Blog for www.wendyburnsrealtor.com

Backyard Chickens in Apex

Sunday, July 18th 2010

Backyard Chickens in Apex

There is a growing movement of people wanting to get closer to the origins of their food and in touch with the rewards of nurturing and growing their own small bounties. Small home gardens are cropping up and local grown produce is in demand. In Apex, there is a new Saturday Farmers market in the parking lot of the chamber of commerce/ old train depot. Local farmers and artisans offer free range meat, locally grown fruits and vegetables, honey, soaps, home baked goods, landscaping plants and more. Several vegetable stands have popped up along the roads with local farm grown vegetables. I have also seen a few rustic signs posted in yards advertising “free range eggs.” Always loving chickens in artwork and pottery, I started to wonder about the possibility of having a few hens in my Apex backyard.

First of all what I find in the local ordinances is that the town of Apex allows backyard hens within the Apex Town limits, but no noisy Roosters. Further research into the basics revealed that one happy hen produces one egg a day, so 2-3 hens should eventually produce enough eggs to feed a family and a little extra to give to neighbors. Maybe an occasional gift of organic free range eggs will keep neighbors happy. Without a rooster around to make noise, the hens should go pretty much unnoticed. A recent visit to the local upscale nursery, The Garden Supply Company, opened my eyes to the new, very attractive chicken coop designs. They are like the adorable play houses you see in many backyards, only scaled down to chicken size. They offer seamed metal roofs, charming trim details, flower boxes and more. Who could object to such a charming structure? See the photos I took below and some links to my favorite sites on chicken coop designs, chicken care and different breeds. Contrary to common beliefs, 2-3 chickens are not smelly or noisy. They make great pets; eat bugs, offer eggs and organic fertilizer.

I understand that the biggest things to consider when raising hens are keeping the coop from overheating and predators. The coop should have good ventilation and natural shade. Keeping them safe from predators is another concern. We do have local fox, and neighborhood cats and dogs to worry about.

Although the town of Apex allows backyard chickens, most of the people of Apex live in neighborhoods with covenants and restrictions. I recently pulled a local neighborhood’s covenants which allowed for “3 usual pets.” I don’t know how to define “usual,” but one could argue hens are so.

Downtown Raleigh is a great example of how well chickens can work in a neighborhood environment. They have an abundance of urban homes with backyard coops. Every spring, several of the coop owners open their yards to a tour of the cities backyard coops. See the link http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/henside-the-beltline-tour-dcoop-2009/

My favorite site on the subject of backyard chickens is http://www.backyardchickens.com/

The coop below is available through www.raleighcoop.com

Unpermitted Space - Get you permits!

Thursday, June 24th 2010

Unpermitted heated living space - Get your permits! (edit/delete)

Unpermitted space is a common dilemma in our area. Often homeowners finish off attics or basements without wanting to go through the hassles or expenses of getting permits. Often they want to avoid the extra property value increase for tax reasons. Well these decisions come back to haunt them when they try to sell. Price per square foot is a commonly used measure of value for homes, at least it is in the Triangle of North Carolina. Frequently, listing appointments get tangled when discrepancies in the online tax records for square footage differ significantly from the measured amount of heated square feet. The red flag goes up, and as agents, we start searching for permit records. Buyer's agents and listing agents are much more in tune with their liability regarding the square footage of a home now than they were years ago. Law suits against agents and former homeowners have raised awareness.

Recently, a listing of mine had about 400 s/f of unpermitted finished space. At about $100/sf, that adds up to about $40,000 (I know you can do the math, just put that in for the WOW factor). The sellers purchased the home years ago with the room already finished without knowing it was not permitted. Now, in order to advertise this space - without future legal worries, we had to get it permitted retroactively. Several buyer's agents have already called me to ask about the permitting of the room. The hassle and expense of the process was worth it for the homeowner to be able to advertise and sell that area. Advertising 2700 heated square feet means 2700 permitted square feet! Nobody wants a buyer coming back after the sale claiming a $40,000 discrepancy.

The lack of a permit can also negate future insurance claims. If a fire or other problem arises from the unpermitted space, the insurance company can deny claims on the space and any portion of the home damaged from problem. Can you imagine that coming back against the agent or seller?

The process for this listing started of at the permitting office with about $225.00 in fees. The process in Apex, NC requires you to have the area updated to current codes, not the codes that were in place (and much less stringent) 15 years ago when the work was done. Also, the inspector had the homeowner remove some wall panels and ceiling panels to see what was going on behind the walls. We were fortunate, not too many issues on this home. Because the house was listed for sale, we had to find a licensed electrician and HVAC business to sign on the permits. If permits are applied for by the homeowner, and they are living in the house, not on the market, this is not a requirement. The homeowner can sign off as his/her own general contractor (under $30,000 of improvements). I was able to find contractors I have done a lot of work with to help us out, and we had them do the code improvements. The sellers did have electrical code upgrades to make - ARC fault, added few ground fault outlets, replaced all outlets with tamper resistant outlets, and added an outlet (one every 6 feet). They had to insulate an exterior wall around a french door, which was luckily only 2 sections of paneling. The homeowners had to remove a section of paneling to show that a header existed above an opening - luckily it was up to code. The overall expense was about $1,600, certainly worth it.

Again, if you are considering converting space that will increase the livable area of your home - adding a finished attic or finished basement- take the time and spend the money to go through the local permitting process. It's much easier to do this before than after the fact. And I'm told that inspection fees can be punitive on a homeowner who decided to finish off rooms without getting permits up front.

Real Estate Q&A from Trulia

Monday, April 27th 2009