Charlie: Damien in Galveston says, “I have a one acre vacant lot on Indian Beach.” You know where that is?
Tom: Actually, no.
Charlie: Me neither. Anyway, he says it’s on the bay side, and it incorporates some 50% of wetlands boundary on it.
Tom: Oh, it means you can’t build anything. He’s just like super permitted.
Charlie: It’s funny. You say that because his question seems to be, “I want your recommendations for some reputable home builders and some past experience ‘got you’s’ that maybe you’ve encountered. There is an HOA with some builder requirements in place.”
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Tom: Well, first off, I think what needs to happen is you need to get an architect, get the plans drawn, get it approved by the HOA, get it approved by the city, county, Texas windstorm people, whoever is involved with it. Then, you start thinking about a builder. See, everybody wants to go right to the builder, but you need to have all this homework done by an architect, especially in an area like that because you’re going to run into a lot of different regulations, permitting, inspections, generally you know all that, right?
Now, you get into wetlands stuff where you can and cannot put even your foot, in some cases, you can’t even walk on it. It’s going to be quite regulated. A lot of people buy out in these areas, and they say, “Well, it’s part of wetlands.” As soon as you do that, you’re under a huge amount of regulations when it comes to that particular little part of your property. It’s not really yours.
Charlie: I’m sure that was disclosed when he bought the property.
Tom: Oh, yeah. I’m sure it was too.