Properties
Available: Hawaii
Got
a Property For Sale? Click Here
Article:
How Come No One Told Us About This When We Were Buying a Home?
by Don Berthiaume
Development; it’s bound to happen.
Simply because
there is a large open field, or the property you’re looking
at borders woods, doesn’t mean it will or can stay that way
in the future.
I could rattle off instance
after instance where home buyers who may have just closed on a property
are being notified as an abutter that some proposed development,
they hadn’t heard about previously, was taking place right
next door to them.
On that note, here are
a few questions that, as a home buyer, you need to raise as you
look around the property and neighborhood:
Are there any subdivisions, large or small, or plans that are expected
to be coming before the planning board that would affect your prospective
neighborhood?
Are there any ongoing
or existing subdivisions or plans that would adversely affect your
purchase decision?
Is it likely that the
neighborhood could be redeveloped for another use?
Most municipalities have a Master Plan that gives a plan of action
for how the community is or could be developed in the future. Often,
discussion is by area, neighborhood or grouped by use.
One of the things you
should check out is if there are any changes planned in the short
term or long term for the particular area of the city or neighborhood
in which you are looking to live.
Neighborhoods go through
transitions that include development, stability, and decline/redevelopment.
Some areas are in transition from one use to another.
Other areas are slated
for actual zoning changes perhaps to a much higher density because
of the dwindling supply of land that can be developed.
Getting caught in the
middle of such a transition may make resale much more difficult
and life at the old homestead less desirable if development occurs
all around you that you weren't anticipating or told about.
Zoning ordinances dictate
what you can or can’t do in a certain area of the city, including
what uses are allowed to exist.
Review a zoning map of
the area to answer the following questions:
* Is the residence you’re
looking at in a residential zone?
* Does the property border
a different zoning district?
* Does it border a commercial
or industrial zone?
* Does it border another
residential zone that preserves a lower density?
* Does it border another
residential zone that allows for a significantly higher density?
* Does it border a mixed-use
zone?
* Does it border an historic
zone or district?
* Does the property straddle
more than one zoning district?
* What is the effect
on minimum lot size requirements?
I have experienced each
of these scenarios being at issue with a property I was involved
with at one time or another, either as a sales agent, real estate
appraiser, as a member of the Zoning Board, or as a property owner.
The advice here is plain
and simple.
When buying a home, be
sure to do your homework. Don't be like many home buyers who fail
to understand as much as they can about the home they want to buy
and end up disenchanted with their financial investment.
Copyright 2005 Don Berthiaume
About
The Author:
Don Berthiaume gives you the questions you need to ask when buying
a home. For more details, and for a free 4-part mini-course in home
buying, visit this site now:
Buying a Home
|