10 Acres of Land--Can We Build Five Houses On It? (investment, fees, price)
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The key factor to investigate would be the minimum lot size in the particular zoning district. In a rural area, especially, minimum lots sizes could be 2, 5, 10 or significantly more acres. As others have pointed out, it would be unusual for a municipality to allow five houses to be built on one 10-acre parcel. You'd most likely need to subdivide it, if that is allowed in the area. Again, any lots so created would need to adhere to the minimum lot size...and zoning regulations may change over time.
My township in rural Wisconsin currently requires each lot to be five acres (although they prefer ten acres), with 300 feet of road frontage, and suitable land for a mound system (sewage removal). A minimum of five acres for each new house.
The minimum 40 or 50 years ago was 1/2 acre, then one acre. About 20 years ago it changed to two acres and it has been five acres for about a decade. Older homes on smaller lots are grandfathered in and are OK.
Also remember that whatever the rules are now they are subject to change. The current political climate in our area has caused changes in subdivision and zoning rules in the last few years. Some of the changes are taking place at the state level and some at the county (and the two are not usually in agreement)
If you find property that you want and dividing it up into two-acre parcels is permitted, I'd do that sub-dividing now, while it is still legal. Later, the rules might change. Many areas won't allow rural property to be cut up into lots smaller than 5 acres or in some, the smallest have to be 20 acres. Here in Oregon, there are many different zones regarding minimal lot size. One word of advice, you might consider avoiding acreage in wooded areas. With global-warming increasing the forest-fire danger, it's not such a secure place to plan for the future.
Hi. I'd like (theoretically) to buy a ten acre parcel of land and build a house on it. Years from now, would it be possible for my four children to also build houses on the land (if they care to)? If so, does anybody know which states might be most amenable to this type of situation or does it vary more county by county?
While that sounds like a wonderful idea, situations change. Perhaps, all four children do want to live near you right now. But consider, 10 or 20 or 30 years from now are they still going to be employed at the same nearby company? Are there going to be grown grandchildren who have moved far away and want their parents close? Or any number of things.
Frankly, most of the people that I know or are acquainted with, who have "family compounds" only have them as second homes or as vacation homes. My aunt used to own a resort on a lake. Several/numerous wealthy families had "compounds" there. Usually a main house and a series of smaller houses/cabins for their various children & grandchildren. Or several houses on adjacent lakeside lots, one for each adult child.
But, it is still hard to imagine a situation where you find land, move to a new area or a new state, get a job, build a house and then your adult children all decide to move to the same place to be near you and are all able to find good jobs? And, find good jobs for their spouses? And, find good schools for their children?
Or is it a situation where your children are still young and you are hoping that they will want to live near you forever?
Hi. I'd like (theoretically) to buy a ten acre parcel of land and build a house on it. Years from now, would it be possible for my four children to also build houses on the land (if they care to)? If so, does anybody know which states might be most amenable to this type of situation or does it vary more county by county?
My parents have 5 acres and only one house could be built on it. So it depends on the local requirements.
The better question is what makes you think your four children and their spouses would even want to live next to you? I am going to say the odds are slim. I love the four miles between my parents and I. Then another four miles to my brothers. We still live close but the space is welcomed.
Wow! Thank you everybody! I never imagined there were so many rules about what you could do with your own land. This has been eye-opening. Obviously, I need to do a lot more research.
I have 28 acres in rural Floyd county, VA but can only build one more home on the property.
I've recently been told that the exception is to gift some land to family members then it can be more than one house. Since I don't have any family in the area it's not important to me but in the newspaper I often see gifts of small amounts of land given to family members at no cost so perhaps the person who told me this is correct.
The place I have was once 29.1 acres and the former owners gave their daughter and son in law a small parcel so the grandkids could be near and they built a modular house on it.
Where we lived in MT for many years the rule you state was in place. What it turned into was a loophole for developers to avoid the subdivision regulations.
The final straw for this "loophole" of family gifting was our subdivision where the "owner" broke up 20 acres into ten 2 acer lots by gifting them to his family and then having his family sell them off separately to different buyers.
The county finally took notice of what this guy did and how blatantly he did it not to mention how many of the subdivision regulations he avoided like the requirement of fire hydrants,curbs and more than one exit/entrance to subdivision. All safety regulations for the homeowners that he didn't have to pay for.
Hi. I'd like (theoretically) to buy a ten acre parcel of land and build a house on it. Years from now, would it be possible for my four children to also build houses on the land (if they care to)? If so, does anybody know which states might be most amenable to this type of situation or does it vary more county by county?
Check with the local zoning board. If they say OK. Split it up now so it would get grandfathered in in the event of a zoning change.
Check with the local zoning board. If they say OK. Split it up now so it would get grandfathered in in the event of a zoning change.
Usually, that works. However, in some cases unless the house was already built, building the house may not be "grandfathered in". That is the case, in my township with small lots. There are a few one and two acre lots that people bought decades ago, but the requirement for building a new house now is a minimum of five acres.
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