“Can I put a mother-in-law unit on this lot?”
“Can I build on this acreage?”
“Can I add a pool that close to the line?”
Buyers ask their agent questions like these all the time. Many agents don’t know the answer. That’s fine. Realtors know a little about a lot of things, and zoning and permitting aren’t our lane.
What happens next is where people get hurt.
The phone call problem
A lot of agents, especially newer ones, call the county, get an answer, and pass it along to their buyer: “I called, and they said you can do it.”
Stop right there.
I love the county. The property appraiser, zoning, and permitting all hand out useful information every day. But you don’t know who’s answering the phone in that department that day. It may be someone new. It may be an answer that’s right for a typical lot and wrong for yours, because a detail didn’t come up on the call.
There’s story after story of people who called, got an answer, relied on it, and found out months later when they tried to build that it wasn’t true. “But I called a few months ago and that’s what they told me” doesn’t get your permit approved.
If your agent is the one who made the call, now you have a secondhand answer from someone who isn’t an expert, about a conversation you weren’t part of.
How to get an answer you can use
We talked about this on the Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour in June. Eric handles it the way I’d want any agent to:
- The buyer makes the call, or they do it on a conference call with the agent listening.
- Ask for the answer by email, with the name and title of the person giving it.
- Forward that email to everyone who needs it.
An email gives you something in writing. That still may not bind the county if the answer turns out to be wrong, but it’s far better than “somebody told me.”
For anything that will cost real money, get a second opinion from someone who builds there. On one lot I sold, the county was giving out information I was pretty sure was wrong, and the buyer was ready to walk. How do you tell a buyer the county is wrong? I didn’t have to. I asked if they had a builder, and they did. The builder looked into it, explained it, and confirmed the county’s answer was wrong. The deal closed.
When the answer is no
Sometimes the right answer is the one nobody wants.
Eric had a 9.7-acre riverfront parcel in Pasco County listed. A buyer asked if he could build. Eric gave him the county’s number. The buyer called, got sent to another department, then another, and finally reached the people who handle setbacks. The answer: you can’t build there. The setbacks don’t leave enough room.
The county put it in an email. The buyer sent it to Eric, and Eric sent it to the seller. They took the property off the market, relisted it $200,000 lower, and it sold for about $100,000 instead of $300,000.
That hurts. But it’s a lot better than a buyer paying $300,000 for land they can’t build on, and everyone finding out later.
The takeaway for buyers
Before you buy a property for something specific, like building, adding a unit, or putting in a pool, get the answer:
- From the department that actually decides it
- In writing
- Checked by someone who does that work locally, if the stakes are high
Ask the right person, get it in writing, and check it before you sign.
If you’re looking at a property and want help figuring out what questions to ask, call or text me at 727-409-4663. Straight answers.
Watch the full episode: Randal Jenkins Real Estate Hour on YouTube
Randal Jenkins
Broker-Owner, Florida Real Estate Partners
Loan Officer, American Mortgage Services, NMLS #2053417
727-409-4663 (409-HOME)
