It's not too early to start learning about the permit process and making friends with the powers that be...but you won't be able to file until you have an actual plan locked down.

So spend your time working on plans and design and budget and finances and looking at design professionals and builders...see who's done what and if you like what they've done.

Also a great time to think about building green...what can you do for active/passive solar, geothermal, insulation, etc. to make the house most comfortable and low maintenance and energy costs....

Have you had the property surveyed? I wouldn't buy this much acreage without one. I've read one or two threads in the Buying and Selling Forum about neighbors encroaching. When we were looking for property we found these two books helpful. The first one detailed how the guy went about approaching the tax office for information. He found out how different towns, handle zoning, permits,taxes, etc before he purchased.

The second book gave us food for thought about what we should look for in a neighborhood. In some areas, people are nice. In others, they can be secular, provincial and not welcoming to outsiders. Helpful to be able to tell before you put roots down...

Country Property Dirt Cheap: How I Found My Piece of Inexpensive Rural Land...Plus My Adventures with a $300 Junk Antique Tractor by Ralph C. Turner-April 1, 1996

How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: A Comprehensive Guide by Gene GeRue- July 1, 1999

The guy who wrote it is a real estate agent, but he has lots of good ideas. Your library might carry it.

What about talking to your neighbors? Are you on speaking terms with them? Might not be a bad idea to introduce yourself so you can see if there will be any potential roadblocks. Good luck!

Links that might be useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Country-Property-Dirt-Cheap-Inexpensive/dp/0945959524/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D8YWQ92YMZEWENMBJPY
http://www.amazon.com/Find-Your-Ideal-Country-Home/dp/0446674540
http://www.homestead.org/GeneGeRue/TheIdealCountryHome.htm

Don't take anyone's word that a property is "septic system approved". Verify and receive written approval through the local government agency that regulates their approval, permitting, and installation. Where I build (perhaps it's like this throughout the country) it is the county health department. The reason is that regulations change over time. There are properties in my area that at one time would have been approved just a few years ago but cannot be today because of more stringent requirements.

Is the water line extended beyond the property corner or just to it? To tap a service line for your home into this main line it usually needs to be within the right of way or easement within your property frontage.

In many cases, "approved" septic system permits may be for a limited, time-specific period only, and only in the area(s) of the property where the tests were performed.

If you do not have city/county water and have to drill a well, there are local regulations as to how close water wells and septic systems can be located.

Since you are not in a rush to build, this will give you plenty of time to do your due diligence and homework for site planning and for home design (which should go hand-in-hand).

Good luck on your project!

Definitely it is not to early to start working on plans now. It took us right months to finalize ours and we were trying to hurry. :)

In many cases, "approved" septic system permits may be for a limited, time-specific period only, and only in the area(s) of the property where the tests were performed.

Very true. It is best to know when the septic system permit expires and if it is possible to extend the expiration date. It can be much less expensive to pay for an extension than to let it expire and have to start the process all over again.

I appreciate all of your comments/advice. We will be going to the county next week to get paperwork on the septic/request extension, and also meeting with the water company and an excavator - all prior to our due diligence expiration. It is a pretty open area and we have walked it - no encroaching neighbors.
Survey is part of our offer - they have to provide it.. Any other advise always welcome too. Thanks so much - a good friend recommended this site and I am really glad that I signed up today!

In our area, a septic permit (approval) is good for 5 years. We just made it, with less than a month to spare. Due to rapidly changing laws about septic systems, the inspector did point out that our system wouldn't have passed under the new rules had it expired. I'm not worried, as our permit was for a much larger house than we actually built.

There are a number of ways to check out a potential property. Find out if your county has a GIS website. These are great if you have one, with all kinds of information such as topography, flood zones, soil types, crime stats, etc. You can also 'look' around at neighboring properties to see what else is in the area. We also checked with our city and county long-range development plans to make sure they weren't considering running a highway through our neighborhood.

There should be a way to find out what kind of zoning is in the region. You want to make sure that no one can build something objectionable nearby. For example, they just built a concrete plant about 2 miles away, in the middle of some rural residences. I feel sorry for those folks, who will have to contend with the noise and dust once it opens. No laws were broken; the plant is on commercial property. I imagine that eventually people living nearby will have there property re-zoned as commercial, and sell it at a handsome profit. I hope so.

Don't trust anyone's say-so about the property. You have to do your own due diligence. Even licensed realtors have been known to 'forget' to tell about possible issues. Make sure that everything legal is in writing- zoning, permits, title insurance, surveys, easements, etc. If there are any HOA's or other restrictive covenants, get a copy of the rules and read and understand them.

There's likely no point in getting an actual building permit, as the active period is usually rather short. In our area, you have to start building within 6 months, and have some kind of inspection every 6 months. Some areas have a limit on the total time to build as well. I would ask about the permitting process, and get an idea of costs, though. You don't want to find out later that the permit fees are a deal-breaker for building.

Just don't make the mistake we made... get your septic perc test performed (again) by the same company that will do the septic design...... and do it while the ground is thawed and weather warm.

We're potentially stuck and not able to pull a permit until spring because we can't get the septic design completed.

It is a pretty open area and we have walked it - no encroaching neighbors.

==>> you found all the corner markers exposed ... and are positive they have not been moved .... and measured each dimension to confirm such????

presume nothing ....

encroaching is a legal term ....

ken

Congrats! I hope all goes well!! We just purchased our 45 acres in December, it's so much fun to be able to go out and know it's yours!!! Make sure you also find out the history of the land (farm, etc), just for your peace of mind. We are dealing with a prior owner keeping his horses on our land while squatting in a nearby house! The land he is staying was also recently sold. He mentioned to my husband he had to put a horse down (after he told us where the horses he's buried over the last ten years were) so my husband told him he had better reconsider if heh thinks he is going to bury a house on our property again.....,..... So naturally he buried it RIGHT NEXT TO the house he's squatting in. We let the new owners know and they were obviously upset. If you've got issues like this get them dealt with long before you start building!! Good luck and I hope all goes well!!!