Barrett Powell Real Estate Team » Buying Land

Easy Street

Barrett Powell — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:50:14 +0000

Hard to find 5 acres in N. Chatham in Perry Harrison School District. Rolling wooded lot with lots of privacy. New 4 Bedroom Perk. No restrictions or covenants.

Soloman Degraffenreidt Road

Barrett Powell — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:44:26 +0000

Location, location, location. 5 acres near Pittsboro with all the conveniences of close proximity to Pittsboro without city taxes. Private and secluded, yet leave your paved road and immediately jump on 64 bypass for points East such as Jordan Lake, Apex, Cary, and Raleigh.

Lot 17 Ross Drive

Barrett Powell — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:38:16 +0000

One of the last available lots in desireable Ross Ridge. This lot offers privacy of over 1 acre plus convenience to Historic Pittsboro, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex and Triangle shopping.

Buying or Selling Undeveloped Land in Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, and Chatham County.

Barrett Powell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:09:30 +0000

Part 1: The Perk Test
In this installment I’m going to spend some time on the process for buying or selling undeveloped land in Chatham County. This process is for undeveloped land and not improved lots that you typically find in a developed subdivision. With the case of improved lots, the developer or builder has done most of the work for you. But it is always a good idea to check with the County planning department or better yet, your Realtor to make sure all the requirements to build on the lot have been met. You may also find the process is very similar in other Counties.

The first and most basic thing is to determine if the current zoning of the property is applicable for what you plan to use the property for. As we are talking about mostly residential readers here we are going to limit the discussion to residential purposes and not talk about rezoning, special uses, or business zoning.

For the most part, most rural land will be zoned single family residential and agriculture. This means using the land for farming or to build a single family house on is permitted. Check to make sure the land around you is also zoned the same way or you could find a business going up nearby that may affect your value or at least you quality of life. Again the local county planning department or your Realtor can check on the zoning for you.

Once you are sure the land is zoned for the use you want, the next thing to check on is whether or not the property is a buildable lot. Many factors go into this, but the most important and basic factor is water and sewer. Unlike many surrounding Counties, Chatham for the most part does not have County wide water or sewer. There are pockets of areas in Chatham where County water may be available, but no where in the County is waste water treatment service available. While it is true that within the town limits of towns in Chatham there may be sewage service available, for this discussion we focusing on rural undeveloped land out in the County. Private sewage service is available in some developments in the County and in rare instances may be made available to an adjoining property. But again we are focusing this discussion on rural undeveloped land and not lots in a subdivision.

This means that for most of us interested in buying or selling land in the County, we must then obtain water and sewer permits from the County. Sewage permits, more commonly known as improvement permits are usually the one most coveted as it is dependent upon soil quality and soil types found on the land. The process of testing the soils by a County Soil Engineer for a septic system is called Perking or a Perk Test. I have heard in the past that only about 32% of Chatham County is suitable for a conventional type of septic (sewage) system. While given enough well depth, water can usually be found but not always. It is the soil quality on the property and not the absence of water that usually makes the property unbuildable or at least much more expensive to build on due to the requirement of a more complex septic system for poor soils.

The County information for application and fees associated with obtaining a perk test can be found at this link: http://www.chathamnc.org/Index.aspx?page=1054.

Buying a Lot – Large Acreage Lot Considerations.

Barrett Powell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:05:00 +0000

One aspect you will need to consider on a large acreage tract is the soil quality and condition so a wastewater disposal system may be installed. There are a couple of questions you must first ask yourself. Do I plan to subdivide the tract? How many lots do I propose to create? How many bedrooms are desired in the home? There are many more but these will get you started in the process. At a minimum, you will need to contact the county’s Environmental Health Department to perform a soil test to determine the quality of soil in regards to is absorption properties. This would be a first step to obtaining the permit for construction of the septic system. If the desired results are achieved, there is no further action required until construction of the system is to be started. If the inspector deems the soil unsuitable for a conventional system, there are additional steps to take. Assistance from a soil scientist would be the best next step. You would hire an “expert” to test the soil and determine where and how many potential sites (if you desire multiple sites for a subdivision) your tract contains. The soil scientist would then determine the best type of alternative system suitable for the soil type present. Next, you would go back to the county inspector for final approval of the suggested systems and sites. After you receive your written permit(s), construction can be started on the system. For additional information on how to obtain the permit, please reference this link to the Chatham County website http://www.chathamnc.org/Index.aspx?page=119.