Western NY/Finger Lakes Area Building Code Questions

[IHDiesel73L]

Any TBN'ers out this way who can give me some guidance? We are looking for a lake property in this area, around Otisco/Owasco. What I'm trying to figure out is what building codes are like as there seem to be two different kinds of places: Actual lake "houses" which are just that-year round places that are fully insulated with full HVAC systems, drilled wells, etc... Naturally they are priced accordingly. We are looking for a more of a "camp" or at most, a 3-season place which is basically just a cabin that we can either pull water from the lake or haul it in (no well), no insulation, little in the way of interior finish, a wood stove for heat for use in late spring or early fall and that's basically it. I do realize that no matter what I'll need to have a septic system since we're looking to be on a lake, which is fine. The "camps" that we do see for sale look as though they have not been updated at all in many years, which leads me to believe that camps probably fly under the radar until they change hands in a real estate transaction or the owner wants to or is forced to (because its falling apart) do major renovations. At that point I'm thinking the building code inspector comes into play demanding a drilled well, sheetrocked/fire rated walls and ceilings (rather than just open studs/rafters) and other items that will increase the overall build cost. We've also thought of buying a teardown or land (there are lots out there) and either having the Amish drop or site build something like these:

Again though, we would want to buy one with the interior relatively unfinished and do it ourselves over time, or in some cases (insulation, sheetrock, trim, etc...) not at all, but not sure how that would be viewed by a local building department. I'm told that in these areas building codes are handled at the town level which probably means some variation from town to town. Again, we are looking around Otisco/Owasco but just those two lakes cover multiple towns each.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I would recommend stopping by the local building dept and introduce yourself and ask questions. In my experience that can gain an ally vs a foe.

 

[Mendonsy]

I agree with Steppenwolfe on that. The requirements will vary by county and by town (and sometimes by which inspector you get).

 

[EddieWalker]

In your case, this is where a good realtor stand out, and where so many others disappoint. You want somebody with intimate knowledge of the area that you are interested in, somebody that knows the people who live there on a first name basis. Where I live, there are easily over 100 realtors, but less then a dozen that are really good. To find a good realtor attention to has the most listings in that area. There is usually a reason for that. Go look at some of those listings, even if you have no plans on buying that home, just go to talk and learn the area and ask about what you are really wanting to buy. Sometimes you will learn more then you wanted and realize that your original thoughts where flawed.

When I bought my place, I talked to more then a dozen agents. I looked at properties with them, met them at homes, and asked tons of questions. I always felt that they where lying to me by making up stuff that they didn't really know the answer to, in order to get me to buy. Most common, and easiest for me to spot, where home remodel questions. I'm a contractor. I didn't tell them that I was a contractor. My goal was to buy land with or without a house, but able to build on if there wasn't a house on it. They guy that I ended up using was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to discourage me from properties that he knew of issues that where never declared, or might limit my use of land. I ended up buying a and selling a bunch of flip houses with him too. He was never off by more then a couple grand in what a finished off flip house would sell for. That was huge for me when buying a house to flip, I knew what I could spend and make a profit off of it before committing to the project. This worked out great for quite a few years until the market collapsed in 2005 and I switched into remodeling houses for faster paydays and less risk.

As to your original question about Code, I can only speak for CA and TX, where I've lived. Code is something that is real important when building new, and less important as time goes on. I build everything to Code, but rarely deal with permits or inspectors since we don't have Code outside city limits and inside the cities, they are focused on new construction and commercial work. Last couple of jobs that I had to pull permits for where all signed off without the Inspector ever showing up to look at the house. They got their fees, I got my permit, and who knows if it was right or not. It was.