Buying Land to Build an Eco home?

[34f3f3f]

Does anyone know a good source for investigating the purchase of land? Obvious concerns are existing infrastructure, utilities, planning restrictions, natural distasters etc. Are selling agents responsible for supplying this kind of information, or is it up to the buyer. Any “buyer beware” stories appreciated. How land prices equate to the market as a whole would be interesting?

Building your own also seems like a great opportunity for using solar panels, water collection systems, composting systems etc. Any sources for this would be much appreciated too.

[NotCranky]

Eco is hard to due if it is very unconventional in San Diego at least with permits. I think James Hubbel’s son does or was doing this with straw bale houses. You could probably find him on a Search engine.
..solar panels, water collection systems, composting systems etc. Any sources for this would be much appreciated too…These are all doable of course good books are on Amazon. The more basic types of things would need to be done in a rural semi-rural area if they are to be done to any large extent.
As far as purchasing land..goes… I have always been told that land (Parcels)holds it’s value better than improvements in a down cycle presumably because it is owned outright usually. The market for parcels has soften up a little in the county and there is some legally parceled acreage for around 200-230K. Hopefull it will get softer any trend in that direction has just started. The legality of the parcel and what type of use and structure are varified in “Zoning” of the appropriate building department. You are very correct in having concerns about infrastructure. A water meter cost 10 to 15k if you have to run the pipes through a public area it is very expensive. Fire hydrant forget it. If the property is in a groundwater area you need to get a very good idea of the reliability of the water in the area. In San Diego you must have a minimum GPM production from the well. It is either 1 or 1.5 I believe.Usually this is not a problem but it is a little stressful not knowing. If you are investigating for yourself ply the people in the health department at building for information on good ans bad areas and use the yellow pages and call all the well drillers in it. Amazingly enough there are not that many terribly unproductive areas in san diego. Some small areas are unbuildable becauwe the water table is too high! Wells cost 5k to 15k and up + water pressure boosting equipment and storage for fire sprinklers which are required now in almost all County of San Diego controlled area.Electric poles are 10K each you pay SDG&E. They had a cost splitting program in effect that allowed one to pay 50% of all cost and SDG&E owned the poles and could charge future owners of adjacent parcels for the same poles & power lines. Sdg&e in my experience doesent bend over backwards to let everyone tie into the grid but it can be done. If the property has a pole near by you take the number of the pole and call sdg&e to make sure its “legal” there are some old one’s in the county and they will not let you use them. They are usually very nice about letting you talk directly to the area planner.
I have to go for now but if you check back in here and are interested in more I will tell you. Maybe someone else can pick up here.I will check back this evening.
Have a good day.

[PerryChase]

I have a feel that if you want to save the environment, then building an eco-friendly home is a good thing. But you definitely won’t save you money.

Interesting topic. Thanks for bringing it up.

[34f3f3f]

Thanks for the full reply Rustico, and that’s enough for me to be getting on with, and I’ll continue to use it as a reference.

I have a feel that if you want to save the environment, then building an eco-friendly home is a good thing. But you definitely won’t save you money.

Yeah, I would like to save money. My guess is that you probably only save money, if you can do a share of the work yourself. Unfortunately, I’m not much of a handyman. However, I have noticed some home builders selling off the shelf plans at what seems like reasonable prices. DIY is always cheaper, but assembly fees don’t seem to extortionate either. Whether there are any eco houses that fall into this category I don’t know. My searches on the internet haven’t turned up much, but books and magazines on the subject may have more info.

[lindismith]

If you don’t know about it already, check out Dwell magazine.
They also have an online forum for people building their own houses – click on the Dwell Connect box on the far right bottom side of their site. (www.dwell.com) Through their site I have found many blogs of people who are doing what you want to do.
Dwell is mostly concerned with the prefab market, but there is a lot of good info and resources there for you. You can pick up Dwell at Whole Foods.
And, Whole Foods has a lot of other good magazines about this subject matter, but I just don’t know their names. It’s definitely worth stopping in to browse what they have.

Relatedly, the whole genre is growing, and if you check out No Impact Man’s blog (a fav of mine) you will find all kinds of links to eco-living and sustainability.
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

Let us know what you find. I’m very interested in this too.

My aunt and uncle built their own house in Australia, and are trying to live off the grid. It’s very hard. Oz is in a drought, and water’s very scarce. Despite having a dam at the bottom of their property, and collecting all the rain they can, they still have to ration. I have tons of stories about their lifestyle. If you want to email me, I can send you their contact info, and you can go straight to the horse’s mouth. lindismith at hotmail – put piggington in your subject line, so I know you’re not junkmail.

[NotCranky]

I have almost got the approval for a 20 acre “Architectural free Zone” in the Local mountains. Just kidding, the City and County own us when it comes to developement…unless you are a developer then its the other way around. Anyway I am sure the planners know what they are doing.

[PerryChase]

I second the Dwell concept. A neighborhood full of Dwell type houses would be so much nicer than the cookie cutter house we have now. I also think that single family houses should be allowed to build 3 to 4 stories high.

In my view, a good house is all about energy efficiency, good design and beautiful materials and finishes (not necessarily expensive). I’m gonna build or renovate something like that when the market is more propitious.

[anxvariety]

Straw bail is very affordable.. most people don’t know anything about it, so if they say it isn’t a cheap way to build they haven’t looked into it. Maybe if you tried to build in Del Mar, but think – why are you building a straw bail house instead of one made of wood? The answer to that will lead you to where you should look for property.

Plenty of lots in San Diego county with utilities at property line that can be had for under 5000 an acre.. I’m looking at about 20 of them.

[The-Shoveler]

Nor_LA-Temcu-SD-Guy

“I have almost got the approval for a 20 acre “Architectural free Zone” ”

I got this 1/4 acre piece of land in Taos NM at one of those land auctions for 1K , they build these earth-ship’s out of Mud and recycled tires etc… in that area.

You get a Licensed Architect to apporve the plans and Taos County leaves you to your own business it seems.

Don’t know if I would want the chemicals from the tires in My home though.

Still I am holding the land just incase I ever get the urge to play with a big Mud project.

[PerryChase]

$1k in Taos. Sounds like the deal of a lifetime!

Anyone who builds an alternative, creative house, please post pictures and share with us.

[The-Shoveler]

Nor_LA-Temcu-SD-Guy

“$1k in Taos. Sounds like the deal of a lifetime.”

The Taos county tax collector keeps telling me it’s only worth 200.00 .

This is close to the Ski area walking distance to the Reo Grand river groge (about 7 miles from the city).

My tax is $5.00 a year so I don’t argue.

[ibjames]

I agree, any info on this is very interesting and I would love to see some of the things you come up with!

[speedingpullet]

querty007 – let us know how it goes!
We’re very interested, eventually, in building our own eco-friendly place, but as first-time buyers this time, we’ll probably renovate a ‘fixer’ for full insulation/solar etc…so any leads and/or references would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I saw recently that really piqued my interest was using recycled shipping containers for pre-fabs. A lot of them come fully insulated, with A/C and hardwood floors, and only get used once or twice before being dumped at the port of entry. You can buy 6 or 7 of them and modify them to make a great house, plus you’d be helping with the environment as they’re just sitting around taking up room.

There’s an architect that specalises in modifying them – I found a lot of good info about it on Tree Hugger:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/shipping_contai.php

Anyway good luck and please share your tips and tricks!

[NotCranky]

Anxvariety
The properties are in Borrego,Shelter Valley?

I think the contamination issues with the tire and mud style construction are mitigated with an interior vapor barrier on all exterior walls. Wire lathe is attached to the walls and they are plastered.

Speeding pullet , My wife and I lived in a second hand travel trailer with a temporary occupancy permit while we built or admittedly conventional house. We(I) keep talking about it as the cure to affordable housing and enviormental issues. I had the idea of digging a huge hole on a knoll pushing the trailer in it, Making accomodation for the earths weight against the weak structure, access, ventilation and natural lighting in various ways. Then it would be covered with visqeen plastic so that water would plane off the knoll. About a foot of soil covers the plastic and the land is revegetated. I donated the trailer to a family in Tecate so it wasn’t a complete waste.With a few exceptions to the rule the county of San Diego by the way does not allow for living in these trailers anywhere under it’s jurisdiction . The ones you see are supposed to be parked only. There is another rule that allows visitors to live a total of 30 days a year in them. Could you all imagine what would happen to the economy if we were all allowed to do these kinds of alternative things.

[speedingpullet]

Rustico – there are several beuatiful examples of ‘underground’ houses in the UK.

Here’s one featured on the Uk’s Channel 4 recently – http://tinyurl.com/2sgtsl

The one I like the best – but can’t find a link for – is a huge circular house, lined with windows and skylights, which only juts up about 4 foot above what looks like a normal field. Underneath is a 4000 sq ft house that uses minimal energy to heat/cool – with good insulation(!) and lots of natural light. Above, sheep graze on the ‘roof’. I’d love a place like that…

My only problem here in CA would be the risk of a big quake, but its just one of many, many different ways of building a house.

Funnily enough, as i write this, the guys next door are erecting the framework for my next-door-neighbour’s extension. The work looks OK, but obviously doesn’t include insulation in the new walls or roof, nor any provision for solar panels.

Wonder what the cost breakdown would be for building it more ‘green’, as compared with the heating/ac bills they’ll be paying for it in the future?

[Author]

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