A4HB Homebuyer's Blog

If you are determined to buy land to build on in this area, I would recommend the  following as minimum precautions: Work with Experts. Don’t even consider doing this on your own. You need to be working with a real estate agent or an attorney, preferably both, who have substantial experience with buying land in the specific local you are interested in. Purchase Contingent on a Building Permit. Make any purchase contract contingent on building permit approval by the relevant city or county authorities, and be certain to require that the terms and conditions of their approval must be satisfactory

If  you are considering buying a building lot or larger piece of land in Boulder County or elsewhere in the area, a bit of background will help  you understand the dynamics of our current situation. State Law. You need to understand that state law prohibits landowners from subdividing their property into parcels of less than 35 acres unless the city or county in which the property is located approves the subdivision. For several decades, Boulder County has approved such subdivisions only under very special circumstances, thus restricting the availability of new building lots within the county’s jurisdiction. As a consequence,

If you want to be prudent and resolve these questions before you close on the purchase of a piece of land, it may take a year or even two to complete the purchase.  Certainly, the purchase of a building lot is not always such a complicated and extended process. But it is important to understand that you can easily spend several hundred thousand dollars on a lot only to discover that you can’t build on it, or that the building site that the county officials will allow you to build on results in a 50% reduction in the value of

In the areas of Boulder, Broomfield and Jefferson Counties that we cover, buying land on which to build a home can be a long, difficult, expensive and potentially risky proposition. This is particularly true of the rural and mountain areas of  Boulder County. If you have the money, you can certainly run out today, put down some cash, and own a piece of land tomorrow. However, it may be more prudent to verify first:   That you will be allowed to build on the property. That you will be able to build on the location where you want to build.

In most cases, other parties will have certain  limited use rights on any property that you purchase. For example, nearly every lot in residential subdivisions will have easements for utilities and may have drainage easements as well. An easement provides parties other than the property owner rights to use the property (usually a precisely specified portion of the property) for specific purposes. Utility easements give the city and other utility providers the right to use portions of each lot, often the 8-10 feet along the front and back lot lines, to run water, sewer, electric, gas, and cable lines through

Not only are there restrictions on the use of virtually any property you buy, but by buying the property you will be assuming certain obligations. Real estate taxes are the most obvious of these. Home buyers are rarely surprised to learn that they are assuming an obligation to  pay property taxes when they buy real estate. There are provisions (Section 8.4) within the standard Colorado purchase contract that allow the home buyer to review tax issues. For those buying condominiums or townhomes, the responsibility of association fees is equally obvious, though buyers of single family homes in newer subdivisions must