Hello,

My fiancée and I just purchased our first home. The home we purchased sits on a .4 acre lot that was legally divided into two lots by the previous owner. I’m looking to get some advice on just what to do with the extra lot. The options we have thought of are,

-Let someone park an RV/Tiny home on the concrete pad that is located on the lot

-sell the lot to a developer/contractor

-build on the lot and sell the property.

-keep the land as a yard, and enjoy it.

We are worried that selling half of the property will lower the value of the existing home. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do with our extra space? 

Nice to have options! Any of them COULD work, including the idea of living in a tiny home yourselves and renting out the rest. "It depends". I suggest: first, find out your Fiancee's thoughts...

It really depends where you are at...you need to see what it is zoned for. You may not be allowed to use RVs or mobile homes.

If it's zoned for it I would build a duplex and rent it out.

We are located in Tacoma Washington near federal way. 

@Nicholas Shepherd if you are in the city limits search Tacoma permits.  They have useful information that will help you determine what zone you are in and the requirements for lot size.

How it will affect value of your home would depend on the neighborhood and the "normal" lot size for that neighborhood.  

Best of luck.

If you're in NE Tacoma then you could probably split the lot without losing to much value on your current home. Every home is going to be different though. I have a builder that would be interested in buying or building on the lot. If you would like to look into it then message me your best contact info. 

We do live in NE Tacoma. I am having a hard time sifting through the internet to find zoning regulations regarding the use of my land if we were to keep and rent it. I've been all over the pierce county website searching to no avail. Part of me just wants to just post the space up for rent and see what happens, But the more rational side of me wants to figure out the regulations and do it by the book. The book that I cannot find. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

@Nicholas Shepherd

Call the city of Tacoma permitting department to answer your questions. If they do not handle your area, it will be unincorporated pierce county that does.

Question 1. What is the zoning code for your particular lot.

That will set your left and right limits

Thank you @Timothy Grothuesmann . I've made some progress today. It is unincorporated so my phone call has been forwarded around several times today from the city of Tacoma, to some biologist planner ??, to pierce county PALS, but I think I ended up in the right place. I've left a VM with the Pierce County zoning/planning contact Dan Buhl. Just waiting to hear back.

@Nicholas Shepherd

Awesome, I hope you find the answers you are looking for.