How to Ensure You Get What You're Paying for When Buying Land
Hi. I’m Julie Freeman, and today I want to share a great tool with you if you’re looking for land or a home in Canyon County or Middleton, Idaho. When you’re looking, and you see no rear neighbors, that phrase is super tricky. You want to ensure that you understand what’s happening around the property you’re interested in before closing because there could be a development plan for that area. So you want to ensure you are getting what you are paying for.
How to Access the Planning and Zoning Application Map Tool
I will share my screen to show you the planning and zoning applications tracker map. You can go to the link HERE. Canyon County is outlined in gray, and each city’s impact area is outlined in purple. If you zoom into Middleton, immediately, you will see red outlines in the middle, meaning change is coming.
Rezoning Application for Outside of City Limits in Canyon County
I want to give you an example. The first example is 160 acres; the application type submitted to the county was for a rezone. They want to change the zoning map from agriculture to rural residential. So that would be from farmland to homes on that parcel, up to a two-acre minimum. So the status for this one is active and in progress. So we don’t have a decision. We don’t know which way they’re going to go. This example is outside city limits, so it could go either way. But it’s important to know because if you’re looking in this area off of Galloway and Harvey, you would want to know what’s happening around you or what could potentially be happening around you.
Preliminary Plat Application for a Potential Subdivision in Middleton, Idaho
I want to give you another example. The second example is inside city limits with a purple line; the application type is a preliminary plat. A plat is a map for a subdivision. This example has 482 lots, including common areas. This huge development is active in progress and hasn’t been approved yet, but it likely will be. So you can click the play button to go to the next page, which lists all the parcels in the subdivision; this one has several pages. This example tells us it’s within the current impact area, the city of Middleton. Page four tells us a rezone from AG to R2 is still active and in progress. You can go to pages five, six, and seven, which is more information on all the parcels they’re getting ready to change.
Approved Rezoning Application for Land in Middleton
The final example is 4.76 acres inside the city of Middleton as well. The application type is for a rezone; they want to rezone from parcel A to R1.
The status of this application is closed, but it was approved. The decision date was 11-2-2020. So you might see some changes on that parcel. This example also has more information, a plat, which shows one lot is in the process of being split into two lots in the city of Middleton. The last page gives some more information about the city as well.
Research the Property You're Interested in Before Deciding to Buy
As you can see, it’s super important to do your research. If you’re buying property, know what’s going in around you. You can’t always know everything, but this planning and zoning application map will give you a good idea of what’s in progress, approved, or denied, and it can help you decide on the land or home you’re looking to buy.
How Much Should I Add to My Budget for Home Demolition Costs?
Demolition is something that you’re going to want to add $20,000 or more probably to demo this and the other structure that’s in the back. I will walk around so you can see the other structure, it’s old, I don’t how long its been sitting but it’s been here a long time.
Wrapping Up
If you would like more information on how we can help you build, buy or sell your home or land, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your time today. I hope that was helpful, have a great day.
