Do not buy a parcel for an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or small-lot project until the local agency, title documents, survey, utilities, permits, and preliminary budget all support the plan. A listing that shows a large backyard proves neither an ADU right nor a buildable second lot. First identify the governing city or county and zoning district; then test the proposed footprint against easements, setbacks, overlays, access, utilities, code requirements, and approval costs. An ADU right in one jurisdiction does not establish eligibility elsewhere, and a small-lot project can require subdivision or other entitlements beyond ADU rules.
Use the sequence below as a screening process before removing contingencies or committing substantial design money. It is a due-diligence framework, not a feasibility opinion for any particular address. Rules, fees, and agency procedures change, so obtain written, parcel-specific confirmation from the authorities that will approve the work.
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1. Define the project before evaluating the parcel
“ADU” and “small-lot development” are not interchangeable descriptions. Write down the exact project you are considering before asking whether a property qualifies.
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- For an ADU, identify whether it would be detached, attached, converted from existing space, or created above a garage; the approximate floor area; stories and height; bedroom count; and whether it would be rented, occupied by family, or used for another purpose allowed by local rules.
- For a small-lot project, state how many primary homes or parcels you want, whether a subdivision is contemplated, and whether the homes would share access, parking, utilities, or common areas.
- Record whether you intend to keep the existing house, replace it, add a second primary dwelling, or divide the land. Each choice can trigger a different land-use, building, fire, utility, and financing review.
Ask the planning department to classify the project in writing. A staff member may explain that a proposed second unit is an ADU, a duplex, a new primary dwelling, a lot split, or a subdivision; those classifications can have different standards and approval paths.
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Separate entitlement questions from construction questions
“Can I apply?” is not the same as “Can I build the design I want?” Land-use eligibility comes first. The physical envelope, utility capacity, fire access, structural design, and drainage determine whether an eligible project is practical and affordable.
2. Confirm land-use eligibility with the governing jurisdiction
Identify the city or county that controls the parcel, then obtain the current zoning map, zoning text, overlay maps, parcel-specific conditions, and application instructions. Do not rely on a real-estate listing, tax description, or a neighboring property’s approval.
Verify the zoning district and overlays
- Confirm the base zoning district, lot-area and lot-width rules, density limits, and the uses permitted by right.
- Check overlay districts and special plans, including historic, shoreline, flood, wetland, hillside, environmental, design, planned-development, and neighborhood-specific regulations.
- Look for recorded or adopted development conditions, planned-unit-development rules, covenants enforced by the public agency, and mapped infrastructure corridors.
- Ask whether the parcel crosses a zoning boundary or lies in an area with a pending map or code amendment.
California’s Department of Housing and Community Development advises local governments to analyze ADU standards such as height, setbacks, minimum and maximum unit sizes, lot coverage, parking, zones where ADUs are allowed, review standards, fees, and other constraints. That list is a useful set of questions, not a determination that any California parcel—or a parcel elsewhere—is eligible.
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Ask what approval path applies
Request a written outline of every review. A project may be ministerial, meaning it is checked against objective standards, or it may require discretionary design, historic, environmental, subdivision, variance, conditional-use, or other review. Ask:
- Is the proposed unit or lot configuration allowed on this parcel?
- Is a separate entitlement, subdivision map, lot split, parcel adjustment, or condominium process required?
- Will a pre-application meeting, neighborhood notice, public hearing, or design review be required?
- Which department accepts the application, and in what order must planning, building, fire, public works, and utility approvals occur?
- What are the current application fees, deposits, appeal periods, and expiration dates?
Nashville’s guidance, for example, says a detached ADU applicant must qualify under the applicable land-use table and lot-area rules. Its guidance also states that a detached ADU cannot be built over an easement or platted setback. That is a Nashville-specific rule, but it illustrates why a parcel’s legal constraints must be checked before a footprint is drawn.
3. Map the buildable envelope instead of trusting a listing sketch
The buildable envelope is the area where the proposed structure can legally and physically fit after all constraints are applied. A rectangular backyard on an aerial image may disappear once setbacks, easements, trees, drainage, parking, and access are plotted.
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Measure the controlling dimensions and coverage
- Front, side, rear, and corner setbacks, including different setbacks for garages, porches, balconies, and upper stories.
- Maximum building height, stories, daylight or plane restrictions, and any height measured from grade rather than from the driveway.
- Minimum lot area, lot width, frontage, and depth; for a small-lot project, the dimensions of every proposed new lot.
- Maximum lot coverage, floor-area ratio, impervious-surface or lot-coverage ratio, and required open space.
- Unit-size limits, bedroom or occupancy limits, and rules for conversions of existing structures.
- Parking count, stall dimensions, driveway width, turning space, bicycle parking, and any replacement-parking obligation.
Orlando’s guide highlights zoning category and lot size, district setbacks, impervious-surface ratio, parking, utility-meter and easement requirements, and additional restrictions for properties near waterbodies. Use those categories as a checklist, while confirming the actual standards for your jurisdiction.
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- Topographic breaks, steep slopes, retaining walls, drainage paths, flood elevations, and areas that cannot be filled.
- Protected or regulated trees, root zones, habitats, wetlands, shorelines, streams, and required buffers.
- Historic resources, archaeological sensitivity, scenic corridors, and fire-hazard or wildland-urban-interface requirements.
- Existing wells, septic systems, stormwater facilities, pools, wells, tanks, and buried or overhead lines.
Draw the proposed building, parking, construction access, utility routes, stormwater facilities, and required fire access on a scaled plan. A conceptual rectangle from a listing is not a site plan and cannot reveal conflicts between these features.
4. Order the right title and survey work
Title and survey documents answer different questions. A title report identifies recorded interests; a survey shows where boundaries and physical features actually lie. Obtain both early enough to change the purchase decision.
Read the title report and recorded documents
Ask the title company for the complete commitment or report, every referenced instrument, the legal description, exceptions, declarations, and recorded maps. Look specifically for:
- Utility, drainage, access, sewer, water, stormwater, conservation, slope, or public-purpose easements.
- Rights of way, reciprocal access agreements, shared-driveway obligations, and maintenance responsibilities.
- Platted building lines or setbacks that are stricter than the zoning code.
- Encroachments, boundary agreements, restrictions, conditions, and covenants that affect construction or use.
- Existing mortgages, tax liens, assessments, or other matters that must be cleared at closing.
California’s Department of Real Estate explains that title reports identify encumbrances such as easements and that site planning must account for boundaries, encumbrances, topography, natural features, and land-use regulations. An easement is not merely a note in a title file: its location, purpose, width, and relocation rights can determine whether a foundation, driveway, wall, or utility line is possible.
Commission a boundary, topographic, and utility survey
Use a licensed surveyor and specify the intended application. A boundary survey locates property lines; a topographic survey captures elevations and features; a utility survey or utility-locate work identifies visible and documented services. Your architect, civil engineer, or local agency may require a particular format or date.
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New York City’s housing agency advises applicants to investigate what is allowed and practical before investing time, describes surveys as checks of boundaries, dimensions, and site conditions, and states that a topographic and utility survey is required for its Department of Buildings and Department of Environmental Protection applications. That requirement is city-specific, but it demonstrates why a survey suitable for one project may not satisfy another jurisdiction.
Overlay the survey on the proposed plan
Have the design professional plot property lines, easements, rights of way, platted setbacks, encroachments, trees, grades, drainage, existing buildings, and utility routes on one base plan. Obtain written answers when a proposed foundation, retaining wall, fence, or driveway approaches an easement. Do not assume an easement can be built over because it appears unused; the document and the benefiting party control the rights.
5. Verify legal and physical access
Every future dwelling and construction operation needs access, but legal access and physical access are separate tests.
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Confirm the legal right to use the route
- Read recorded access rights and reciprocal maintenance agreements.
- Check whether the right covers construction vehicles, emergency services, utilities, future occupants, and additional units—not merely the present house.
- Confirm who may widen, repair, gate, or obstruct the route and how costs are shared.
- For a proposed subdivision, verify frontage or access standards for each new lot.
Test the physical route
- Measure width, turning radius, grade, surface, bridge or culvert limits, and overhead clearance.
- Ask the fire authority about apparatus access, turnaround, hydrants, gates, address visibility, and required fire-flow improvements.
- Plan where workers, cranes, concrete trucks, dumpsters, and utility crews can stage without blocking neighbors or public rights of way.
A narrow driveway may serve one existing house yet fail fire or construction requirements for an additional unit. Resolve that issue before treating the parcel as buildable.
6. Ask utility providers for written capacity and cost information
Call each provider serving the address—water, sewer, electricity, gas, telecommunications, and stormwater where applicable. The provider, not a listing or an informal phone estimate, determines available capacity and connection conditions.
Questions for every provider
- Is service available at the parcel boundary, and is the existing service legal and adequate for the proposed load?
- Will a larger water meter, sewer lateral, transformer, panel, service upgrade, backflow device, or new connection be required?
- Must the ADU or each small-lot home have a separate meter, account, or address?
- Are there utility easements, frontage improvements, trenching rules, or public works permits?
- What are the connection, capacity, system-development, impact, inspection, and inspection-reinspection charges?
- What design documents, deposits, lead times, and construction windows apply?
New York City guidance notes that some utilities may require service upgrades or panel modifications and that additional agency permits can be needed. Treat that as a warning to verify local requirements, not as a universal rule.
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Trace private and shared systems
If the parcel uses a well, septic system, private road, shared water line, or private stormwater facility, obtain records and test capacity. Determine whether an additional bedroom or dwelling triggers a larger septic reserve area, a new well permit, water-quality testing, or a recorded maintenance agreement. Locate private lines before placing foundations or excavation.
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Existing improvements can either help the project or create expensive legalization work. Compare what is physically present with the jurisdiction’s permit files and approved plans.
Obtain the complete record
- Search building, planning, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire, grading, sewer, and demolition records.
- Request approved plans, final inspections, certificates of occupancy, code-enforcement cases, and open permits.
- Check whether a garage conversion, enclosed patio, bedroom, basement, addition, or second kitchen was legally approved.
- Compare permit records with tax data, listing photographs, prior appraisals, and the actual building. Tax records are not proof that work was permitted.
Portland advises reviewing permit history and zoning standards, warns that unpermitted work may need to be permitted as new work, and notes that ADUs can involve building-permit fees, water-service fees, and system-development charges. Its advice to check actual permit records rather than relying on tax data is broadly useful, although fees and procedures differ by jurisdiction.
Inspect condition and code exposure
Have qualified professionals inspect structure, foundation, roof, moisture, electrical capacity, plumbing, sewer, drainage, fire separation, egress, energy performance, and hazardous materials. A legal existing unit may still require upgrades when a new project is connected to it. An unpermitted structure can reduce the usable envelope, complicate financing, and force removal or reconstruction.
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Before closing, ask the planning, building, public works, fire, and utility agencies for a written list of applications, required documents, review sequence, fees, and likely conditions. A pre-application meeting can reveal fatal constraints, but meeting notes are not an approval unless the agency states otherwise.
Build an approvals checklist
- Planning or zoning confirmation of the permitted project form and applicable standards.
- Survey and preliminary site plan showing the envelope, access, parking, utilities, trees, drainage, and easements.
- Subdivision, lot split, parcel adjustment, or other land-use entitlement if the project creates or reconfigures lots.
- Civil, structural, architectural, energy, landscape, and stormwater documents required for plan review.
- Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, grading, right-of-way, tree, fire, and utility permits.
- Inspections, certificates of occupancy, final utility releases, and recorded documents needed before sale or occupancy.
Eugene’s due-diligence checklist calls for reviewing zoning, possible additional land-use review, public utility easements, location and design standards, and charges due at permit issuance. Use those categories to test whether an apparently simple ADU has a broader approval path.
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9. Build a provisional but complete budget
Do not compare properties using only the advertised purchase price and a generic construction allowance. Until the site and agencies confirm the scope, label the budget provisional.
Include these cost categories
- Architectural, planning, surveying, title, legal, civil, structural, geotechnical, environmental, and utility-consultant services.
- Demolition, grading, excavation, retaining walls, foundations, drainage, stormwater, tree protection or removal, and site restoration.
- Building construction, fire separation, accessibility features, energy upgrades, parking, landscaping, and connections between existing and new structures.
- Planning, building, utility, impact, system-development, capacity, inspection, recording, and subdivision fees.
- Service upgrades, meter work, transformer or panel changes, sewer or water extensions, frontage improvements, and private access work.
- Insurance, financing carry, taxes, temporary housing, security, testing, and a contingency appropriate to the unresolved site risks.
Request fee schedules and provider estimates in writing. A one-time fee, a recurring utility charge, and a promotional estimate are different things; identify the basis and date of every figure. Do not treat an early contractor estimate as fixed until the survey, design, agency comments, and utility scope are known.
Compare risk-adjusted parcels
When evaluating two or more properties, compare the project rather than the lot size alone:
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches| Comparison area | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Entitlement certainty | Is the proposed form allowed by right, or does it depend on discretionary review, subdivision, a variance, or uncertain interpretation? |
| Usable envelope | How much area remains after setbacks, easements, overlays, trees, drainage, parking, and fire access are plotted? |
| Utilities | Are capacity, meter configuration, extensions, lead times, and connection costs documented? |
| Access and code | Can construction vehicles, occupants, and emergency apparatus legally and physically reach every unit? |
| Existing-condition exposure | Are improvements permitted and sound, or will legalization, removal, or major upgrades be required? |
| Time and approvals | How many agencies, applications, hearings, and infrastructure projects are likely? |
| Cost confidence | Which numbers are written estimates, which are allowances, and which remain unknown? |
A smaller parcel with clear approvals and available utilities may be more valuable than a larger parcel with an unusable easement or uncertain subdivision path.
10. Use a pre-purchase decision gate
Set a written go/no-go gate before earnest money becomes nonrefundable. Proceed only when the unresolved items are acceptable to your financing, schedule, and risk tolerance.
Proceed when
- The jurisdiction confirms the project classification and zoning path.
- The survey and title documents show a workable envelope without relying on an unverified easement exception.
- Access, parking, fire requirements, and utility capacity are documented or have a credible, priced upgrade path.
- Existing improvements have a clear permit and legalization plan.
- Professional fees, agency charges, infrastructure work, and contingencies fit the funding plan.
- Purchase-contract contingencies allow time to complete the remaining investigations.
Pause or renegotiate when
- The seller cannot provide a complete title package or access rights.
- The proposed footprint depends on building within an easement, platted setback, buffer, or unverified boundary.
- A provider will not confirm capacity, or an upgrade has no price or lead time.
- Permit records conflict with the building, or open code cases remain unresolved.
- The project requires a discretionary approval whose outcome, conditions, or timing materially affects value.
- The budget works only if unknown fees, site work, or construction risks are ignored.
Documents to assemble before removing purchase contingencies
- Current title commitment or report, all referenced easements, covenants, restrictions, and recorded maps.
- Boundary, topographic, and utility survey suitable for the intended application.
- Current zoning map, code extracts, overlay maps, and written planning response.
- Preliminary site plan showing buildings, setbacks, easements, access, parking, trees, drainage, and utilities.
- Permit history, approved plans, certificates of occupancy, and code-enforcement records.
- Written utility responses covering capacity, meter configuration, upgrades, fees, deposits, and lead times.
- Fire and public-works comments on access, hydrants, frontage, grading, and stormwater.
- Preliminary professional-cost and construction budgets with assumptions and contingencies.
- A decision log identifying every unresolved issue, responsible agency or consultant, deadline, and financial consequence.
Questions to put to the seller, agencies, and consultants
Ask the seller
- What work has been done, when, by whom, and under which permits?
- Are there shared drives, private utilities, access agreements, disputes, or maintenance obligations?
- Have any prior buyers, architects, or agencies received written feasibility comments?
Ask planning and building staff
- What zoning district, overlays, lot standards, and project classification apply to this parcel?
- What is the complete review sequence, and which standards are discretionary?
- Which current fees, impact charges, and expiration rules apply?
Ask surveyors, designers, and engineers
- What survey products and technical studies are required for this application?
- Which site constraints control the footprint, and which can be mitigated?
- What assumptions in the preliminary plan could change after field work?
Why a parcel-specific answer requires current local evidence
No general checklist can establish that a particular address is feasible. A reliable conclusion requires the address and jurisdiction, intended ADU or small-lot configuration, current title documents, an appropriate survey, zoning and overlay information, permit records, utility-provider responses, and a preliminary site plan. Confirm every rule, fee, and agency procedure at the time of purchase; do not carry a neighboring city’s standards or an old approval into a new transaction.
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