Flint_Jeff
Flint_Jeff New Reader
11/22/15 4:31 p.m.

Sadly, I am bound by certain restrictions where I am currently and not really desirious to uproot everything (recently remodeled house, SWMBO's short commute and kid's school system) to find another house with acreage.

Did some searching here but did not find anything that quite answered my question precisely.

What should one look for in a piece of property for shop space? Personal use only. Somewhere I can put up a pole barn for vehicle storage and automotive therapy. Leasing garage space is an option but I am thinking farther down the road to something of my own.

Zoning, utilities, etc? What else?

For reference, I am in mid-Michigan (Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawasee, Livingston counties nearby)

TRoglodyte
TRoglodyte SuperDork
11/22/15 4:44 p.m.

Access to interstate aND parts suppliers?

NOHOME
NOHOME UberDork
11/22/15 5:45 p.m.
to find another house with acreage.

Do I read this right?

You already live on an "Acreage"? As in, you live on a chunk of land that would easily accommodate a shop, but your pretentious, anal retentive neighbors wont allow such bourgeois happenings?

I would be so out of there.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/22/15 5:46 p.m.

One word of advice - many insurers are not eager to insure a building/contents that are a.) not a commercial facility or residence, and b.) not occupied daily, since they're a relatively easy theft target.

You might be better off looking at a home + shop(or room to build one) where you could rent out the house, but keep the shop to yourself.

KyAllroad
KyAllroad SuperDork
11/22/15 5:50 p.m.

Proximity. If it's more than 10-15 minutes from the house you're going to get tired of your "2nd commute" pretty quickly. Something close is key to frequent use.

DrBoost
DrBoost UltimaDork
11/22/15 6:29 p.m.

Where are you exactly? I'm in Fenton. Just curious.

Adrian_Thompson
Adrian_Thompson UltimaDork
11/22/15 6:46 p.m.
NOHOME wrote:
to find another house with acreage.
Do I read this right? You already live on an "Acreage"? As in, you live on a chunk of land that would easily accommodate a shop, but your pretentious, anal retentive neighbors wont allow such bourgeois happenings? I would be so out of there.

I'll swag a guess that he used to have a place with acerage, but no longer.

DrBoost wrote: Where are you exactly? I'm in Fenton. Just curious.

His screen name is Flint_Jeff, so I'll take a wild leap and guess he's in the Flint area. Based on what was said about insurance, surely there is some cheap space to rent in a commercial building somewhere until circumstances change?

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
11/23/15 7:11 a.m.

Septic. Some women are funny about peeing in the woods in winter.

bluej
bluej SuperDork
11/23/15 7:58 a.m.
914Driver wrote: Septic. Some women are funny about peeing in the woods in winter.

Yeah, septic/sewer for sure. Call me a Nancy all you want, I hate it when I forget to make the morning deposit before getting to the non-functional-plumbing shop. Usually means a round trip home after a bit of coffee..

Thinkkker
Thinkkker UltraDork
11/23/15 8:08 a.m.

One thought, if you are in a decent enough area. I.E. close to people and such, you may look at making a "commerical" lot. Build a storage lot, RV's or whatever. Put a gate in, and earn something back.

This would be insurable, but it may cost more for the insurance.

For the shop itself, build bigger than you think you need. Put in a bathroom, if its far from the house, put in a shower.

mtn
mtn MegaDork
11/23/15 8:49 a.m.

Might want to consider an apartment off the side of the building--just something with a toilet, shower, kitchen sink, and an oven--to get around some residential zoning laws or insurance necessities. Call it a vacation home.

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
11/23/15 9:03 a.m.

In reply to mtn:

And the tax benefits once you install a toilet are worthwhile.

You should consider subletting space in an existing garage. Meet with the owner and any users, ask for references to vet them, drive by several yimes at different hours to see how the location is. Ask about security measures and use an additional lock on your tool box as precautions.

DrBoost
DrBoost UltimaDork
11/23/15 9:22 a.m.

In reply to Adrian: yeah, i saw that. But my whole life I'd meet people thay said they grew up in Detroit. I always wondered how close we were to me, or what school they went to so I'd ask what part of Detroit and they'd respond with Southfield, Ann Arbor, Sterling Heights, and stuff.

Flint_Jeff
Flint_Jeff New Reader
11/23/15 2:22 p.m.

Thanks for the comments. I am in the "city" of Grand Blanc. I've been in my current home for more than a decade and for the reasons in my original post I would rather start with a greenfield approach than either fight City Hall or upset the apple cart with moving.

I will look into rentals but ultimately I still want my own personal shop somewhere relatively close by. Let's just assume that the money to make this work isn't an issue. I will be sure to add the recommended living spaces if this comes to reality.

mazdeuce
mazdeuce PowerDork
11/23/15 2:57 p.m.

Zoning can be a huge issue. In the UP a lot of guys used to build a garage first and then their cabin. Turns out lots of people never did build their cabin and just lived out of their garage during deer season thereby skirting the taxes on a habitable structure. Zoning changed that stating that you had to build the 'house' first. It shut down a LOT of camp building. A bunch of places in Michigan stopped allowing the building of just garages on residential property for the same reason. So...... check zoning first, everything else is pretty much secondary to that.

Ian F
Ian F MegaDork
11/23/15 3:24 p.m.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Yep. That was the first thing that came to mind when I read the first post.

IMHO: buy a fixer-upper on a decent amount of land. Build your barn/shop on the land to support the fixer-upper.

Another idea is to install RV hook-ups and plop a trailer on the land so you have someplace decent to live while building the shop and working on the house. This is basically what my ex's uncle did. They lived in an RV every Summer as he renovated the original farm house on the property. He ended up building the shop later, but he was able to use the barn across the street that belonged to the ex's parents.

Type Q
Type Q Dork
11/23/15 5:07 p.m.

I suspect the easiest way to not be at peace with City Hall is to set up your shop in an existing building with all the right zoning and permitting.

I met a guy here that took part of the money from the sale of a business and bought an "Industrial Condo" not too from from his house in an area zone for manufacturing. He and his sons used it for a workshop and storage for their car collections and projects.

jimbbski
jimbbski Dork
11/23/15 7:28 p.m.

I know of one land owner who bought some property with a run down house on it. Not worth fixing but he was able to put up a pole barn. Once that was done he got permission to take down the house as it was not worth fixing up. He now has his shop and no zoning issues. It is in a rural area but less then 2 miles from the center of the nearest town.

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