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Buying land to build a house that has wetlands

11K views 134 replies 27 participants last post by  montecarlo33 
#1 ·
Thinking about buying 1.5 acres in white lake. .39 of the land is wetlands. Has anyone built a primary residence on land like this?
 
#4 ·
Yeah that was my thought wetlands are protected and it's almost .5 acres of wetlands. It's off oxbow lake road near Elizabeth lake rd
 
#5 ·
There is a 2.8 acre lot across from my house that has a house behind it and on both sides that is for sale and it won't sell because when the DEQ deemed it a wetland when their rules changed a year or two ago. There is never any standing water on it, all there is is a reed of some sort that grows by the ditch. I heard if you want to build on it you need to get some deq surveys done and try to get it changed. I imagine the deq will lube you up real nice too on the permit and test fee's. So noboby will buy it to then have to try and get it switched back to what it was, too big of a risk. I'm ok with it since that means I don't have to deal with someone building a house across from mine.
 
#8 ·
I don't I'm trying to convince my eager to buy wife to slow down.
 
#7 ·
it all depends where the wetlands is in relation to the build site and your driveway. Will you have to drive near the wetlands, or would the build site disturb the wetlands?

Where about in White Lake?

Most likely you will Have to get flood insurance and get to look at wet ground you can't do anything with.
Wetlands has nothing to do with flood zones or flood insurance
 
#9 ·
it all depends where the wetlands is in relation to the build site and your driveway. Will you have to drive near the wetlands, or would the build site disturb the wetlands?







Wetlands has nothing to do with flood zones or flood insurance

That's what I was thinking if the wetlands are at the back of property, them it's not a bad deal. Now with all this snow we will have to wait awhile to get it checked out.
 
#11 ·
When I purchased my house I checked with my new neighbors about the 45 acres behind my property. They had it sold to developers for upwards of $900K. that fell through when 45% of the property was deemed wet lands. So the old farmers payday will never happen.
 
#14 ·
I should just say fuck it and move to my property in Roscommon. Sell both my houses here.
 
#30 ·
other than that, I don't have any info. We are building on a parcel that does show up on the DEQ drain chart as wetlands, and we are building about 50 feet from a creek on the DEQ map, but we have more acreage so it is easier to avoid issues.
 
#38 ·
it depends on a million things. If a builder gives you a price per sq foot with a straight face, find a new builder.
 
#39 ·
We live on 10 acres 3 of which are wetlands. We love it. The wildlife that comes with it makes any of the bad points worth it.

The only stipulation we had from the county (Barry) was the structure and drain field had to be at least 100 ft. from the water line but the eased up on that later. Don't expect to be able to do anything with it either. The DEQ is brutal.

I agree 100% with everything Bones has said about things to check on ahead of time.
 
#40 ·
Yup thanks bones you gave me some great insight. A lot to chew over, luckily all our plans are still in the infant stage. :thumb:
 
#47 ·
Any experience with them and building on land with wetlands?
 
#50 ·
If should be able to do this but like everyone ahead of me has told you there will be hoops to jump thru. Are you going to be your own GC? If not, a good GC will guide you thru all of this. I do home sites adjacent to wetland all the time. It's done all the time. Usually starts with a wetland boundary survey (do it along with the regular survey). And soil erosion control plan is high on the list. I usually end up digging a pond on such a site and use the spoils for fill/soil around the lot. Just know you're going to have to suck the government tit no matter what you do. Just know the DEQ is VERY slow. Customer service? HA!
 
#51 ·
My father in law suggested I be the GC. That sounds like a good idea and would save some money.
 
#57 ·
Consider that a quality GC might be worth his fee. They already have a grasp on all phases (a good GC that is) of construction and most importantly have established working relationships and trust with all the necessary government entities that you'd be calling on. I even know of one that will actually finance your project and make sure all the trades are paid (!) in a timely manner so that your project moves along as fast as it can. That is rare these days. I am led to believe that construction financing can be a big problem these days.
Good Luck and have fun!
 
#58 ·
That's some great advice thanks. If I did take the time off needed to be a GC it would probably cost me the same as if I hired one anyway. I'll send you a pm later on if that's cool. I'm interested in the GC that you know. Thanks :thumb:
 
#62 ·
Just sold my house. 4 days on the market. Got asking price for it. :woot:
 
#64 ·
We found one that met all of our criteria in white lake 1800sq ft finished walk out basement natural fireplace vaulted ceilings on 1.08 acres. Put a offer on today and offer accepted today :thumb:


 
#68 ·
We found one that met all of our criteria in white lake 1800sq ft finished walk out basement natural fireplace vaulted ceilings on 1.08 acres. Put a offer on today and offer accepted today :thumb:
congrats. I can tell you that was a million times easier and 2 years faster than building.
 
#71 ·
:sonicjay: :sonicjay: :sonicjay: :sonicjay: :sonicjay:
 
#73 · (Edited)
Yeah it worked out pretty well. Still have to go through the mortgage process and two closings, so I'm not out of the woods yet.
 
#75 ·
Off of cedar island rd west of oxbow
 
#77 ·
Yup I'm already pricing out a John Deere. I wonder how much the blower attachment is?
 
#89 ·
I've grown up around John Deeres. As long as you don't buy the big box store junk and don't do something stupid like run it out of oil, they're tanks. A couple years ago I was pricing out an X300(about the smallest of the heavier duty non-box store lawn/garden tractors) and it was about $3k with a 46" deck and another $1500 for a blower. I think the blower was 38 or 42". Then you'll want chains and weights. Time it right and they occasionally have cheap financing options.
If you go used, I recommend making sure it has hydrostatic drive and tight turning radius. I used a loaner 214 for a while. It's built about as tough as they come, but the manual trans and crappy turning radius made it a PITA around yard obstacles. I used an LT155 for quite a while and the hydrostatic and steering were great, but the cut sucked compared to the 214. My neighbor has a GT235 that's a very nice machine and seems to do everything well. I just inherited a 445 that's a beast and awesome at everything, but it'd be severely overkill for a 1 acre yard.

I tried out the 48" snowblower on my 445 and the plow on my 4WD Polaris before deciding which I wanted to use. My driveway is sloped and gravel. In order to get the blower low enough to be effective it was shooting rocks all over the place. The plow drags some rocks, but was way more effective, faster, and more fun. Only time the blower would've been better for me was when we got 18" of snow in one day. If your driveway is flat and/or paved, either will probably work great for you.

I absolutely love being on a well and septic! Screw those insane high water and sewer bills! And congrats!
Agreed. I've only ever had well and septic, besides rental houses in college.
 
#81 · (Edited)
Thanks :thumb:
Waterford was never too bad. I think we pay 90-100 every three months for water/sewer. Now I will be upgrading the push mower to a riding lawn mower, and I'll have a fire place. I'm pretty excited. Summer/fall plans to put some type of barn in the back as well.
 
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