Teton Realty Blog

What can I do with my property in Teton Valley?

July 2, 2019 By Tayson Rockefeller Leave a Comment

This has become an increasing hot topic in terms of number of homes, guest home requirements, and so forth. It’s important to remember that City Zoning AND Subdivision CC&Rs take precedence, so this is to outline County requirements to provide baseline. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of what can be done on a RESIDENTIALLY zoned property within the County limits. Properties zoned commercial, industrial or multi-family (which are rare by comparison) have different regulations, as do properties within City limits. This does not cover all of the County restrictions, only answers to some frequently asked questions, and should be independently verified.

WHAT can I build?
In a nutshell, the County allows the construction of ONE primary home, ONE guest home, and any number of outbuildings such as a shed or barn, so long as they conform to the setback and size requirements.

Manufactured? Modular?
Manufactured homes, except those built prior to 1976 are allowed as long as they are constructed to satisfy the uniform building code (UBC). Modular homes are also subject to the building codes.

Do I need a building permit?
You need a building permit for any structure over 200 SqFt unless it is a dwelling, in which case a permit will be required for any size.

What are the building code requirements?
As of the time of this writing, Teton County IDAHO is operating under the 2012 International Building Code (IBC) & the 2012 International Residential Code (IRC) for determining and enforcing the quality of construction, while Teton County WYOMING has mostly adopted the 2015 versions of the code.

Size and setback requirements?
Size:Height: 30’ (60’ for some structures, such as barns in the A20 zone)
Fence Height: 6’ (without obstructing a corner lot sight line)
***Some decks, chimneys, wells, septic tanks, etc. can in some instances come within 6’ of a property line.Currently there is no minimum or maximum restriction on home size, except for those outlined for guest homes.
Setbacks (for building only, not septic or well):Front: 30’
Rear: 40’
Side: 30’
Teton River: 100’
Stream or Creek: 50’
Irrigation Ditch: 15’
Accessory buildings such as sheds under 200 SqFt can be as close as 12’ to a property boundary.

An article regarding septic installation and setback requirements can be found here.

Guest homes?
ONE guest dwelling can be constructed (attached or detached) to the primary unit and must have it’s own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The maximum size must not exceed 50% of the primary dwelling square footage or 900 SqFt, whichever is GREATER, not to exceed a total of 1500 SqFt. If the parcel is 5 acres or larger, these size requirements shall not apply. On acreages smaller than 1 acre, guest dwelling are not allowed.

How many homes can I build?
TWO dwellings are allowed per parcel, unless the parcel is smaller than one acre, in which case ONE dwelling is allowed.

Trailers? Campers?
Storing your OWN utility or livestock trailers is not restricted, though vehicle storage for a fee or a business is only allowed in industrial zones. RV or camper storage is restricted to ONE per property, and questions regarding occupying or residing in an RV or camper on your property (either short-term or long-term) should be directed to Teton County. Camping is not restricted on your property unless you are charging a fee, in which case a permit would be required.

Sheds & outbuildings?
Accessory buildings are allowed and cannot exceed 3000 SqFt and 2 stories in height, this applies for all types of zoning. Accessory buildings are not to be confused with accessory DWELLINGS and CANNOT be occupied as a residence.

Business or lodging operation?
Properties that are in residential zones can operate under approved conditional use permits.

An article regarding Conditional Use Permits can be found here.

Well, septic, power, phone required?
Wells are not required. An approved wastewater system such as a septic system is required for any dwelling, and must be approved with the Eastern Idaho Public Health Department.

An article regarding septic systems can be found here.

Summary
As mentioned above, this article is only a loose guideline, and questions should always be directed to the County, City and Homeowners Associations. There are other county-wide restrictions that must be considered as well, from lighting restrictions and requirements to parking an driveway requirements for fire department access. It is also important to remember that there are specific requirements when building in areas with hillsides, wetland, floodplain, or specific overlays such as zoning overlays and even wildlife overlays.

As a final note, these comments are based on Title 8 of the Teton County, Idaho Zoning Ordinance, amended May 26, 2009. The county is currently considering a revamp or rewrite of this ordinance to clarify certain points, and potentially make changes. A link to the current code can be found here. If this link is broken, it is likely that this code has been amended.

Is it a good time to buy?

May 15, 2019 By Tayson Rockefeller Leave a Comment

Any good economist, salesperson, or real estate agent will always tell you up front; “I don’t have a crystal ball.” I don’t view this as a disclosure to cover one’s rear, but more a statement to get you thinking about both sides of an equation. With that, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I am going to do my best to make a recommendation.

Home prices continue to rise, the real estate market is booming, but these cycles don’t last forever. Even in times of recession, history shows us that markets recover, and thrive. I have to remind people that those who purchased a home in 2007 would very likely be in good shape today. We witnessed one of the deepest recessions in American history, yet here we are, 10 years later. If you would have purchased a home in 2007, your interest rate likely would have been somewhere between 6 and 7%. This seems high, but based on the past 50 years, it’s not bad. Sure, there are other equations. Those with an 18% interest rate in the early 80s could have refinanced over time. They also may have experienced a higher rate of appreciation.

Regardless, for the first time in history, rates have been below 5% for nearly 10 years, and this probably won’t last forever. The rate of inflation will likely increase as the strong economy continues, which will result in increasing interest rates to create balance for that rising inflation.

With that, I’m going to run a quick hypothetical. Let’s say you are buying a home and obtaining a loan for $400,000. The interest rates for a 30 year loan today are favorable, in the low 4% range. I’ll use 4.25%. The total cost of the loan, if you didn’t make any additional payments, would be about $708,000 over 30 years. Now, let’s say home values come down. You are able to buy the same home for $350,000 in a few years’ time, but interest rates are 6%. The total cost of the loan is $755,000 in this scenario.

To be fair, the above scenario isn’t totally realistic. Most people don’t own a home for the entire duration of their mortgage. I believe the median tenure living in a home is somewhere around 10 years. If we run the same scenario, and add up the payments over those 10 years, your balance owed at the end of 2030 with the first scenario would be around $300,000 and $280,000 in the second scenario. If you were to take into account the payments you would have made (as opposed to renting) between buying a house now, and if, and when the prices reduce in the future, you would likely be in the same boat. Things would also begin to swing in your favor the longer you own the home.

We don’t know if prices will decrease. We also don’t know if interest rates will rise. For all we know, home prices could come down along with interest rates, or home prices could increase along with interest rates. If trends continue, the latter is more likely to happen. If I run the same scenario with an increased purchase price and a higher interest rate, things get ugly.

We all have our own budget, limits on what we should spend, or even circumstances where it is not the right financial move to invest in a home. Do your best to weigh the pros AND cons. Educate yourself with respect to current interest rates, home prices and values. If it all adds up, then yes, it is my opinion that it is the right time to buy.

Map Your Listings!

April 19, 2019 By Tayson Rockefeller Leave a Comment

For this week’s article I wanted to talk a little bit about marketing. Specifically, listing mapping, how it works, and how it can drastically affect your listing.

I am constantly in some sort of web development phase. I monitor our own website and it’s performance, look at competitor sites, as well as listing sites like Zillow. As a refresher, your listing, and how it appears on these sites is directly linked to how your Realtor enters the data into their local MLS.

Accurately entering this data is important not only for mapping purposes, but property features. For example, if your property has a Teton view, you need to make sure that your agent checks the box under the view category that the property has a Teton view. If the data isn’t entered correctly your listing isn’t going to show up for those using specific search filters. It’s amazing how many agents don’t enter this data correctly, especially once you get into the Idaho Falls market… Sorry guys, it’s true.

Back to mapping and its importance. Just like customers using filters to look for properties, many customers (if not most) used some sort of map feature to search for real estate. Like inconsistencies with property features, it’s amazing how many real estate agents don’t properly map their (your) listings. Almost every MLS tries to map listings automatically, and there is a second step available to verify the location of each listing entry. Because we are in a rural area, many listings are either not mapped by this system at all, or mapped improperly. All of the websites that display your listing receive their data from each MLS in simple data feeds. These feeds include property features, acreage, square feet and so forth. The mapping data, however, is provided in latitude and longitude coordinates. If a listing is properly mapped, these coordinates are sent to the secondary website like Zillow. If they aren’t, a variety of things can happen, none of which are good for your listing.

The primary result for most advertising websites if coordinates are not available is to not display them on maps at all. This is the case with Zillow. The listing is still available in the “list” view, which is why you’ll see your listing come up, and many agents don’t realize the mistake they have made. The other result, which is the case on websites like mine, is that these listings are still displayed on the map, but in the wrong location. This can be a minor issue since my website tries to generate it’s own coordinates based on the address, but it can also be a major issue for listings that don’t have an address or haven’t been mapped by Google, many land listings fall under this category. These listings can show up and very odd places, Africa for example. Arguably this is better than not having it display at all, but still a pretty big issue. As we approach the sale season, it might be good to review your listing with your agent, and verify that it is being mapped properly, and that is translating properly to sites like Zillow.

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