# Alternative housing?



## chaudi (Sep 10, 2009)

I was talking to this RE agent and he say i can buy some agri land and get a permit to build say a garage only. So it looks like a garage but inside i insulate it and it is nice 1bedroom apartment. He says people get away this. I see many illegal garage apartments in Toronto too, i don't see any bulldozer coming for them. So i should be ok on rural/agri land? Will the land cops come after me?


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## dougbos (Jun 4, 2012)

chaudi said:


> I was talking to this RE agent and he say i can buy some agri land and get a permit to build say a garage only. So it looks like a garage but inside i insulate it and it is nice 1bedroom apartment. He says people get away this. I see many illegal garage apartments in Toronto too, i don't see any bulldozer coming for them. So i should be ok on rural/agri land? Will the land cops come after me?


I would go to the muncipal office first before buying where the land is and ask if you can build a garage only. Rural areas may not be so lenient on bylaw violations. Don't believe everything you are told unless it is in writing and verified.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

You will need a serviced lot for water and sewer so probably they will give planning permissions for a house and a garage.We bought land and paid property taxes on $77,000 for three years and we had a 24x28 garage only on the land to store a boat and my husbands cars.Once the house went on the land the bill went up $600,000+.If a loft over the garage suits your needs I would seek approval for that ,we inquired about doing a loft after we built and they insisted we do a two story living unit which needed to have a filewall built from floor to ceiling and a set of stairs outside to provide a fire escape because we store two cars and a boat inside the garage.The $20,000+ to refit it to meet code is not worthwhile to us and since we have so much extra land we may build a nice little bunker as a guest house down the road.We could not have multiple car storage below living space ,it was some fire code violation ,not sure if it applies to single car storage.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Generally speaking, you would not be able to get approved to install a bathroom in a structure such as this lot unless you applied specifically to get this. And would not be able to get a septic tank certified either unless approved.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

You are unlikely to be able to get insurance.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Cal is correct which is why i stated to get a serviced lot.There is a lot up the street from us with no water and sewer and the cost to get service is turning buyers off.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

I wouldn't try it. They are really cracking down on building code violations even in the most rural districts. It is much different than it was 50 years ago or even 20.

With Google maps etc. there is practically no chance of getting away with anything these days.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

I would take anything a commissioned sales person with a motivation to close a deal tells me with a grain of salt. It doesn't matter if it's a car, pair of pants or a lot. 

My sister bought some land up north and put a house trailer on it. Some people in the neighborhood got exemptions to put a house trailer on their land. She did not and it had to be removed. I can't imagine a more remote rural location. My sister still owns that land but now there's hay on it. The town collects next to no property tax on it. Life goes on. 

Zoning bylaws and exemptions are a crapshoot. You might get lucky or not. I can say sis was pretty bent out of shape by her foray into the inner workings of municipal politics. Not everyone would enjoy that type of endeavor. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I would not have the patience for it.


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