PlanGen by OtterSwim AI
Know What You're Buying Before You Buy It.
PlanGen reviews the public record behind a property before you spend heavily on due diligence, engineering or design.
Zoning. Planning history. Access. Flood. Utilities. Conflicting records. Missing information.
PlanGen QuickScreen — $495 per parcel
Available now for properties in Wake County and Durham County, North Carolina. See the coverage map below.
Preliminary development intelligence. Not engineering, surveying or legal advice.
Most tools give you property data. PlanGen helps you understand what the data means for the deal.
Where PlanGen works today
The map is informational.
Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line. Map is approximate; your address check is authoritative.
Enter an address to confirm whether the parcel is currently eligible.
What you get
What a QuickScreen actually includes
One parcel, one written report, reviewed by a person, built from the public record.
What you send us
- The parcel identifier, or an address that resolves to one parcel
- The decision question you're trying to answer
- Any documents you're authorized to share
- A way to reach you with questions
What you receive
A written report, reviewed by a person, with seven sections in plain language:
- Your exact parcel and decision question
- Findings summary
- Evidence links and dates for each material statement
- Planning, overlay and flood flags — only where the public record supports them
- Public water and sewer: who provides service, plus mapped utility infrastructure near the parcel where a verified public GIS source is available, with approximate distance and published details such as pipe size, type, ownership or status when the utility provides them, which may indicate likely serviceability.
- Septic screening for properties without public sewer: USDA soil-survey limitation ratings for septic drain fields, plus county septic and well records where published. This is a screening indicator, not a septic approval.
- Explicit missing facts and any conflicting records
- Recommended next checks, and which professional should handle each
- Limitations, plus the reviewer's name and date
Mapped utility features reflect the public GIS records reviewed. Together with parcel and provider details, they may indicate likely serviceability, but they do not confirm field conditions, system capacity, tap availability or connection approval. Final capacity confirmation and connection approval remain with the controlling utility or permitting authority.
A QuickScreen answers three early questions:
What does the public record actually support?
What could materially change the deal?
What should you verify before spending more money?
Turnaround. Target delivery within 24 hours. If we cannot deliver your QuickScreen within 48 hours, you receive a full refund.
Corrections & refunds. Corrections of cited-source errors are made at no charge. A new question or a new parcel is a new order. QuickScreen delivery: Target delivery within 24 hours. If we do not deliver your completed QuickScreen within 48 hours of successful payment, you receive a full refund. Other refund requests: Requests unrelated to the 48-hour delivery commitment are reviewed based on the circumstances of the order.
PlanGen provides preliminary development intelligence for the areas above, not the items below. If your question depends on one of these, your QuickScreen will say so and name who should verify it.
- Engineering
- Survey
- Legal advice
- Title or easements
- Appraisal, valuation, or comps
- Financing advice
- Final water/sewer capacity confirmation and utility connection approval.
- Stormwater design
- Topography
- Trees
- Market or economic analysis
- Buildability or unit-yield determinations
- Approval or permit-readiness determinations
- Energy-code or glazing review
Sample report
See what a QuickScreen looks like
One parcel. One decision question. A source-linked picture of what the record supports, what could change the deal, what's still unknown, and what to verify next.
SAMPLE — ILLUSTRATIVE, NOT A REAL PARCEL
100 Example Synthetic Way, Raleigh, NC 27600 (fictional)
“Can I add a second dwelling unit on this lot, and what would stop me?”
ObjectiveStated objective — add a second dwelling unit (customer-stated).If the objective were instead to sell or subdivide the lot, findings 2 and 3 below would rank differently.
Decision thesisNot yet determined — records conflict on flood status and the buildable envelope is unverified.
| Constraint | Status |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Confirmed Confidence: High |
| Base zoning | Partial check Confidence: Med |
| Overlay | Caution Confidence: Med |
| Flood | Contradiction Confidence: Med |
| Setbacks | Material constraint Confidence: Low |
| Utilities | Mapped nearby — not confirmed Confidence: Med |
Top decision-changing findings — how each one reads
Finding 1 — Setbacks Constraint
- Public recordDistrict SYNTH-R4 dimensional standards.
- FindingNo verified setback figure exists for this lot.
- Why it mattersNothing shows how much of the lot can be used until this is resolved.
- Verify nextVerify the setback and lot-dimension figures.
- Who verifiesLicensed design professional.
Finding 2 — Flood Contradiction
- Public recordTwo independent flood-map queries for this parcel.
- FindingThe two queries disagree about the rear third of the lot.
- Why it mattersThe disagreement must be reconciled before anyone relies on either result for planning or financing.
- Verify nextReconcile the two results.
- Who verifiesFlood-certification professional.
Finding 3 — Historic overlay Dependency
- Public recordHistoric-overlay GIS layer (1 of 12 mapped layers).
- FindingOne layer crosses part of this lot; applicability is not determinable.
- Why it mattersCould add a design-review step before entitlement.
- Verify nextConfirm applicability with city planning and zoning staff.
- Who verifiesCity of Raleigh planning and zoning staff.
Finding 4 — Utilities Dependency
- Public recordPublic utility GIS (illustrative). Where a utility does not publish its mapped lines, the QuickScreen identifies the provider and says so plainly.
- FindingPublic GIS mapping shows a water main approximately 40 ft from the parcel frontage and an 8-inch gravity sewer main approximately 65 ft away, with the nearest mapped manhole approximately 110 ft away. These are mapped infrastructure observations only; capacity, serviceability and connection approval have not been confirmed. Distances are illustrative.
- Why it mattersNearby mapped mains, together with parcel and provider details, can indicate likely serviceability, but system capacity and connection approval decide what can be built and when.
- Verify nextAsk the controlling utility or permitting authority to confirm capacity and connection requirements.
- Who verifiesUtility provider (official verification).
Critical unknown: The verified setback and lot-dimension figure for district SYNTH-R4. Nothing here shows how much of the lot can be used until this is resolved.
Recommended next moveDo now — have a licensed design professional verify the setback and lot-dimension figures for SYNTH-R4. Responsible: licensed design professional. Expected output: a verified dimensional table for SYNTH-R4, which unlocks the buildable-envelope determination.
Checked: municipal zoning record · historic-overlay layer · two flood-map queries · public utility GIS · county parcel record · example check date 2026-09-01.
What this shows you
Every row is graded high, medium or low, not just marked pass or fail.
See a finding worked all the way from the record to who resolves it.
What hasn't been checked yet is named, not hidden behind a clean-looking page.
Every material line names its source and the date it was checked.
Illustrative sample. PlanGen provides preliminary development intelligence and does not replace engineering, surveying, legal advice or agency review.
Ready to check your property?
Start with a PlanGen QuickScreen.
$495 per parcel
Available for properties within our current service area.
Target delivery within 24 hours. If we cannot deliver your QuickScreen within 48 hours, you receive a full refund.
The problem
The record can change the deal after you've already committed.
A property can look right on paper and still carry a zoning condition, a planning case, an access problem, or a conflicting record that only surfaces once professional work is underway. Most of that is knowable earlier, before engineering, design, or a full survey, if someone reads the record in the right order first.
PlanGen is built for land investors, developers, builders, brokers and lenders making property and development decisions. From early acquisition diligence to revisiting an engineered concept or exploring a different development strategy, PlanGen brings together fragmented development intelligence to help surface opportunities, constraints, dependencies and the next questions that can materially affect the outcome.
How it works
Screen. Prioritize. Bring in the right professional.
Screen
Send the parcel and your decision question. PlanGen reviews the public record — zoning, overlays, planning history, access, flood, utilities — and tells you what it supports, what's missing, and what conflicts.
Prioritize
See which issues could actually change the deal, and which ones are routine. That decides where your next dollar of professional time should go.
Bring in the right professional
Take the specific question and evidence to the attorney, engineer, surveyor or planner who can answer it, and spend deeper feasibility money once the evidence supports the next step.
Why PlanGen exists
Why I built PlanGen
I'm a developer and real estate broker in North Carolina. I built PlanGen because I've spent years working through the same problem on my own deals: a property can look great until one piece of the public record changes the entire picture.
Zoning isn't enough. A site plan isn't enough. A parcel record isn't enough. The useful answer usually comes from connecting several records and knowing which unanswered question matters next.
That's what I wanted PlanGen to do.
Professional boundaries
Know what needs professional review before you pay for professional review.
PlanGen does not replace your attorney, engineer, surveyor, environmental consultant, or other licensed professional.
It helps you see which questions actually need them, what the public record already shows, and what still needs professional judgment.
When the scope is not yet defined, a professional engagement can start broad. Someone may need to gather background records, check several possibilities, and determine which issues are material.
With PlanGen, the relevant public records, open questions, and source trail can already be organized before the professional starts.
That gives the professional a more focused starting point and can reduce the amount of broad discovery work performed at professional rates.
“Review this property and tell me what you find.”
“Here is the condition we found, the source record, what is already supported, and the specific question that still needs your professional determination.”
Your professional still performs whatever diligence their standards, licensing, insurer, and engagement require.
PlanGen gives them an organized research file on day one.
PlanGen does not replace
- An attorney's legal opinion
- A title opinion
- A boundary, ALTA, or topographic survey
- A Professional Land Surveyor's determination
- Civil, structural, or architectural design and seal
- Geotechnical testing
- A wetlands or environmental determination
- Traffic engineering or a traffic impact analysis
- Utility-provider confirmation
- City, County, NCDOT, or agency approval
- Permit approval
What PlanGen does first
- Organizes the relevant public record
- Flags constraints, conflicts, dependencies, and missing evidence where the public record supports them
- Separates supported facts from assumptions and unknowns
- Identifies which open questions could change the decision
- Routes those questions to the appropriate professional or agency
- Helps define a narrower scope for professional work
- Provides an organized research file that can give the professional a more focused starting point
- Shows preliminary development / yield scenarios when the evidence supports them
Start with a $495 QuickScreen before committing to a much larger feasibility and design budget.
Pricing
Three ways to engage
Start with the QuickScreen. Go deeper when the evidence justifies it. The last two products are quote-based; we confirm scope before you commit.
PlanGen QuickScreen
- Findings summary, plus planning, overlay and flood flags; water and sewer provider, with mapped infrastructure where a verified public GIS source is available; septic screening where there is no public sewer.
- Evidence links and dates for every material statement
- Missing facts and conflicting records, called out explicitly
- Recommended next checks and the professional to bring in for each
- Reviewed for evidence quality and consistency before delivery
PlanGen Feasibility
- Zoning, entitlement and development-potential analysis
- Preliminary yield and alternative-development scenarios
- Access, utilities, flood, environmental and site-constraint review
- Topography, grading, retaining and site-operability analysis when supported by source data
- Preliminary development-cost and scenario comparison
- Conflicts, unknowns, evidence gaps and required professional verification
- Source-linked feasibility decision summary
Acquisition Decision Package
Includes Feasibility, plus:
- Advanced supported development scenarios, with side-by-side scenario, constraint and cost comparison
- Acquisition risk and unresolved-issue matrix, with preliminary cost sensitivity
- Critical due-diligence and decision checkpoints
- Review by appropriate licensed civil and/or structural professionals when applicable to the scope
- Coordination of material professional findings into the PlanGen evidence record
- Strategic review with a qualified development professional or subject-matter expert
- Decision-ready acquisition summary with risks, conditions, unknowns and recommended next steps
Prices in USD. The Feasibility and Acquisition Decision Package products are quote-based; scope and final pricing are confirmed before you commit. Payment is only taken after you choose to continue to Stripe from the QuickScreen funnel, for properties within our current commercial service area.
Package scope is confirmed by written quote and may vary based on available property data, required analysis and professional review engaged for the scope.
Straight answers
Questions land buyers actually ask
What exactly do I get?
A written report, reviewed by a person, covering what the property is, what could stop you, and what to do next: the questions to put to an engineer, surveyor, attorney or the municipality, and whether the evidence justifies going deeper. It does not include engineering, survey, legal advice, title or easement review, appraisal or comps, financing advice, water or sewer capacity, serviceability or connection approval, stormwater design, topography, market analysis, or a buildability or unit-yield determination.
What areas do you cover?
Today: all of Wake County and all of Durham County, including Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville and the City of Durham. See the coverage map, then enter your address in the QuickScreen funnel to see whether we can take your order; addresses outside our service area are captured, with no charge.
Can PlanGen check utilities?
Yes — where a verified public GIS source is available, the QuickScreen reports who provides water and sewer and what mapped infrastructure is near the parcel, with approximate distance and published details. These records may indicate likely serviceability; they do not confirm system capacity, tap availability or connection approval, which remain with the controlling utility or permitting authority. Where a utility does not publish its mapped lines, the QuickScreen identifies the provider and says so plainly.
How long does it take?
Target delivery within 24 hours. If we cannot deliver your QuickScreen within 48 hours, you receive a full refund.
What happens if PlanGen finds a problem or an unknown?
We flag it and tell you what's missing or unresolved, and who should verify it. An unknown is a finding, not a failure — it's exactly what early screening is for.
What's the next step if I need to go deeper?
PlanGen Feasibility and the Acquisition Decision Package go further, scoped by written quote after a QuickScreen. We'll tell you plainly what moves a question from the QuickScreen into deeper work before you commit to it.
Check My Property
Send the address. Get the picture.
Send the property address or parcel number and the question you're trying to answer. We'll confirm coverage and what we can tell you before you commit to anything.
"Check My Property" opens a short on-page funnel (address, name, email, phone) that hands you to secure Stripe payment for properties within our current service area. Prefer email? Use the link below instead — it opens your own email app addressed to hello@otterswimai.com and nothing is captured automatically. Either way, the property details and contact information you send are used by DIVINA CLARITAS LLC / OtterSwim AI to review your property and respond to your inquiry, and are not sold or shared with unrelated third parties. See our privacy notice.