[beeffective]

The regulations and fees around building a house are ridiculous in California. I would love to build a house of my dreams, which would be about 1500sq ft, big garage, on 1+ acre and energy efficient. I could easily afford to buy the improved land in Northern California with cash right now (1-5 acres). But there is one problem, the local governments have made that impossible unless I'm rich. It's $60k+ just to break ground on a piece of land that already has a building pad, water meter and electricity, all due to fees. The Department of Transportation mitigation fee is $37k alone. I'm not sure if these are liberal or conservative policies, tighter regulations due to unions, or environmental regulations (see SF Bay Area regulations in Contra Costa county - sorry no source).

So in the mean time, my only choice of buying my first home is some piece of shit stucko house in the suburbs.