Building From the Ground Up

Building From the Ground Up
Illustration by Nancy Doniger



Article Tools Sponsored By
By AMY GUNDERSON
Published: September 5, 2007

Unlike purchasing a furnished condominium, buying land to build your second home is a complicated process. Terms like zoning, wetlands and building footprints fly about, as plans for an idyllic retreat are patched together under the advice of a lawyer, real estate broker, architect and landscape designer.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
More Home Away Columns

While the land search process can be an extensive — even a multiyear search — there are some basic rules of thumb to keep in mind as the hunt begins.

Where Should You Build?

Western states with wide open vistas and ranch parcels topping hundreds of acres may have few building restrictions. But in a highly developed area like the Hamptons, a potential property owner will be confronted with limits even on generously sized parcels.

Each town may have its own restrictions that dictate how much of a given parcel can be occupied by structures, including the main house, detached garage, pool house and even a tennis court.

A setback determines just how close a building structure can be to the property lines. “Every piece of property has a building footprint,” said Gary DePersia, a senior vice president with the Corcoran Group in East Hampton, N.Y. “And there are setbacks even if you were building in the middle of a cornfield, and that creates your building envelope.”

That said, a seemingly grand one-and-a-half acre lot can seem cramped. In the village of East Hampton, for instance, a small parcel of land might be limited to 7,000 square feet of structures. “A tennis court is 7,200 square feet,” Mr. DePersia said.

Who Should You Hire?

Once the search begins, bring in a second set of eyes to look at the property. Both a landscape designer and an architect can help not only to craft a vision of what can be built on the property and how views can be captured but also to estimate the cost of preparing the site for building, from the actual home construction costs to the price tag for a gravel driveway.

Working with a broker who specializes in land sales is helpful; so is a lawyer who is familiar with potential zoning issues or with building near wetlands. “Call town hall and start asking around for attorneys that are familiar with local zoning laws and have been in front of the planning commission,” said John Harney, a broker in Litchfield County, Conn. “They are familiar with the process and the players in the town.”

A good lawyer and broker can also investigate how the land was previously used. In Litchfield County, some land on the market was previously used as farmland. Such parcels might, say, have an oil tank buried on the property or something even more surprising. Mr. Harney noted a recent sale in the Lakeville, Conn., area where he said, an entire house was buried on the property. “The broker forgot to mention it,” he said. “And now the owners are stuck digging it up.”

How Remote Do You Want to Be?

The proximity to basic services like medical facilities, grocery stores or restaurants can help narrow down the search. “I was working with one buyer, and we were about 20 miles from White Sulphur Springs, Mont.,” said Dave Johnson, a ranch broker at Hall & Hall in Bozeman, Mont. “Once we got there, the buyer said, ‘We’re still 90 miles from town.’ This buyer wanted to be close to Bozeman.”
Need to know more? 50% off home delivery of The Times.