car accidents - crap happens. This has been very mentally and phyically draining. Learned a lot about diplomacy - which is not my strength. I know it will get done in time....See MoreBest book to read for a First Time Owner Build
Comments (15)We are in the throes of GCing our first build. It is so time-consuming, but definitely doable. Sure, I've had a lot of stress that I wouldn't have had if we had hired a turnkey builder, but it's helping us to afford what we really want. I spend a LOT of time over there. It's 11 AM and I've already been out twice this morning. I am making 2-3 trips some days, but fortunately we currently live about 12 minutes away from our building site. It helps that I am home full time. My husband works a lot, but he is still able to help with phone calls and such. I'm not sure how much of owner building experience is area specific, but it's very common in this area. The subs are very used to working with OBs. We lucked out with our framer as he helped us coordinate a lot of the stuff on the front end for no additional cost over his framing charge. We also have a lot of recommendations from people who recently GC'd their own homes so it helps to know who to use and who not to use. Having said that, we have had a not-so-great experience with our plumber. You will definitely encounter things that have to be changed or modified. You'll need to be able to make decisions on the fly. I think the biggest thing you'll need to do is be able to forecast how each step affects the next. It's definitely not impossible if you have time to invest in it and research everything. Ask around for recommendations on subs and see their work. Good subs will give you references also. Like JDez, I actually prefer the control it gives me....See More
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