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I think there are sewage and water codes to watch for as well as the other stuff mentioned above. I would talk to a local contractor or a local home insurance agent.

However, yes, you can live in an RV temporarily. My parents did that when I was a kid as they built a house. Worked out pretty good.

Best wishes!

The further you go WEST of I-35 in Texas, especially in a COUNTY rural area with some land (preferably 20 acres plus) the fewer restrictions you'll encounter. Stay away from anything close to the metropolitan areas and/or those Towns that claim to be "cities". About only restrictions in these West areas are State water and sewer issues. Well permits, sewer permits (done by contractor). On a sidebar, IMO, most everything in Texas EAST of I-35 is essentially "city" crap...too populated and too many wanabees town ordinances, etc. Any area that regulates what you can do or have on your property (legal stuff, that is) will probably have a ton of rules you are supposed to follow.

Bill

Jumping Frog wrote:

mamabearCali wrote:Thanks y'all. I will tell my husband another check mark in the direction of moving to TX. I grow tired of the east coast busybodies that seem to exist no matter how rural you go.

You live in VA. It is even worse in The People's Republic of Maryland. I lived there 10-15 years ago and could not stand all the socialist busybody nightmares.

However, I did profit from it nicely when my county saw fit to impose a building permit moratorium, thereby tilting the whole supply-demand balance. Suddenly, my house jumped $100,000 in price right at the same time I sold to move out of that state.

I remember when a few counties did that about 10 years ago. Wow were they hated...with a capital H. Mostly it was young couples that had bought land to build on that were treated so badly. I remember it was horrible. People who should have had their own house were forced to live in their parents extra bedroom with their two kids or go into the city. It was amazing the anger I remember hearing about.

n5wd wrote:This is in the northwest of Fort Worth area, from Weatherford up through Decatur and up into Navarro County.

when did they move Navarro County? It used to be southeast of Ft. Worth !

mamabearCali wrote:So before I get totally ticked off. I thought I would ask and see if it is the same way in TX. Are there places where one can do any or all of the above things in TX?

You can do all those in most places out in the country in Texas. You probably can't do most of them in a deed restricted suburb. Suburbs and urban areas that aren't deed restricted will depend on local codes.

For example, even inside the loop in Houston there are plenty of homes with an apartment over a detached garage. Some homeowners even rent them out. On the other hand, an RV might not meet code for water and sewer connections, etc.

talltex wrote:

n5wd wrote:This is in the northwest of Fort Worth area, from Weatherford up through Decatur and up into Navarro County.

when did they move Navarro County? It used to be southeast of Ft. Worth !

You're correct, of course. Late night messaging -I meant Nocona /Montague County instead of Navarro County.

Not sure if this has been noted already, but AFAICT there are no building inspectors in most of rural Texas. I believe the state does in those areas invoke the national building code, but without inspections/enforcement people in these areas can do whatever the heck they want to do in my observation. Reputable builders will adhere to the code as a minimum standard, as they don't want to become known for substandard building practices, but otherwise not having to deal with obtaining permits and inspections we found to be a great relief in building (so far three) structures on our property.

In our county those digging wells and septic fields do have to submit plans and pay fees to register these with the county, observing basic rules for their construction (e.g. septic >xxx feet from well) but as for homes and outbuildings there is no such permitting required.

The barn-do minimum is pretty common here in TX. Hope to do that someday.

re: temp mobile home
Been there done that. Would not recommend it. RV or a living area in a barn/garage will cost you less in the long run.
What ever you do, get yourself to TEXAS!!

Topbuilder wrote:re: temp mobile home
Been there done that. Would not recommend it. RV or a living area in a barn/garage will cost you less in the long run.
What ever you do, get yourself to TEXAS!!

I gotta convince DH to uproot. He likes VA, understandably. My parents would move back without too much prodding, but it would be harder for them. Sadly when we visited TX last and he got to see it, it was in the middle of a particularly nasty drought. Snakes everywhere (looking for water likely). Everything was brown in April.....he is a fan of trees and greenery. So it will take a strong pull like a serious job offer to get him to go. Thats ok....he finishes his bull next December and if his company is not forthcoming with a position he will look elsewhere. As he works in energy I imagine TX has some pretty good jobs in that industry. So we will see.

I'm not promoting this web site for any purpose other than to give you a resource to look at and compare, but if you go to http://www.landsoftexas.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you can punch in any and all information you are interested in and see whats currently for sale. Land only, hunting land, land with house, etc. you can break it down with how many acres ie. 5-50, how much ie. 0- $50,000, and even has it broken up into different areas of the state. The main thing to look for if you are looking to just buy land and build yourself is, is it restricted or not. If not, you can do ALMOST anything on it you want. Good luck whatever ya'll choose to do.

You need to look at the restrictions (County, City) where you're thinking about buying. Living in an RV while you build may not be remotely possible in Plano or even Wylie, but in unincorporated areas and *some* small cities, it won't be an issue at all...

There is no state level restriction on what you want to do in Texas. I'm kinda surprised that that there is in VA, but maybe they're looking for a bit more uniformity there.

We lived in an RV for 9 months while building. Literally we were off grid initially, with nothing other than 250 gallons of water on a trailer.

Where I live, we only needed two permits:
1) Septic
2) Permit for attaching the driveway to the right of way

Everything else was unregulated - which means a builder can get away with a lot of monkey business if there is no inspection and no enforcement. Sure, the county has codes to follow, but because there is no inspection, it's a bit of the wild west.

That site is great. Saw some great stuff!

My husband will finish his bachelors of science in criminal justice..... Not bull..

If you're serious - think about financing. For me, building in this manner took a lot more resources - barn in cash, RV in cash, then still have enough cash to finance 20% of construction. Go to any suburban neighborhood and they'll get you in with 5% down on good credit... And if you're building custom, you typically finance the construction, then have to close again and finance the home in ready-to-occupy condition.

Doing it again, unless the timing forced me to need a place immediately, It'd be better to build that barn with one bedroom - assuming you're in a municipality that has very few permits. Besides, you need a place to throw the in-laws...

Hoping to do this cash in hand excepting financing the land. I am serious, but it may take a couple of years to pull this off. Right now I am gathering information and exploring options.