THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412220166
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Real Estate
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
I swore off being a homeowner in 1983. Divorce, a career, and mothering a young child was all I could handle at the time.
I sold two houses and a condominium in less than two years, said good riddance to yard workand all the rest.
I hadn't really missed homeownership until recently. But with my son finishing his senior year of high school and planning to leave home, I began to yearn for property of my own.
Then I did something I'd never done: I bought a lot. All of my previous real estate purchases had been houses built and lived in by someone else before I came along.
I expected buying land to be a piece of cake.
There'd be no choosing between the house with the bright red carpeting or the house with the Playboy centerfold painted larger than life on the garage door.
I wouldn't have to decide if I really wanted to care for 100 rose bushes. I wouldn't have to choose between the Flintstones' kitchen and a bathroom built to accommodate the Seven Dwarfs - one at a time.
There would be no termite inspections, no haggling over whether the wagon-wheel chandelier in the dining room stays, no worrying over the 35-year-old furnace.
What's to complicate the sale of raw land? Let me tell you.
When I decided to buy, I called an agent I knew. We discussed what I could afford and what kind of a neighborhood I liked. I left the search to her.
Two days later, a package of plats, prices, terms and protective covenants for three neighborhoods fitting my requirements was in my mailbox.
I checked each set of covenants for information about roads (private or state-maintained), annual dues and restrictions on construction (minimum square footage and architectural guidelines were my main concerns).
I needed to know how each lot was serviced for sewage (town mains or private septic tank) and water (city, county or private well).
I looked at all the lots the agent recommended. I looked at adjoining properties and at the neighborhoods in general. Within a week, I identified two lots, each in a different subdivision, that seemed to be what I wanted.
While the agent gave both lots a nod of approval, I began to dig for information on my own.
Many buyers in my situation expect the real estate agent to provide all the information they need because they mistakenly believe the agent is working for them.
The real estate agent I was dealing with was not my agent. She was a subagent for the seller. Unless a buyer specifically contracts with an agent for representation, the agent always works for the seller. That's the law.
The law also requires the agent to treat the buyer fairly and to disclose any material facts about the property that might affect the buyer's decision. But a buyer should want to know other things that the seller's agent may not be at liberty to disclose.
Because neither lot had municipal sewer service, getting a septic system permit would be required to build a house. Any good agent would recommend septic system approval as a contingency on an offer to purchase.
But I didn't want to waste time submitting an offer to buy and find out, after the fact, that the lot wasn't buildable.
I called the county health inspection office. Both lots had been previously evaluated for other would-be buyers.
One lot needed a foot of dirt fill where the septic system would be installed. That's a fairly common requirement for Outer Banks property and would add only a few hundred dollars to the building price.
It would take more than a little dirt to get health department approval for the other lot, however. The property had patches of federally protected wetlands that couldn't be filled. It would require an ``engineered solution'' and special permits.
I crossed this lot off my list and focused on the first lot.
I made calls to determine the flood zone rating of the property and if there were any foreseeable problems with insuring a house built at that location.
Midway through my decision-making process, the real estate agent told me the subdivision's homeowners association was increasing its minimum house size by 200 square feet. I was planning to build a small house and wasn't sure I wanted or could afford another $12,000 worth of space. I had to re-evaluate my plans.
I called the association president to find out how strictly the covenants were enforced. I wanted to know if funds were being set aside for the maintenance of the subdivision's private roads and the upkeep of the neighborhood swimming pool.
I decided I wanted the lot.
Now I needed to determine what price I would offer the seller.
Next week I'll tell you how I saved more than $4,000 and why having a signed and accepted offer to purchase in hand was only half the way to owning the lot. MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959.
by CNB