Just curious - in the summer I hope to be able to acquire some vacant land for future consideration. My question is for those who may have done it - what sort of costs would be affiliated with have hydro connected (I am looking only at land that has at least service to the road), and having a well bored if there isn't one already. I just want to narrow my search if necessary
Depending on where your looking and how the municipality is set up , it can get expensive getting the electrical from the pole into where you want it . Check with what the township or governing body wants . Same with the well , what’s required for a permit . Calling the local well driller guy is usually the easiest way to get an answer.
We had 66 acres of nothing north of Peterborough that had two poles in from the road to a vacant lot , we paid $26 per month “delivery fee” for electrical connected to nothing . Standard , everyone gets it …. Do your homework, and be sure whatever your buying can be developed or not .
Friend bought 100 acres last yr near Owen sound but 60 acres are “ wet lands “ and can’t be touched . He’s a tree hugger so all good but …
The best thing to do is discuss this with a local realtor.
If you pickup a vacant city lot, just a bunch of permits and fees. Get something in the wilds of Ontario and there may not be services available.
Generally speaking if there is power at your entrance driveway, you'll likely get access to electricity and phone fairly easily. Gas is mostly an urban thing, you may see it on some rural roads in farming areas. Water and sewers are only city things.
The cost to connect services is almost nothing however you bear the cost to run it into your property. Poles are about $1000 each and spaced 200' apart. Wire is about $25/ft for copper, terminal connections about $1000, so each 200' cost between $6-8K if you DIY.
Septic systems run $10K to $50K depending on your soils and location.
Also beware of local zoning. In unincorporated areas you can do as you please, but may not always find services on every road. You may not find schools, waste, snow plowing or emergency services either. Elsewhere it's wise to check with the local municipality, they are all helpful when it comes to informing you about dos and dont's.
MadMike , unless you own an excavator and hold permits to 'engineer' a septic bed , I think you'll find you are way light on your numbers .Last decade they have gotten very expensive
My parents wanted to power a detached garage. Power was closer from the poles than from the house. Hydro wanted five figures to connect (plus a separate meter and account billed in perpetuity). The ran it off a generator for years and eventually trenched from the house to provide easier power.
Deep or shallow well? Cost will vary substantially based on water available on site. On a crap site, they could be drilling very far and/or in multiple locations to try to get adequate capacity.
Power, well and septic combined will likely be mid five figures and up depending on the site. I wouldn't be surprised if many sites were six figures. A holding tank would be cheaper (if allowed) but a pain in the ass and perpetual pumpout fees.
I don't think they do holding tanks anywhere in new install anymore, even cottage country is getting really tough on septic.
@Ash, exactly , see the opening sentence in my post above. Build where the power line isn't, and its on you. Our house in Campbellville was 5 poles from the road. At a point the (then Ontario Hydro) said , put in new poles and a line or we shut off the feed. Poles and line had been there since 1944. We came in the less direct route and trenched , which included crossing a stream , but 600+ meters dug by us was less than the poles.
Farmhouses got plunked in the middle of the farm , because it was a long walk from back to front for lunch, There was no power in the province when that house was built let alone on the roadway.
There’s nothing cheap about running utilities to your property.
Gas you can get away with a tank.
Electricity get yourself a nice generator, bolt it down, and hope it’s there when you return.
Water…digging a well isn’t cheap.
Depending on utility there is no negotiation. Here’s the price, we do the work, and if it’s less you get some money back. If it’s more…get your chequebook.
Hydro hookup 200’ from road - $1100
Drilled well 200’ depth with pump/tank - $33,000
Sewer/bed - roughly $20,000 iirc
2020 numbers.
Vacant land tax while it sits is pretty much nothing. In some areas if you can show your tree density is a certain amount you get a tax break.
Due diligence is required when buying vacant land to make sure you can get a residential building permit with a house size that you want.
Hydro hookup 200’ from road - $1100
Drilled well 200’ depth with pump/tank - $33,000
Sewer/bed - roughly $20,000 iirc
2020 numbers.
Vacant land tax while it sits is pretty much nothing. In some areas if you can show your tree density is a certain amount you get a tax break.
Due diligence is required when buying vacant land to make sure you can get a residential building permit with a house size that you want.
It cost $700 for them to just disconnect from my old mast and move it to the new one.... to be fair they also pulled the meter out of the old meter base and pushed it into the new meter base.... $1100 is a crazy bargain!
Decades ago a colleague paid a years salary for a well that gave good water in reasonable quantities. Some wells require rationing . Some places near Lake Erie need to buy water because the well water is unpalatable or worse.
It all depends on future potential and expectations. I knew a guy that bought a few acres in moose country, built a tree house from materials on site and brought in the necessities of life, food, water, camp stove. I vaguely recall an outhouse. He went there to get drunk.
Can you talk to the locals about their experiences?
Decades ago a colleague paid a years salary for a well that gave good water in reasonable quantities. Some wells require rationing . Some places near Lake Erie need to buy water because the well water is unpalatable or worse.
It all depends on future potential and expectations. I knew a guy that bought a few acres in moose country, built a tree house from materials on site and brought in the necessities of life, food, water, camp stove. I vaguely recall an outhouse. He went there to get drunk.
Can you talk to the locals about their experiences?
A house for sale for 1-2M had their well drilled on an adjacent property because they couldn't find water on their own. They didn't bother asking the adjacent landowner for permission. They now have a house for sale for 1-2M with no water.
A house for sale for 1-2M had their well drilled on an adjacent property because they couldn't find water on their own. They didn't bother asking the adjacent landowner for permission. They now have a house for sale for 1-2M with no water.
Our other rebuild in 2018 was 11,00O for the well , new well , pump from old was fine . Included voodoo priestess to witch the well , good flow at 85ft .
Septic was quoted at 45k , came in at 40
Our other rebuild in 2018 was 11,00O for the well , new well , pump from old was fine . Included voodoo priestess to witch the well , good flow at 85ft .
Septic was quoted at 45k , came in at 40
My parents had to pay to add a bunch of poles up the road when they built many decades ago. Seems like a reasonable position as for a long time, they were the only ones using those lines. Something seems fishy with that whole situation. I would get power dropped to a temporary box instead of building an entire house off generators. I suspect they were stalling and hoping someone (anyone) else would foot the bill. Why would hydro fill in a 2.5 km stretch of road with no customers? Big capital cost, ongoing maintenance costs and likely a reconfiguration required as I dont think they build ring circuits for distribution so removing the gap by his house requires a gap somewhere else (maybe at the end of the 2.5 km, maybe the whole road gets fed from one end, maybe something else).
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