Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Buying Country Property
Dear Sue,
We are finally making our move to the country! Building our own home has been a dream of ours for as long as we have been married. (Fifteen years!) We can’t wait to get out of the Bay Area!
We have been looking on the Internet for some acreage. We know that buying rural property is different than buying in a sub-division. We were wondering if there were any special things that we should be aware of.
Country Connie
Dear Connie,
I moved from the Bay Area to Auburn in 1974 and have never regretted it for a single second!
It did take some doing to get acclimated to country living. I didn’t know a GPM from an RPM.
Before beginning your property search I would recommend that you gather as much information as possible. My first trip would be to the County offices. Pay a visit to the environmental health department.
This is where you learn that before a building permit can be issued, the property in question must be able to handle sewage disposal and provide a potable water source.
The sewage disposal system known as a septic system can only be installed if the soils meet certain pre determined county standards. The testing, known as “perc and mantle” is conducted by a soils engineer.
Different soils will require different systems. Each system will vary in cost. The cost can be as low as $6500.00 for a standard system to as high as $30-50,000.00 (sometimes more) for an engineered system. For obvious reasons it pays to have a county approved soils test and septic installation estimate as a condition of your purchase.
A potable water source is required before the issuance of a final building permit. If public water is not available a county approved well will be required. A wise buyer will make a potable water source a condition of the purchase.
A power source is also necessary. Determining the location of the electrical lines and the estimated cost to hook up is very important. Installing power poles will add thousands of dollars to your building costs. While solar is a wonderful option, many lenders are reluctant to finance property that doesn’t have access to a public utility company.
Zoning is another area of concern. Verify with the planning department that the property is zoned for your intended use. For example, you may want horses for the grandkids and find out that the current zoning ordinance prohibits horses. Don’t assume that if the property is rural that horses are allowed.
Check for legal access to the property with the department of public works. I remember selling a rural property many years ago to a young family. The public works department wouldn’t allow ingress and egress to the property because it didn’t meet the county’s line of site requirements. A portion of a hillside was restricting the view of oncoming traffic. The permit was finally issued after costly excavation.
The verification of property lines is essential. Just to illustrate the importance, I once had an out of area client who sold a rural property that they had inherited and never seen.
A buyer made an accepted offer and relied on a cousin to verify the property lines. The buyer drilled a well. He received a thank you note in the mail from his new neighbor who greatly appreciated the new well that had just been drilled on his property. Enough said.
Easements are a consideration. They will show up on the title report along with any other recorded documents including liens and encumbrances that affect the property. I recommend sitting down with the title officer and going over the title report. It’s a good idea to have title prepare a color- coded map for your review.
If you have selected a potential builder, it would be wise to have him/her do a feasibility study before completing the purchase. The topography, soils and building location can have a major impact on building costs.
I am very excited for you. Doing the research before acquiring any property will be a matter of good Home $$s and Sense!
We are finally making our move to the country! Building our own home has been a dream of ours for as long as we have been married. (Fifteen years!) We can’t wait to get out of the Bay Area!
We have been looking on the Internet for some acreage. We know that buying rural property is different than buying in a sub-division. We were wondering if there were any special things that we should be aware of.
Country Connie
Dear Connie,
I moved from the Bay Area to Auburn in 1974 and have never regretted it for a single second!
It did take some doing to get acclimated to country living. I didn’t know a GPM from an RPM.
Before beginning your property search I would recommend that you gather as much information as possible. My first trip would be to the County offices. Pay a visit to the environmental health department.
This is where you learn that before a building permit can be issued, the property in question must be able to handle sewage disposal and provide a potable water source.
The sewage disposal system known as a septic system can only be installed if the soils meet certain pre determined county standards. The testing, known as “perc and mantle” is conducted by a soils engineer.
Different soils will require different systems. Each system will vary in cost. The cost can be as low as $6500.00 for a standard system to as high as $30-50,000.00 (sometimes more) for an engineered system. For obvious reasons it pays to have a county approved soils test and septic installation estimate as a condition of your purchase.
A potable water source is required before the issuance of a final building permit. If public water is not available a county approved well will be required. A wise buyer will make a potable water source a condition of the purchase.
A power source is also necessary. Determining the location of the electrical lines and the estimated cost to hook up is very important. Installing power poles will add thousands of dollars to your building costs. While solar is a wonderful option, many lenders are reluctant to finance property that doesn’t have access to a public utility company.
Zoning is another area of concern. Verify with the planning department that the property is zoned for your intended use. For example, you may want horses for the grandkids and find out that the current zoning ordinance prohibits horses. Don’t assume that if the property is rural that horses are allowed.
Check for legal access to the property with the department of public works. I remember selling a rural property many years ago to a young family. The public works department wouldn’t allow ingress and egress to the property because it didn’t meet the county’s line of site requirements. A portion of a hillside was restricting the view of oncoming traffic. The permit was finally issued after costly excavation.
The verification of property lines is essential. Just to illustrate the importance, I once had an out of area client who sold a rural property that they had inherited and never seen.
A buyer made an accepted offer and relied on a cousin to verify the property lines. The buyer drilled a well. He received a thank you note in the mail from his new neighbor who greatly appreciated the new well that had just been drilled on his property. Enough said.
Easements are a consideration. They will show up on the title report along with any other recorded documents including liens and encumbrances that affect the property. I recommend sitting down with the title officer and going over the title report. It’s a good idea to have title prepare a color- coded map for your review.
If you have selected a potential builder, it would be wise to have him/her do a feasibility study before completing the purchase. The topography, soils and building location can have a major impact on building costs.
I am very excited for you. Doing the research before acquiring any property will be a matter of good Home $$s and Sense!
Labels: country property, property lines, rural land purchase, septic, well
# posted by Sue Thompson @ 12:46 PM 
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