I love my house and it's location to work is perfect. I've lived here nearly 5 years and the thought of moving is daunting (not to mention the fact that my theater may NOT help sell it). BUT, I recently came across 8 acres for sale (135,000). It's very close to my current location, but ends up being in the next county and a different city (suburb next to Indy). I like the idea of more rooom (current lot is 3/4 acre) and designing the house to my specs (I'd love a front porch, bigger laundry and of course bigger/better theater). I'd also plan to sell one acre to my sis so she and her hubby could build a house.

Currently, the lot is soybeans. Perfectly flat, no trees. Haven't a clue about water, sewer (well? septic?) but says it's zoned residential and "unplatted". Does anyone have any advice about looking into this? Should I talk to a builder first, or to a real estate agent? I'm not sure I would want to go through this process (my best friend's custom build was an absolute nightmare), but 8 acres so nearby is certainly very tempting. I'm picturing 3 seating tiers, a bigger screen, hidden wires, etc. And a pool. main floor master. LOL, I'm getting carried away. Anyone else bought totally raw land and lived to tell the tale?

Well, you sound alot like the me of 2 years ago. I left big city california life (which is medium sized houses build ontop of eachother with no yards. acreage whats that? My father and I decided to both relocate to new mexico where we bought 14 acres of farmland. Surrounded by pecan orchards on 3 sides and an always green alfalfa field on the other. We built 2 houses. Designed by us. Built by us. From day 1 I had the plan of building a home theater in this house. In fact the house was build around that room. The first room I framed up was that room. In our case we did nearly all the work ourselves. And I can tell you there is nothing in this earth more satisfying than that. 2 years later Im nearing completion and the theater is almost usable. A few more finishing touches and man I cant wait. I'll be able to turn that thing up so loud cause I have no neighbors to worry about. When you can measure your land by acreage life gets a new meaning of peaceful that most people will never understand. If your ready for that type of move then do it. Dont think about it, just do it!

PS. Our land had zero trees when we started. So far now there are 23 and every year they get bigger and bigger.

From a Town Engineers point of view, when developing a piece of land there are always some basic questions to ask.

What the zoning residential and "unplatted" mean? Residential means that it is land on which a house can be built but what type of residential is it? Is the lot 8 acres because the minimum lot size is 8 acres? There are several Towns (New York mind you) that I work in where there are minimum lot sizes. It is possible that you may not be able to subdivide out a one acre parcel for sis without first getting a variance. Which means going before a planning board, which means dealing with your know-it-all neighbor who feels it is in the communities best interest for you to have pink shutters on your house. Check the type of zoning, is is single or multifamily.

Unplatted kind of scares me. In New York you cannot sell a property unless it is surveyed by a licensed land surveyor. When the property transfers it is done by your attorney and the survey and dead are filed with the county clerk to get you on the tax rolls. I think there is only one other State that requires a surveyor and very few require the attorney. In most States the transfer is taken care of by the title company. A plat is a legal description of the land and ow it is subdivided. Unplatted sounds to me like it is eight acres of land that is part of a larger parcel that has not yet been subdivided. I have seen developers do something similar. They make an offer on say ten acres of land with the intention of subdividing it into say 5, two acre lots. In order to finance their initial purchase of the land they put an offer on the land subject to being able to sell two parcels. The parcels are used as seed money for the developer to buy the larger parcel. At closing it gets very interesting because it all has to happen in order. The developer needs to by the land in the morning and sell the parcels in the afternoon. In oder to do this a subdivision map needs to be made a filed. The unplatted land would be a parcel that legally does not exist until the subdivision is made. I know in Indiana you can buy property on Contract. I imagine that buy an unplatted parcel works the same way. Being unplatted also makes me think there is no legal description for the parcel. with no description how do you know where the lot lines actually are?

I would also find out about utilities in the area. Type of electricity, some areas still have only 110 single phase available. Most newer subdivisions have at least 220v three phase. Should not be a big deal. Only impact is the amperage of the service you can run to your house.

Is there public water and sewer? This can be an issue in some communities. There are several rural communities I work in that have minimum lot sizes based on the availability of utilities. It may be on acres with utilities and two without. The reason being is you need space for a septic system. There also minimum distances between septic and a well if not water is available.

Does the land perk? To build a septic system the wastewater needs to go someplace so most Town's require a minimum perk. Perk is the rate water will soak into the ground. Septic system design often needs to meet local health department requirements.

Is there water? If not you need a well. Will a well work on the land. Only way to tell is to drill a well and test its yield.

Is the land in an agricultural district? This can be a sticky one. You say the land is soybeans so it sounds like it was farmed. Ag districts are govern by the US Department of Agriculture. People with land in a Ag district can receive certain tax credits or pay no real property tax at all. If a parcel is in an Ag district, and is exempt from taxes it needs to be actively farmed and it stays in the district until the owner requests it be removed. This request can be made every five years without penalty. Other issue with Ag districts is that they often contain building restrictions. In the farming communities I work in the restrictions include not being able to develop the land, ever. The rules basically say the farmer can subdivide the land for a family member to live on but for no-one else. The restrictions also make it impossible for the land owner to connect to water or sewer even if it runs down the street. Again being an unplatted parcel I would ask it it there are any restriction that will prevent it from being subdivided.

If you by the land you can act as the general contractor, being responsible for all aspects of the work from scheduling the mason to scheduling the painter. You can also hire a GC that takes care of the entire process. All you need to do is watch one contractor like a hawk.

As to designing your own house, this is everyone dream. But are you an architect? If not hire one. Some even have a clue what they are talking about when the look at the land and decide best how to situate the house. Some even understand site drainage, but that is very rare. Architects know houses and the building codes. They can take your idea and turn it into something workable. A good one will also know how to get the house to work in your budget.

Who to talk to first? Start with the real estate agent and see if the land is being sold by a builder. If it is just available land, put in an offer that is subject to an engineers inspection. The inspection would cover utilities, perk, water and so fourth. Next talk to an architect. Often an architect can hook you up with a reputable builder. I'm not sure I go with the builder. Don't trust most. Often they will hook you up with an Architect that rubber stamps a design. THe architect that did the addition for my neighbors house had actually be dead for five years but that never stopped the contractor. You want someone that is working for you.

Builders do have the advantage in that they will sometimes purchase the lot then sell it to you along with the completed house when it is done. Which reminds me, you'll need a bank.

Be prepared for change orders. With anyone, Contractor, Engineer, or Architect, get a contract up front that your attorney reviews.

What ever you do, do not sign a contract that require you to pay the contractor before he finished anything. Payment should only be made through letter of credit and be based on work completed. Paying up front, even just to get the contractor started, is a big mistake. If the contractor does not have the credit to do the work, you do not want them on the job. Money talks, loose money walks.

FYI: I am a professional engineer in New York and Georgia with a degree in civil engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. I started life as an architecture student at Cornell University. After my first semester I saw the light and went to Rose.

Indianapolis is the only place I have seen houses built with wooden foundations. Still cannot get over the 2x6 stud walls, no concrete or block. Wood is not meant as a foundation material.

Enjoyh the porcess, it can be very fun to build your dream home.

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like it can be a long process. BTW Carl, I went to Cornell (BS in Biology). The land is in Brown township in Hendricks County. It lies east of a much larger field. To the north and south are lots with 1 house each, they look to be 3-4 acres each. The county road is immediately east of the lot. It is technically in Brownsburg, but not real close to that city. The housing market in Indianapolis is so depressed right now, many of the national home builders (CP Morgan, etc) are pulling out altogether. Cheap land and plenty of it makes it easier to "build" your own house within a subdivision than to buy an existing property. I'm fairly sure this is not being offered by a developer, as there is really not much attractiveness to it. It is literally a flat square, full o'beans at the moment. When I said designing the house, I really meant picking out a houseplan that met all of my needs. I don't have aspirations of designing one from the ground up. But it sounds like it may be better to talk to an architect before a builder? I'll start with the real estate agent. There are actually several other pieces of land nearby that are also for sale, though they are larger (10+ acres) and more money. I'll enquire with the agent and see what he says about the land first.

From the way you describe the land and the other parcels available in the area you are probably right. It is most likely being sold by the children of a farmer or a farmer who's children did not want to keep up the family farm. That would explain the lack of a plat map.

Similar situation in Rochester, NY. The cost of a new build home is close to that of an existing home. The existing home tend to cost a little less. Advantage of a new home is you can have it built to your needs. A central HT for instance. With an existing home you need to fit the HT in (see my HT link under my name).

Realtor - Architect - Builder. Then hire the architect to check on the builder during construction.


It looks like they tore down the residence halls on west campus and replaced them with period looking buildings that are a couple of stories higher.

I love my house and it's location to work is perfect. I've lived here nearly 5 years and the thought of moving is daunting (not to mention the fact that my theater may NOT help sell it).

Doc:

I meant to ask you about this. Can you elaborate more on why your theater may NOT help sell your house?

Is it because potential buyers see the room and know they cannot afford to replace the electronics? Or is it because they look at the room and see a nicely decorated theater for you but to them it is just a dark room with funky carpeting.

If you listed the place, would you include all the equipment withe house?

I've wondered about this if I ever needed to sell.

PS It is my understanding that labs take at lease three to four years to stop chewing on things.

Thanks,

My theater was what sold my last house. I couldn't get an offer in a pretty bad market here in Michigan. I re-listed and said the theater was included with a full price offer. It sold in one day.

I think theaters can be a negative if the equipment is not included. People can be intimidated by what would be required to get it set up. When all they have to do is walk in a press play, it is a definite plus.

Rex

Quick sidenote: I went back to get some mail from my old house a couple weeks after I moved and one of the new owner's kids had written on the screen with a sharpie. Ouch.

I said it may not help because there are several threads floating around that talk about how it can be a negative. If you take away a bedroom, for example, it would definitely devalue the house. If you finish basement space to make a theater, that may add value, as you are adding finished square feet to your house. If I listed, I would take down my JVC RS1 and remove my Anthem Statement D2. I kept my old projector, which has a pretty new bulb, and my old AVR (a Denon). I would include them, and would rehang everything and have a movie playing during house showings so people could see the space as a theater. If they don't want to use it as such, they would just have to repaint.

My labs are now 3, and in the last year I've seen a lot of improvement. If only I'd understood what people meant about labs having an extended puppyhood........

Hire an architect? Why? Most of them are gonna buy plans off places like coolhouseplans.com and charge you a fortune for that. Trust me. Do yourself a HUGE favor. If nothing else, buy your own blueprints online (400 bucks) and act as your own GC (general contractor). You will save 10s of thousands doing this. All the GC does is get the permit and arrange to have subcontractors come out. Foundation sub, electric sub, plumbing, etc. Why pay him to do what you can do by looking in the phone book? Call the city hall and they can direct you to where and how to file for a homeowners builders permit. Its not as difficult and you might think. If you wanna throw your money away go for it, but all that money you save could go into nicer seats, bigger screens, louder speakers.

Just my opinion. From somebody who was just there.

If you are retired and can babysit, I would agree with that. Otherwise, hire a reputable babysitter [GC] and you only have to watch one guy.

Definitely be prepared for change orders [additional costs]. It is just part of building things.

Hire an architect? Why? Most of them are gonna buy plans off places like coolhouseplans.com and charge you a fortune for that. Trust me. Do yourself a HUGE favor. If nothing else, buy your own blueprints online (400 bucks) and act as your own GC (general contractor).

Depends on the State you live in. In New York State, under the general municipal law, anything that is submitted to a municipality for review MUST be sealed by an Architect or an Engineer. Submitting a plan purchased on line is a violation of the law. Also design standard are different from place to place. Any plans you buy need to be reviewed by a local architect to make sure they are in conformance with the local building code. A house designed for upstate New York would not meet the building requirements for California because of California's seismic requirements.

Also, if you do not have construction experience, like most people, you have have the architect show up on site a few times a week to act as you agent and make sure your building is being constructed in accordance with the plans.

The on lines places are good starts to give you ideas for what you want. When it comes the the actual design, leave it to the professionals.

If I listed, I would take down my JVC RS1 and remove my Anthem Statement D2. I kept my old projector, which has a pretty new bulb, and my old AVR (a Denon). I would include them, and would rehang everything and have a movie playing during house showings so people could see the space as a theater. If they don't want to use it as such, they would just have to repaint.I tend to agree with your sentiments. The value added by the HT isn't really effected by how high end the gear is as long as the room is functional and well presented. However on the other hand, odds are that by the time you sell your house with the HT your gear won't be state of the art anymore. So, you might as well leave the gear so you can start over fresh.