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number of dwellings or units you can build on the lot

      Finding out and understanding the zoning of a particular lot before you decide to buy is important. The information is readily available at your friendly, local city hall or county government building; your local government also has a guide that can tell you what each zoning designation means.

      

Most urban and suburban lots for houses are zoned residential R-1. If a zoning designation has a higher number, you can build more units on it (for example, a duplex or triplex) based on whatever number is designated (R-2, R-3, and so on). Some commercial lots can be used for residential, but the rules vary among municipalities. Most large, rural properties are designated RA for residential agricultural. When the zoning has a number such as RA-5, the designation means your lot must be at least 5 acres in size. This information is important to know in case you want to split the property into more than one lot. If you have 9 acres with RA-5 zoning, you can’t divide the lot in two. (Remember: Each lot needs to be at least 5 acres.) You can split a 10-acre parcel with RA-5 zoning in two, providing it meets all other county zoning guidelines.

Don’t take today’s zoning for granted — the local government can zone to meet with the needs of the community on almost a moment’s notice and without your agreement or even advance knowledge. Although this change happens mostly in rural areas, check with the local government to see if any zoning questions for your area are scheduled. While you’re at it, be sure to ask if any special tax assessments will affect the property. These assessments can add to your expenses as well. And remember that many municipalities will allow you to petition to have a property rezoned, but it may cost you, and it’s not likely to be approved.

      

Even though you can, in theory, build a single-family residence on a lot zoned for commercial or apartment use, you may want to take the zoning into long-term consideration. Often, a property owner may destroy a small house in a commercial area and build apartments or office buildings, which can change the neighborhood’s tone for the worse (think noisy neighbors and cars parked everywhere), reducing your home’s value.

      

Zoning only affects the general plans for the property. More detailed restrictions for building may also be stated in the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) that are recorded on the property, as well as in the design review guidelines. We talk more about CC&Rs in Chapter 4 and design review guidelines in Chapter 6. Ask the homeowners’ association (HOA), your real-estate agent, or the title company for a set of CC&Rs and design review guidelines to find out about other restrictions, such as setback limits, style limitations, and height limits, before you agree to purchase any lot.

      Understanding setbacks and footprints

      Setbacks determine how far from the edges of your lot you must build. They’re generally determined by the property zoning restrictions and the CC&Rs. The side setbacks are generally closer to the property line than the front and rear setbacks, but not always. This information is crucial for figuring out where you can place the house on the lot. Many neighborhoods like to keep the houses uniform, so look to see how close neighbors’ houses are to the street and each other to get a feel for the setbacks. In urban areas, the side setbacks may be as small as only a few feet (Peter’s old house in San Diego had a side setback of only 3 feet — barely enough room to wheel his trashcan through to the street every Monday night). Rural areas can require larger setbacks from the street or other houses, impacting curb appeal.

      

Setbacks also apply to outbuildings, not just to the main house. On larger lots, you may be considering the possibility of a guesthouse, workshop, or pool house within the buildable area. These buildings all have to be within a certain area defined by the setbacks.

The footprint of the home is the building’s outer perimeter and how it sits upon the lot, taking into account the setbacks (see Figure 3-1). When looking at a lot, try to imagine in rough design how positioning the footprint can take advantage of the following:

       Drainage

       Noise

       Sunlight

       Topography

       Views

       Wind

      Courtesy of Tecta Associates Architects, San Francisco

      FIGURE 3-1: Setbacks determine the placement of your footprint, ultimately restricting your home’s size.

      The combination of footprint and setbacks may dictate whether your house is one story or more. Significant side setbacks can force you to design a smaller-footprint home, which can make a difference in estimating building costs. A smaller building area may mean that building a second floor is essential. Building a second floor can work to your advantage, however, because a two-story house can be less expensive to build than a one-story house. (For example, building a two-story house with 4,000 square feet is cheaper than building a one-story house with the same square feet. The two-story house requires less excavation, foundation, and roof work than the one-story house does.)

Height restrictions spelled out in the CC&Rs have an impact on your house’s size. If your setbacks force a smaller footprint, then your height restriction will limit the size of house you can build. Have your real-estate agent obtain this information for you before you purchase the lot to make sure it meets your needs. You can also contact the local planning department to access the information yourself.

      Size matters: Assessing the land’s value with the house

      Even though much of the planning for your new home is considered in the design phase that we discuss in Chapter 4, considering the planned size of your house when purchasing the lot is important. You can’t build any house you want on any lot. You’ll probably face restrictions set by the city, county, and sometimes the market. Doing your homework on the limitations of what can be built on a lot can keep you from making costly mistakes.

      How do you know for sure that the land you want to buy is going to fit within your budget? You must consider it in the context of the budget for your entire custom-home-building project. (See Chapter 2 for information on budgeting.) Start by researching the sale prices of houses in the area. If homes in the neighborhood are selling for $500,000, then buying a comparable lot for $375,000 isn’t likely to leave you with financial room to build.

      

Still not sure what to do? Here’s our quick-and-dirty four-step process for getting a rough idea whether a lot is too expensive:

      1 Contact a real-estate agent and get a list of properties that have sold in the area during the last year.Make sure the list includes the square footage and room count of each home.

      2 Pick the three sale prices that are most similar to the house in square footage and room count that you want to build, and average the sales prices.Most lenders use at least three comparable sales to establish an appraised value, so this number helps you evaluate the property from the lender’s perspective.

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