Picked the lot to buy in Tucson

Apr 30, 2006

Last weekend I was in Tucson, AZ looking at some lots out in the Diamond Bell Ranch area. DBR in about 22 miles southwest of Tucson, off Aho Hwy. I went down there with a list of 4 lots to look at and pick one. Turns out the lot we are going to buy was not on that list.

The lots on my list turned out to be pretty bad - they all have washes running through them, eating up too much of the land to build on. And the washes cannot be filled. That as a bit of a downer, there is one lot, at 1.67 acres, that I was particularly interested in. But it has two washes running through it, leaving a building area that would be fine for a smaller house, 2 or 3 bedrooms and not much more. We need more room than that for what we have designed. So I then had to look at the other lots that we initially had decided not to look at, based on the Google Earth images of them.

After looking long and hard at several other lots I decided on a long, fairly narrow lot, which is perfectly flat. After pacing out the width I figured we could build our dream house on that lot with just a bit of room to spare in the width. The lot is more than long enough, it is just over 1 acre, with fantastic views to the south and west, including Kitt Peak and the Sierra Mtns.

Had meetings with a couple designers, a builder, and met with the county permits guy, zoning guy, and flood management guy. Got some paperwork from all of them to get the ball rolling. Drove out to DBR at least 3 times to look at the lots and get pictures. It was a very busy weekend.

Now we are working on the loan to buy the lot, that should be done this next week. And I am looking for a job in Tucson, so soon as I get an offer I'm moving down, and Cheryl will stay here until this house sells.

The fun is about to begin. Stay tuned for more updates.