OT: Buying a home to tear down.....neighbors?

[ppshah]

Dh and I are interested in buying a house, renting it out a few years and then tearing it down to build our dream home. Although this very common in this neighborhood, this would be the first home on this street to be torn down for new construction.

Has anyone done this? Is there anyway to protect ourselves against neighbors objecting in the future? Something in writing as part of our home purchasing contract? I believe majority of the street (20 homes) has to approve the exterior design of the home.

DH wants to stick a letter in each person's mailbox. The same thing happened on our current street last year. My experience was the ones that were objected were far more vocal.

Here's a copy of the letter:

Dear XXXX Subdivision Member,

My name is John, and my wife and I are very interested in purchasing #7 XXXX, which just went on the market this past week. Having lived in XXXX for the last 4 years, we appreciate the beauty of your quiet street and look forward to settling down in your neighborhood for years to come.

However, given the improvements which would be needed on this particular property, our thought was to tear down the current structure and begin anew. We do realize that this would be the first property in the subdivision to undergo this change, and we wanted to ask each member of the neighborhood their opinions.

Please contact me with your thoughts and questions: email address.

[ECMom]

I haven't BTDT but you need to check the county/town regulations (e.g., planning & permits) first. I'd also see if I can get a copy of any homeowner's assocation covenants and review them carefully. Once you do this you'll have an idea of what the process is. I wouldn't buy a house thinking I'm going to tear it down & rebuild without knowing the requirements. You may not be able to do it.

Gina

[infocrazy]

I have no idea of the legal rules etc, but my first thought is how do you know that the residents of the street won't change? Wouldn't the people who need to agree be the ones who are currently living there a few years down the road?

Good luck!

[bostonsmama]

Our neighborhood, although sans HOA, still has protective ordinances through the city against such actions without a thorough review. Legally, I believe notice has to be provided to all neighbors (*when* you become the owner) that such and such action will be taken, plans must be submitted and up to code, a town meeting gets held where any citizens/objectors can voice their concerns or dissent, and then it gets approved or disapproved by the planning commission.

This is something that you can't exactly look into a crystal ball for, nor is it really something you can plan for before you purchase, first of all b/c the people owning the homes you "survey" today may not be the ones who are living there by the time you go to tear down/rebuild (since you did say it would be in the "future"), and second of all b/c you can't control how the city will view your plans or what laws will be on the books by then. Finally, if I received a letter in my box like this, I'd likely ignore it unless I had really strong objections. "Interested in purchasing" doesn't mean much to me and would sound like a waste of energy. However, "have written a contract to purchase XXXX" might make you seem more serious and worthy of voicing my opinion.

I'm not saying it won't be hard work, but profering up your design to people in the neighborhood and defending it a million times sounds like way too much expended energy....it might be more than you bargain for and none of what you want by the time your neighbors pick out the roof color! Have you read the Fields' other book about building a home from scratch? I imagine they might have some highly useful information specifically pertaining to this!

Good luck! I know that on our street a couple wanted to add on a sunroom to the front of their house and some stodgy, elderly lady held out on them and inevitably the thing never went through. I never understood why, but sometimes these things can't be predicted.

[BeachBum]

I absolutely would not send that letter! You don't want to give those people the right to make the decision for you if it's not within their power. When you get to that stage, you want to present them with a beautiful plan that you can "sell" them on.
You need to go to the city and get a copy of the ordinance regarding this issue. I would also talk with someone there about what other hoops you need to jump through. You also need to get a copy of the deed restrictions and the covenants and restrictions for the neighborhood. If there is an active association I would speak with the president and find out the process to undergo.

I think this could be a wonderful way to go, but you need to know the law before you jump in. If you feel overwhelmed doing this on your own, then contact a real estate attorney. They should be able to walk you through for minimal expense. The piece of mind will be worth it.

[tny915]

I agree that it's much too early to send that letter. A letter is a great idea, but it's better presented when you have concrete plans, have spoken to the building permits department, and have figured out a rough window of time when the construction will happen. Since you don't plan on doing anything for the next couple years, why put this out there and risk being the "bad neighbor" long before anything will even happen?

My neighbor at my old house sent a letter similar to this shortly after they purchased the rundown house next door to me. They also called a neighborhood meeting to answer any questions and address concerns about their plans. Plus, they knocked on all the doors to introduce themselves. When that house was on the market, we did have a feeling that whoever bought would do a lot of construction, and we were defensive from the get-go. But it was difficult to grumble at them when they were trying so hard to make sure our concerns were addressed. I did like their approach and think it could work for you. But wait till you know exactly what you'll do to your house. Our neighbors were planning construction immediately, thus their rush to send letters and talk to the neighborhood.