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Throwing this one out there as you never know who knows what around this place.
So I'm randomly looking at a few patches of land to buy so as to eventually have a place built.
Most are full wooded lots which will require many dozens of trees to come down before it even came time for dirt work.
Another has much of the potential homesite area cleared and it should be ready for earth moving equipment almost immediately.
* I assume there will be a difference in cost. Would it be significant? If anyone has any experience with this, I'd be curious as to general site prep costs in this part of the country--maybe a convenient calculator out there? I suppose I could buy a saw, but cutting things down is the easy part.
* Pond question.
One of the >10acre parcels I looked at had a small pond on it. More of a mud puddle with the current drought. Maybe 20 feet across and has another similiar sized patch of "wetlands" next to the pond. The pond has an overflow built into it which drains off the property. The entire pond/wet area is below where the potential building would be at least 300' from that.
Besides the standard perc tests, possible house design changes, and ensuring it is not in a flood zone(it isn't from what I've seen), are there any other wacky NH gotchas about buying land with a pond on it?
Mosquitoes don't bug me a ton. After almost 3 decades in the Army I've gotten used to bathing in deet. Got a bottle of good stuff from a Canadian artillery unit that was 100% deet. It would turn your lips numb and likely shortened my life but mosquitoes stayed away.
The cost of new construction is quite daunting.
I just purchased two boards: cost $180.00. 4X4X8 - cedar.
Look at manufactured homes (used to be called mobile homes). Not to be confused with modular homes.
Sadly, the manufactured home dealers in New Hampshire are quite lacking in every aspect of the buying of such.
Manufactured home can be ordered with the exact options desired by the buyer. HUD has a definition of "permanent foundation" - the concrete slab. The HUD foundation (slab) qualifies for a normal FHA/VA mortgage.
All of the dealers in New Hampshire want a non-HUD foundation (slab) and wish to sell the buyer high cost financing.
Clearing a tree lot can be quite expensive. One can hire a logger as opposed to a tree cutter. The earth work can be quite expensive.
So as one suggested above. Just buy a used house. A lot simpler and probably much cheaper.
Did you ever see the movie, "Mr. Blandings builds his dream home?" Building a house can turn into a nightmare.
I suggest buying an existing house and renovating it.
Oh I'm keeping all those options open. Buying something existing and rebuilding so to speak is the actual preferred choice provided the original structure isn't ancient. I spent too much time watching "This Old House".
I'm actually more concerned with the land over the house. I want to be able to USE the land. Like fully use the land. Maybe have a view of a hill, a river, or some trees too.
I just want the house to be extremely well insulated, have the living room in the SW corner, a deck, have a 2+ car attached garage, a nice wood stove, and oil heat.
The cost of new construction is quite daunting.
I just purchased two boards: cost $180.00. 4X4X8 - cedar.
Those are some hefty chunks of cedar. Maybe not $180 worth though. One of the potential benefits of buying land is buy the time the build phase actually arrived, lumber might be close to a normal price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by unit731
Look at manufactured homes (used to be called mobile homes). Not to be confused with modular homes.
Sadly, the manufactured home dealers in New Hampshire are quite lacking in every aspect of the buying of such.
Manufactured home can be ordered with the exact options desired by the buyer. HUD has a definition of "permanent foundation" - the concrete slab. The HUD foundation (slab) qualifies for a normal FHA/VA mortgage.
All of the dealers in New Hampshire want a non-HUD foundation (slab) and wish to sell the buyer high cost financing.
Clearing a tree lot can be quite expensive. One can hire a logger as opposed to a tree cutter. The earth work can be quite expensive.
So as one suggested above. Just buy a used house. A lot simpler and probably much cheaper.
While I considered modular & manufactured homes, I am more looking at traditional stick built so as to ensure it is well insulated. The place I'm in now is tight and I'm getting kind of spoiled.
Good point on logger/vs tree cutter(I have an axe and cordless chainsaw-I'm a tree cutter). The owner of the house I am renting has a logger coming up soon to remove several trees. I need to harass them too.
Mosquitoes don't bug me a ton. After almost 3 decades in the Army I've gotten used to bathing in deet. Got a bottle of good stuff from a Canadian artillery unit that was 100% deet. It would turn your lips numb and likely shortened my life but mosquitoes stayed away.
I hear you brother.....deet works.Thats all I use in NH
Is the timber marketable? If it is a desirable species, all your clearing work is typically paid for by the timber. Road cutting and building sites almost always pay for themselves around these parts. It will all depend on the species, size, and density.
You generally have to be 250 feet from wetlands to build anything, including the septic system. Your septic designer will tell you where you can build on that lot.
Didn't NH pass a law fairly recently saying building lots have to have a septic plan done before the sale? Or am I hallucinating that?
The guy who owns the lot next to me bought it about 5 years ago and just decided he wants to build now. The lot is roughly 100' x 300' with lake frontage on one end, and a "stream" running down the length of one side. Said stream is about 1 ft wide and 1 ft deep in non-drought summers. He's spent months fighting with the state Wetlands Board and has been told he can't put in a septic system of any kind because of the stream and the lot is "non-buildable."
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). The owner of the house I am renting has a logger coming up soon to remove several trees. I need to harass them too.
