Until We Can Inspect Your Land, We Suggest Addressing These Issues
Our library of extraordinary home designs needs one thing that only you can provide – location, location, location.
We can build something just about anywhere, but it may or may not be want you want at a price you are willing to pay. That’s the short answer to the many initial requests we receive to inspect a piece of property.
The remainder of what’s written here constitutes a more thorough response to your need to know what’s a worthwhile property for the modern dwelling of your dreams.
We gladly visit sites once a nominally priced design agreement is enacted. Eyeballing your land is an important step in our process, but it comes after a design agreement; otherwise, fulfilling all the requests wouldn’t leave us time to get anything else done. Thanks for understanding.
We hope what we convey here is helpful in assessing land you’re interested in purchasing or understanding the construction costs of land your already own. These are measures to address either before you buy, or during a due diligence period before the sale is final.
Lot or Land?
Assessing lots in residential neighborhoods is relatively simple. The same things apply to you that others in the neighborhood have experienced. A real estate agent will likely spoon-feed all you need to know regarding utilities, zoning, HOA rules, property line setbacks, trash pickup, cable, Internet, and even the local school district.
Site prep may require some tree chopping and bush hog maneuvering, but nothing too extreme.
If you’re buying a lot in a subdivision, our subcontractors shouldn’t have any difficulty getting equipment onto the site. But the more rural or desolate your land, the more concern we have with making sure it’s accessible by heavy rigs. This applies to not only traversing the property itself but also public roadways en route, such as narrow, winding mountain roads.
If you’re buying a lot, particularly if it’s on a hill, pay attention to the following section that covers slope and soil. Most of the rest, however, has greater relevance to those scouring the countryside for a little house on the prairie, or a modern custom home in the country.
Slope and Soil
You don’t want a foundation that cracks nor a sewage system that leaks. To protect against this, have a soils engineer perform a compaction test on soil taken from the location in which you wish to build.
The test should determine if you’ll need soil grading, extra drainage or foundation supports. Depending upon your acreage, you may want to build in a different area – if possible – to spare the extra expense.
If you’ll need a septic tank, another thing to consider is a perc test, short for percolation test. This test indicates the water absorption rate of soil, and is required for installation of a septic tank. If you’re entering into a sale agreement without a perc test, make sure the sale is contingent upon the land passing a perc test.
Before investing several hundred dollars in an engineer, a rather simple DIY project will likely indicate chances of passing the test. Dig a hole, drive a yardstick into it, fill with water and see how much drains out through the soil within 30 minutes. You’ll find more detailed instructions here.
Minimum distances are required from the septic tank and leach field to buildings, property lines, water pipes, wells, and open water. Those are items your builder should address.
When it comes to slope, costs escalate when hillsides have a 15-foot or greater vertical rise over 100 feet of horizontal run. The amount of vertical rise is the percentage of slope, so a 15-foot rise within 100 feet is 15 percent.
We can fasten your house to a hillside, but steep slopes are difficult for heavy equipment to surmount. Construction time will increase, and it may be necessary to pump concrete into your foundation for stability on a slope.
Sloped home sites also present drainage challenges – another added expense.
Floodplain or Wetland?
If a property is in a floodplain, your builder has to either elevate out of the floodplain with fill dirt, or construct a pile foundation – column-like structures that transfer building loads deep into the earth.
Designated wetlands may enhance scenic beauty and bring wildlife onto the property, but you’ll have to maintain an impervious buffer between the wetland and any building. You can check the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service wetlands mapper, or hire a wetlands professional, to find out if there are federally designated wetlands on the property.
Typically, the wetland buffer is 75 feet but it can be more depending on environmental factors.
If there is a wetland anywhere on your property, a Wetlands Building Permit is required. Your local Corps of Engineers District Website should have a list of wetland consultants that work in your area. They can provide a wetland delineation to keep you in compliance with the Clean Water Act and other federal, state, and local regulations.
Rural Realities
This is a painful admission for a builder, but there’s more to owning land than what you can build on it. We’ve covered the primary construction concerns. We’ll now share some research on the many ancillary factors in building a dream home on a secluded spread.
If you’re shopping for land in area with which you’re not familiar, make sure to get your bearings. Ascertain the distance you’ll have to travel for groceries, medical attention, fuel, and other elements of your lifestyle whether it be employment, schools, church, entertainment, hardware, hairdresser, health club or whatever else fills your needs or desires.
Canvassing for your favorite haunts and amenities should also uncover what else is in the neighborhood. How comfortable are you with being close to a chemical plant? Do you care if a toxic dump is nearby?
Research Restrictions
Hopefully, the seller, seller’s agent, or an agent you’ve contracted will supply an abundance of pertinent information. Most states have laws, such as the Georgia Land Sales Act, that enumerate required disclosures.
The property’s zoning classification should be residential or mixed use. You can apply for a re-classification, but that’s an iffy proposition. Industrial development boosts the local tax base, so local authorities may be reluctant to give up hope of greater tax revenue.
Even if you have the proper zoning, read the local zoning laws to see if there are size limitations on single-family residences. In a lot of cases, there may be a height limit.
If there isn’t disclosure of any restrictive covenants or the possibility of HOA jurisdiction, it’s probably still best to check with local authorities or a title company.
Things that may not matter but would be nice to know:
- Can you add sheds, stables, barns, and farm equipment?
- Can the land be farmed by others to whom you rent?
- Does your deed convey mineral rights, should you strike oil as Jed Clampett did, or does a previous owner cash in?
Easement
If there’s no connection of your property to a public roadway, how are you going to reach your new home? If there’s a gravel or dirt road near your property, you’ll likely need permission to use that easement. If there isn’t an agent furnishing the necessary information, check with a local title office.
Determine what length of driveway you’ll need to reach the home you will build.
Water and Power
If utilities aren’t already on the property, you’ll have to pay to get them there and the distance and whether power lines are coming in above ground or below will impact the price. The same may apply to cable or Internet, if you choose those services.
You’ll also need water lines, although there are alternatives: you may be able to drill or implement rainwater-harvesting tanks.
If it’s possible to shop different suppliers, get quotes for electric, water, and septic.
Inspect In All Seasons
Ideally, visit land you’re interested in purchasing in winter and summer, in rainy weather and on sunny days, or even in snow if that’s meteorologically plausible.
When foliage disappears in winter you may discover trashed tires, building debris, or plain old junk strewn about the property, concealed by brush in warm weather. In summer, you may battle insect infestations. When it rains, see how it drains.
Depending on how rural, you should probably check access roads every season of the year, but especially in spring since some may wash out or streams may over-run.
It’s unlikely you can orchestrate a due diligence period to accommodate multiple seasons, so you may need to cobble together some presale months and the due diligence period.
Gameplan
“The biggest key when buying land is the fact that you have to do your research ahead of time,” advises Kristina Smallhorn, a Louisiana real estate agent with a very active Youtube channel.
Beau Brotherton and his family bought raw Texas land in 2015 which they now farm while living in a shed they converted into a home. Here’s a key piece of his advice from his Youtube channel:
“Identify the county or the area you want to buy in. Then find a realtor who is listing a whole lot of properties in that area. There is a reason they’re listing a whole lot of properties – they know a lot of people. They will be able to help you find what you want.”
We hope you found this information useful. We look forward to designing a modern dwelling on your property.