All Forum Posts by: Randy Chapman

@Bablu Gupta

Depends on what you want to do, if you've got a conforming lot and want to build a house on it, that's a different animal than having 40 acres and wanting to put 200 houses on it.  I do civil engineering entitlement work for a living and have done some work in Santa Clara County.

Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss your project and I can share my thoughts on specifics.

Answers here are all good - I'll throw in a California perspective which may apply.  We have seismic considerations on all of our construction, and any chance of liquefaction generally means post-tensioned slab.

Not sure what WA is doing for seismic these days but I know the Cascadia subduction zone is getting more and more attention.  That could trigger future building code requirements that could impact resale down the road.

Take with a grain of salt, I'm not a soils or foundation engineer but just adding some observations.

@Account Closed as I recall the OP was in discussion with the city and anticipated the change there as well.

Goes without saying though that knowing the local regulations on something like this is key up front.  Due diligence always.

@Manolo D.

My "wrong info" comes from the City of Buena Park Municipal Code.  Chapter 19.348.010 Section B.13 which states:

"13. Ownership and Occupancy—Owner Occupancy Required. The primary residential dwelling shall be occupied as the primary residence of the owner of the lot and shall not be rented or leased as long as the second unit exists. If, thereafter, the owner occupies neither unit, the second unit shall automatically become a non-habitable space, shall not be used as a dwelling unit, and shall not be rented."

http://qcode.us/codes/buenapark/

Bad news for Buena Park on this (which is common for probably a majority of cities). I took a look through the zoning code and owner occupancy is required in at least one of the units...

@Rafael Larios - I have not done work in Redlands specifically, but I have done quite a bit of work in San Bernardino and Yucaipa nearby as well as unincorporated San Bernardino County so can definitely help you out.

@Brittney Wilson-Murray I've been off the forums quite a bit as well and just revisited this post.  One thing to be careful with, hilly areas come with their own challenges.  LA City and LA County both restrict your building based on how steep the slopes are on the property, you will have to satisfy all of the hillside ordinances, and then of course you have fire danger (which you will pay a high property insurance rate for).

That said, the hillside projects make for beautiful homes and fun designs.  Just anticipate more regulations and higher costs across the board.

Trevor, I am a civil engineer and I can look into zoning and setback issues for you. LA also has a small lot subdivision ordinance that may apply here. Drop me a message with the lot info and I can help you out.

I don't have a reference but I seem to recall reading that Fannie Mae just changed the guidance to reflect actual payment. Part of the same directive that raised allowable DTI. FHA clearly a different story but perhaps with precedence they will follow suit.

Brittney - just out of curiosity are you looking at LA County or City of LA?  Completely different processes hence my asking.  If county, general area is going to impact how easy of a time you'll have getting through the process (i.e. Lancaster is easier than Malibu).

Even city, your mileage will vary depending on which district you're in.