Where I am most of the counties require drawings in order to get the permits to build. I am just going to be flipping leases. How can i obtain drawings that I can submit? Also, what if the billboard company doesn’t like the design that I chose? Are they allowed to change it after I sell the lease and permit to them? Will this affect their offer for the lease and permit? Also, the permit applications require a contractors license number. How can i get a contractors license number?
That’s a difficult question to answer, because every city and state is different, but here would be my general observations:
Normally the city and state will let you substitute drawings as long as you do not increase the size or height of the sign, or the method of lighting, and the new drawings have the required wind load minimum and are done by a licensed engineer.
The larger the company, the more likely that they will want to change your drawings out, because they will “over-build” the unit and have every piece of safety equipment known to man.
This will have no effect on the price they would pay for a lease and permit, as you are selling the right to build, and they never figured anything into their number other than the cost to build the structure they normally use.
You are going to have to convince a sign fabricator that you really are going to build the sign yourself, in order to get their engineering and contractor number. If you tell them your intent is just to flip it, nobody will give you either item, as they have no reason to do so. Tell them that you are going to build it and, if you flip it, let them know that you got an offer to sell it and did so, and maybe pay them something ($300?) for allowing you to use those items. That way they’ll give them to you again for your next location.
Your goal should be to find a fabricator that will work with you at the drop of a hat, and does not freak out if you sell the location, since they get something out of it.
Waylon,
This is not the fastest method, but do a Google search on the county name followed by “GIS”. GIS is Geographic Information Systems and most counties use it online. It will allow you to zoom in along freeways, roads, etc. and see the individual parcels. Most sites offer options of overlaying the latest Google aerial photos so you can see if there are billboards on the parcels or if it is a possible location for a new billboard - keep in mind many aerial images are 2 years old.
Once you zoom in on a parcel, you usually can click on it and it pops up the parcel owner information for you to contact them.
Each county GIS website is different and you may have to click around to find the interactive portion of the GIS pages. But they are great tools for finding locations and the owners of the parcels. I’ve even clicked on links to find if there are easements for billboards, leases on file and available online. Some county names are the same across states so you may want to add the county name and state in your google search.