Construct This: A Contractor's Blog

Choosing A Lot To Build Your Dream Home

29 September 2020 by Joyce Rivera

When choosing a lot to build your dream home, you'll want to be a little extra picky about choosing a lot. You can't just buy one of the first lots for sale that you see. Here are some things to consider when choosing your dream home's site.

Check Off Building Site Necessities

Once you've chosen the general area of the country you want to build in, narrow down available properties by searching for ones that will be easy to build on. Such a lot will need to have access to utilities, be out of any flood zones, have good soil that drains well and won't damage your foundation, and so on.

Check Access and View

Of course, the building site itself will need to be out of the flood zone, but if the access road or driveway goes through a flood zone, access could be an issue during the wet season. Check for this issue and for any other issues that could limit access.

The view can also be important when building your dream home. If your home has a wonderful view of unbroken forest, check that the forest isn't actually a managed forest that's about to be harvested for timber.

Consider Lot Size and Usability

Think about your plans for the entire lot, not just the building site. If it's a wooded lot and you want a large garden, that could mean you'll have to clear a lot of trees. The soil may be acidic, which some garden plants don't like. Or if you want to put in a pond, garage, or other features, check that you have a workable spot.

Some issues that could limit the lot's usability include:

• Lots of trees
• Rocky ground
• Hilly terrain
• Streams or rivers that flood
• Nearby forests with lots of wildlife
• Zoning limitations
• Poorly drained soil

Check for these and other potential limitations to ensure they don't clash with any of the uses you're considering for the lot. After all, if you're building your dream home, you don't want some of your plans to be thwarted by hilly or swampy ground.

Check Out the Surroundings

In addition to nearby wildlife reservoirs, you'll want to survey the area around the lot for other things that could be irritating or inconvenient once you've moved in. For example, if you're looking to build your dream home in a quiet, back-to-nature setting, a busy airport nearby could really throw a wrench in your plans.

A noisy industrial park or railway nearby, a chicken or pig farm that's sometimes upwind of your lot, or some other undesirable feature in the surrounding area could also cause problems after you've moved in.

As you can see, you need to think about more than whether or not the lot has a good building site. You also need to evaluate the surroundings, access, and other issues to avoid problems further down the line.

Contact a real estate agent to look for lots for sale.

Share