Investment property
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Planning And Zoning Woes: Part II
While it"s crucial to know how your municipality"s planning and zoning restrictions affect what you want to do with your house, they also are important when deciding whether to actually buy a house. More than a few people have purchased homes with remarkable views of nature, thinking they"d be admiring that scenery forever, only to discover a couple of months or years later that the view was about to be turned into a home, office building or apartment complex. To make sure you know what you"re getting, investigate these aspects of your property-to-be at your city and/or county planning and zoning department. How is the area zoned? It may appear to be only residential, but it could be mixed-use -- meaning that offices or stores can be built in the same area, or that group homes are allowed as well as single-family homes. If you"re a mom with small children, then you might not be keen on having a group home for recovering sexual predators down the street. (However, many group homes can happily coexist in residential neighborhoods, so don"t automatically rule out a house until you know what population any nearby group homes serve.) The way the street or neighborhood is zoned also matters if you want to work out of your house. Many local ordinances prohibit home-based businesses that will require customer parking or frequent overnight-package deliveries, etc. And while you may be allowed to practice law or cut hair in your home, you may not be allowed to operate a bed-and-breakfast -- or vice versa. Every local code is different, so it pays to find out the rules before you buy the house. Ask if zoning changes are likely. It"s not only important to know your current zoning -- you also want to know what"s in the future plans of your local planning and zoning officials. A city"s "comprehensive plan" is a blueprint for the city. If your city"s comprehensive plan hasn"t been reworked in 20 years or so, you can expect officials to re-evaluate each area of the city soon. Re-evaluation often means change. So that wonderful enclave of single-family detached, upscale homes you bought into may find itself bordered by affordable apartment housing in the next few years, as planning officials try to "mix densities" of neighborhoods. To avoid continued sprawl, officials may decide to rezone some areas commercial, to introduce much-needed stores closer to your neighborhood so you don"t have to drive as far. That can be great -- as long as that new supermarket or mall isn"t in your back yard. Several years ago when I was in South Florida, my neighborhood was a part of the city being regentrified. That was great for property values, and the impending "city center" planned down the road promised to provide some wonderful dining and shopping experiences within walking distance. But then the city talked about putting a new convention center on my neighborhood"s side of the proposed city center. Not only were my neighbors and I concerned about being bordered by a huge structure instead of small shops, we also were concerned about traffic. And for good reason: In one of the plans for the convention center, the city had opened up some dead-end streets in our neighborhood to allow large delivery trucks access to the back of the convention center. The streets in our historic neighborhood weren"t wide enough for big trucks, and we"d already had a problem with trucks using our neighborhood as a shortcut. Happily, the neighborhood worked together with the city to come up with an alternate plan. But if we hadn"t paid attention to what was being planned, we might have had our kids in the streets playing ball, having to move every few minutes for passing semi trucks. Ask about transportation planning. Even if your neighborhood appears safe from non-residential encroachment, it pays to pay attention to what"s going to be happening in surrounding neighborhoods. Plans for a mall a mile from your home may mean that your quiet residential street will soon be turned into a larger, wider, busier "collector" street to help accommodate traffic flow into that mall. How much of the property is really yours? Find out where your front property line really is. The municipality may actually own a huge chunk of the land you thought was yours. If your street is tapped for widening or improvements down the road, your property can suffer as the city takes the, say, 15 feet of your front lawn that really belongs to them. Not only will that affect how busy the street is, but it can affect the appearance of the front of your home as the city uses the right-of-way to enlarge the street (thus decreasing the size of your yard) and add curbs and gutters and sidewalks. It ultimately can make your home"s value go down, making it much harder for you to sell in the future. Go beyond your Realtor. Most Realtors make it their business to know what future plans are for that pristine view behind your new home. But sometimes things slip through the cracks. It"s best to do your own legwork, checking in with local planning and zoning officials to make sure that the undisturbed natural area will always remain that way. Unless it"s in a protective conservation easement, has been platted and dedicated as open space (by the city or a homeowners association that owns the property), good intentions may change in the future. Investigate the neighborhood. The elementary school may be just five blocks away -- but if your child has to cross one busy street with no crossing guard, or if the streets don"t have sidewalks, then you may not want your child walking to school after all. If you"ve always dreamt of the kind of neighborhood where you can walk your dog on the sidewalks in the evenings and meet your neighbors, be sure that"s possible. If the home borders a dicier area of town, you may not feel safe outside after dark. Or if all your neighbors spend their evenings on their back patios instead of front porches, there won"t be anyone for you to meet when you go walking. Lastly, if the neighborhood has no sidewalks, you"ll want to ensure that the roads aren"t so busy that you and your dog will be in danger from cars during your walk. Also, it doesn"t hurt to check in with the local police department or community policing office to ask about crime rates (and typical crimes) in the neighborhood. The police often will offer suggestions on safeguarding your home, too. Know what to expect. Is that wonderful, spacious home on a fair bit of land -- part of what used to be farmland? Then find out who your neighbors are. If there"s still a pig farm on the other side of your "back 40," the odor is likely to waft toward your house when the wind blows the right way. When I lived in South Florida, if your home was in the wrong place, you suffered from the smell and soot of burning sugar cane for a few weeks each year. Are people in your neighborhood allowed to burn leaves and other yard waste on their property? If so, and if you have respiratory or allergy problems, you may want to choose another home -- or at least determine first whether your immediate neighbors actually DO burn. What about parking? Not all homes have garages. Even if they do, you may have more than the average number of cars, or you may get a lot of visitors. If your neighborhood doesn"t allow on-street parking, you"ll find yourself in a bind. Learn what parking restrictions exist in your area. Never assume. Whether you"re counting on a special-use permit to allow you to operate a home business, or planning to fill in that swampy area behind your new house, or intending to cut down two huge oaks to let sunlight wash into the three-season room, never sign on the dotted line until you"ve ensured your ability to move forward on what"s important to you. What will you do if you"ve already bought the house and the variance doesn"t come through? Or if you discover that the "swamp" is a protected wetland that you"re not allowed to touch? Or the city or HOA prohibits you from removing healthy trees? At the very least, make sure your contract to buy stipulates that the sale is contingent upon positive answers/outcomes to anything in question. Dealing with Homeowners Associations (HOAs). Municipalities aren"t always the only entities that can place restrictions on your property. HOAs often regulate everything from exterior paint colors to the type of mailbox you"re allowed to have to whether you can have a swing set in the back yard. Architectural review committees may require you to use more costly materials on your home -- say masonry instead of vinyl or wood on the front of your home. HOA rules aren"t necessarily bad. You just have to know -- and be comfortable with -- what you"re getting into. Homes in an HOA also are more likely to have parking restrictions -- whether prohibiting on-street parking or declaring that trucks and vans or vehicles with commercial writing may not be parked in your driveway. If you love your pick-up truck, you may be out of luck. However, many HOAs also offer overflow parking lots in an out-of-the-way spot for party guests or your recreational vehicles or extra cars. Residents of HOAs usually have to pay annual dues. Find out how much they are (they often can add more than $100/month to your monthly home costs) -- and more important, what they pay for. In some neighborhoods, the HOA owns everything, including streets, sidewalks and parks. That means that your dues are going to be used to help maintain that infrastructure. You"ll want to investigate how solvent your HOA is and how well they budget. If they don"t have a healthy account for capital improvements, you"ll likely find yourself socked with big assessments down the road to pay for a new roof on the clubhouse or road repairs. A well-informed buyer is a happy buyer. While doing this homework can be time-consuming and annoying, remember: You"re about to make one of the biggest purchases of your lifetime. It"s better to be sure you"re gettingPages: [1] 2