[dvd7000]

Not talking about a driveway, but the actual road (which has a name on the map , but is still a dirt road.)

I was told by a local realtor that "The city is requiring the owner to bring in the asphalt road before they will allow the lot to be built on."

The roads to the south and east of the lot in question are dirt roads (both of which have names on the map.) Yet I see 2 lots directly below the one I'm looking at which have homes on them. The only visible access to these homes are the dirt roads. Did they get special dispensation?

Does the city really expect a new property owner to pay for an asphalt road to their lot (the 3rd one into the subdivision) which would also benefit the 2 homes already there, but that are currently using dirt road access?

[WestieJeff]

I can't speak specifically to the road, but this type of thing happens all the time. You'll also be expected to bring water/sewer/etc to the lot (depending if you qualify for septic/well) and that will benefit the other lot owners as well, since the bulk of cost is in extending the main lines.

My experience with building a custom home is you better be willing to open up your wallet, because there are a lot of these type of extra/hidden costs.

Be glad you found about the requirements before you purchased the land.

[dvd7000]

That probably explains why they're only asking $49,000 for a 1.25 acre lot!

There's another lot just a bit further north of this one that has paved street access, and public water/sewer/electric hookups within reasonable reach, which, albeit only 3/4 acre in size, is also 26k more.

I'm wondering though, since I don't plan to build a house on it for at least 5, or possibly 10 years in the future, whether it might be a good idea to buy the lot now, while the prices are comparatively low, and hope that someone else, or even the city will front the cost of paviing and running the utilities to this street?

[WestieJeff]

It's possible that someone else could build within that timeframe, it's really a crapshoot since building is still more expensive than buying, although becoming less so by the day.

Land prices have run up quite a bit since the bottom, but have leveled off in the last year.

The utility extensions are very expensive. I was going to build in 2005 and to run a sewer main 180ft, including sewer connection fees I was looking close to 30k. I suppose if you're building a 6000sf home then it's no big deal, but for me, that was going to be a big percentage of total building costs.