The whole reason you want it is the thing you'd have to change.
You're under contract with ten days on the clock, and the question is whether the attic finishes, the addition fits, or the lot takes a garage. Your inspector won't say — it's outside their scope. An architect takes three weeks. I'll give you a written answer in two business days.
- Zoning and lot analysis for that parcel
- Yes, no, or what it turns on
- A cost range if it's possible
- A short written summary you keep
Nobody in the transaction is paid to answer this.
Reports the condition of what's standing. Won't tell you what you're allowed to build, and shouldn't — it's outside the scope of a home inspection.
Knows the market and usually knows the town. Isn't going to render a zoning opinion, and has an interest in the sale closing.
Can answer it properly, and will — in about three weeks, for a design fee, well after your contingency has expired.
A few things people ask.
Two days — really?
For a standard parcel in a town I work in regularly, yes. If the property has something unusual going on — a shoreland overlay, an odd lot, a legal nonconformity that needs digging — I'll tell you within a few hours of you sending it, along with what it would actually take. What I won't do is quietly miss your deadline.
Is this a zoning determination?
No, and be careful of anyone who says otherwise. Only the municipality can make one. What you get is a careful reading of the published standards against your parcel and your plan, with the open questions marked and the sources cited.
What if the answer is no?
Then you found out for $450 instead of after closing. More often the answer is "yes, but not the way you were picturing," which is usually a better project than the one you had in mind.
Do you visit the property?
Not at this price or this speed. This is desk work — the parcel, the ordinance, the maps, the assessor's records, and photographs you send me. If the answer hinges on something only visible in person I'll say so and quote a visit separately.