Dividing large lots into smaller lots... (income, tax, zoning)

[Mark.ca]

Originally Posted by terracore

They are also cheaper to fence. In fact if you plan on fencing your lot, paying more for the square lot may actually cost you less in the end.

Is there a geometrical formula that i don't know? How is a 100x100 cheaper to fence than a 150x50?

[leilaniguy]

Here's how it works. An acre is 43,560 sq. ft. An acre that is 100' wide and 435' long is 1065 feet of fence. a square lot is usually 200' X 217.5' = 835 feet of fencing.

[hotzcatz]

There's no difference in the length of fence required between a 100 x 100 sized lot and a 150 x 50 sized lot, since it's 400 lineal feet either way. But, as has been mentioned, sometimes the amount of fencing can be different to enclose the same amount of square footage depending on it's shape.

There's also the consideration of what you're driving the fence posts into. If it's soil, it's good. If it's lava, well, that's a bit of a different story.

[leilaniguy]

I fenced an acre here. 100 X 435, took me a year of weekends to finish and a over 3 thousand bucks for just hogwire and posts, cement, etc. It did keep the pigs out. It was in Pahoehoe BTW, so the posts kind of meandered back and forth along the property line to find the closest crack, and they weren't evenly spaced either.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

There's no difference in the length of fence required between a 100 x 100 sized lot and a 150 x 50 sized lot, since it's 400 lineal feet either way.

But they aren't the same sized lot. Sure, any two lots with a 400' perimeter are going to have the same length of fence... here, let me do the math, that would be... ummm.. 400'

BUT, the 100' x 100' fence would enclose 10,000 sq ft, while the 150' x 50' fence would be 25% smaller, at 7,500 sq ft.

Or another way to look at it is that a lot 50' wide would have to be 200' long in order to be 10,000 sq. ft. in size, which would give you a fence length of 500'.

Getting back to the earlier question, a square has the smallest perimeter of all rectangles of a given area.

The reason long, skinney "spaghetti" lots are popular when dividing up undeveloped land is that it maximizes the number of parcels that can be lined up along a road, or a river. Besides Hawai'i you'll find them in several Western states and Maine.

[hotzcatz]

Or just buy a lot that's in a circle, then you'll get the most land inside the least amount of fencing! And, if you buy your land some where that has soil, it will make fencing a whole heck of a lot easier.

We will be doing some fencing coming up soon, but it's for a residential lot with deep soil so it won't be all that difficult or expensive to fence, I expect. Most every project is different so it's hard to have a standard answer.

[nwcountrygal]

I looked into this a couple of years ago for a 25 acre parcel. Was told the council would have to approve. And the chances of that was small. Didn't look into it anymore after that. Not sure but was told by a council person.

[67Cam]

Originally Posted by nwcountrygal

I looked into this a couple of years ago for a 25 acre parcel. Was told the council would have to approve. And the chances of that was small. Didn't look into it anymore after that. Not sure but was told by a council person.

This follows my thinking after looking into it. It's too big a gamble to spend so much on a property then leave it up to the whim of a group of people (Council, neighbors, etc...) to decide what you can or can't do after the fact. If there were absolute, clearly written rules to go by that you knew ahead of time exactly what you were allowed to do (or not do), then sure.

Maybe write something into a purchase contract that stipulates that the deal will only close after property division has received approval from whatever entity it has to go through? I'm sure there are many reasons why this wouldn't work but I'm just spit balling it...

[Mark.ca]

Originally Posted by 67Cam

Maybe write something into a purchase contract that stipulates that the deal will only close after property division has received approval from whatever entity it has to go through? I'm sure there are many reasons why this wouldn't work but I'm just spit balling it...

No seller would accept such condition. Why would they? Even if you pay extra the odds are just not in your favor.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Mark.ca

No seller would accept such condition. Why would they? Even if you pay extra the odds are just not in your favor.

Agreed, because it can easily take many months, often years, to go through the process of getting all the necessary permissions and approvals in place.

There are people who do this, obviously, but they're typically professional developers who have lots of time on their hands and are willing to take a risk on an unassured outcome. It's too risk and rife with potholes and unexpected expenses... legal costs in particular... for the average person to take on simply to lower their investment.