Is it possible to buy a big land where there is a small very old house and build 2 or 3 houses?

[LuvVA]

Originally Posted by paulbunyan

Don't let the naysayers scare you. I'm in the process of acquiring some property to do this right now. Sit in on a few county zoning meetings and you can see the shenanigans take place in real time.

You would be surprised at what they let happen. And a lot of times they are legally bound to let you do something, so it's not really their call. In a nutshell, if they let someone else do it, and they tell you no, they better have a damn good reason

Thanks for this encouragement.

My problem is I can't buy the land without knowing if it's feasible.

I will contact the county zoning office to see if the respective land I have in mind can be sub-divided, cost for getting the approval etc.

[paulbunyan]

Originally Posted by LuvVA

Thanks for this encouragement.

My problem is I can't buy the land without knowing if it's feasible.

I will contact the county zoning office to see if the respective land I have in mind can be sub-divided, cost for getting the approval etc.

Lol. Zoning is gonna tell you no every time. You have to get another opinion. And the only way to get a good one is to talk to someone experienced in this. I talk to a LOT of builders and property owners (All over the age of sixty by the way...i'm 40ish lol)

And I can understand why you don't want to buy without knowing. But just like in Risky Business...sometimes you gotta say what the blank and grow a puur. Lol

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by LuvVA

Thanks for such a long post and it is very informative but scary too.

I hope it's over exaggeration.

I will at least give a try without spending much to see if it's feasible.

Thanks to all for your posts too.

I worked in land development for a decade (2000 to 2009). I'm telling you the truth. The paul bunyan guy is selling you bad goods. If you own a byright property you are better off, but as you describe it, there is little chance you will be able to increase density enough to pay back under your current zoning. If you have to upzone, you are in big trouble.

Either way, you won't know without at a minimum hiring a land lawyer to at a minimum do the research to determine what the parcel allows.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by paulbunyan

Lol. Zoning is gonna tell you no every time. You have to get another opinion. And the only way to get a good one is to talk to someone experienced in this. I talk to a LOT of builders and property owners (All over the age of sixty by the way...i'm 40ish lol)

And I can understand why you don't want to buy without knowing. But just like in Risky Business...sometimes you gotta say what the blank and grow a puur. Lol

There is no chance in heck you know anything about land development. That or you are about to lose all of your money attempting to do so. That is in no way how ANY land developer in this area operates. If you'd like I could poll Hazel, Comstock, and NV to see how they feel about the "f-it make your move" feasibility study process you propose.

As to why you are trying to lead this person into a future bankruptcy, I have no idea.

If you have a byright capability to increase the FAR to allow for multiple units, then you could do a infill (what you see a lot of small time developers do). But to purchase the property without knowing what the maximum FAR is, what the current FAR is, or what the acronym FAR even means... that is a quick way to lose a lot of money.

[paulbunyan]

Lol,

As I stated above, the county (Since you used to work for them I know you think like them) will always say no. But since you are so knowledgeable lemme give you a couple of scenarios and get your take.

1. What if you bought a house, that used to have TWO houses on it, but one of them got knocked down, And the foundation still exists? Can you build on the existing foundation?

2. What if you buy a house that was approved to get subdivded years ago, but the building plans were never submitted? Could you build there?

What about these two situations Tysonsengineer? Whats your opinion

[paulbunyan]

And obviously if someone is getting into building homes they should have enough money to do so. Just because my advice is different doesn't make it bad or that someone is gonna follow it and go up in flames lol

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by paulbunyan

Lol,

As I stated above, the county (Since you used to work for them I know you think like them) will always say no. But since you are so knowledgeable lemme give you a couple of scenarios and get your take.

1. What if you bought a house, that used to have TWO houses on it, but one of them got knocked down, And the foundation still exists? Can you build on the existing foundation?

2. What if you buy a house that was approved to get subdivded years ago, but the building plans were never submitted? Could you build there?

What about these two situations Tysonsengineer? Whats your opinion

I never worked for the County. Considering you dont know that land development is initiated by private developers, I find any of your expert advice highly suspect. I worked for Bowman Consulting, a private consultant, for many many many developers.

1) That never happens. That condition might be the case in 0.0001% of lots in Fairfax. If you find that unicorn, you should be fine because that property by right has FAR allowance as it once held that density. Secondly, what does any of that have to do with land development. PS you will have to spend some significant funds to hire a consultant to determine code compliance for the foundation, but that is more akin to fixing up, than to land development. When you start dealing with site plans and rezonings, THAT is land development

2) If you buy a house that was rezoned previously, in FFX Co that rezoning is only valid for 5 years since renewal. If the land owner continued to renew that rezoning since that time on a 5 year basis, then yes you could still build there; otherwise NO, you may not unless that rezoning was incorporated into the master plan zoning and changed in its zoning type. In this case YOU STILL NEED TO HIRE a consultant and land lawyer prior to purchasing anything to determine the parcels history.

You could be buying a piece of crap property with a flood plain encumbering it, or a conservation easement, or a hundred other things. If you dont believe me, I have great water front property in Florida for you too.

[paulbunyan]

Great,

Nice long winded way to say I was right.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by paulbunyan

Great,

Nice long winded way to say I was right.

How in the world you attained "you were right" from what I just said is beyond me. Enjoy losing all your money (I know you don't actually do any land development anyways)


There is almost no chance you randomly purchase a property at low cost to which the developer was keeping a renewed rezoning. And there is even less chance you find a property that "used to have 2 houses" and the foundation is still in place to build that house again.

It is laughable if it werent so disturbing that you thought it were apt.

Get a land lawyer, get a consultant for feasibility study, and above all things don't listen to joker snake oil salesman telling you what you want to hear instead of the actual regulations and costs that you will need to account for.

[South Jersey Styx]

OP, I agree about securing a land lawyer for advice. Counties/towns can often have "peculiar" situations or requirements. For example, our family owns property in South Jersey within the boundaries of the State's Pinelands Reserves (over 1 million acres of protected forests in NJ). On one piece of property, we were allowed to tear down an old house but had to build the new one on the existing foundation. On another property, we wanted to sub-divide it but were denied because the housing lot had to be a specific size.