It’s amusing how different people’s wants and desires are.
I live in a very small town from the POV of what I perceive as the majority of HN - <15k people, and it’s the largest town in an hour’s drive in any direction. My home is in a neighborhood on the edge of town that was annexed only a few years ago, and as a result even though my property has city sewer access, I still have a septic tank. I dread the day that I’m unable to legally keep it operational and have to tie in to city sewer. It’s just one more monthly bill I’ll have to pay. The zoning here is such that a homeowner can do any repair work they please on their own without having to get a permit or licensed contractor.
I have gigabit fiber and solid, level floors though. :)
I could easily increase my income by $75-100k if I were willing to move to LA or SF. I’m not even tempted by it.
My town of 800 here in Montana has literally zero building codes. Almost zero zoning laws. If I want to split my property into little 5 acre ranchettes and build houses on 'em, I can, no permits or approvals or anything needed.
"The zoning here is such that a homeowner can do any repair work they please on their own without having to get a permit or licensed contractor."
Wow, that's pretty strict for a "small town". Most places allow you to make repairs without a permit or contractor as long as you're not making changes.
For example, I needed a permit to put in an interlock and receptacle for a generator. If something breaks the receptacle, I can replace it with the same model/type/size without a permit. If I replaced it with a different type/size then I would need a permit. On a side note, the inspections are mostly a joke and just a way for the municipality to make money (permit costs more than the materials in many of my cases). The inspector had no idea about electrical stuff and didn't ask any questions about wire gauge/run, receptacle sizing, receptacle height, or how the breaker box was balanced. You know, the stuff that's important to do right to avoid fires, etc.
It's not about the law, it's about what's enforced.
Where I live you theoretically need to permit the typical stuff but the official unofficial policy is that they don't expect anyone who isn't a professional to pull permits.
Many pros don't even bother with permits for smaller jobs, like installing a generator (my neighbor's experience).
One thing to consider is that most insurance companies will not cover a house if it had unpermitted/uninspected work on it that could even possibly be the cause.
>One thing to consider is that most insurance companies will not cover a house if it had unpermitted/uninspected work on it that could even possibly be the cause.
This usually (I'm sure someone somewhere has a cut rate policy that states otherwise) only matters if the unpermitted work was what causes the claim which basically just means responsibility is back on the owner. In practice this is mostly fine since people doing their own work for their own houses tend not to half-ass things.
Not just if they identify it as the cause. It can also happen if the cause or location is undetermined. Like if you did some electrical work and they could determine that it was an electrical fire at the box but couldn't determine which circuit caused it. Even if you do the job perfectly, you could still unknowingly get a faulty material. Not to mention that even without an issue they can drop your policy due to risk associated with unpermitted work.
I live in a very small town from the POV of what I perceive as the majority of HN - <15k people, and it’s the largest town in an hour’s drive in any direction. My home is in a neighborhood on the edge of town that was annexed only a few years ago, and as a result even though my property has city sewer access, I still have a septic tank. I dread the day that I’m unable to legally keep it operational and have to tie in to city sewer. It’s just one more monthly bill I’ll have to pay. The zoning here is such that a homeowner can do any repair work they please on their own without having to get a permit or licensed contractor.
I have gigabit fiber and solid, level floors though. :)
I could easily increase my income by $75-100k if I were willing to move to LA or SF. I’m not even tempted by it.