When looking to purchase your own land and develop your custom home, make sure you include these four tips in your plan.
Find Your Land
In order to build your custom home, you need to find land to build it on. Start by planning out how much land you will need. The size of your land may depend on what you want to use it for and your personal preferences. Consider your proximity to neighbors and town. Look up how close your land will be to things like an electrical grid and local water system. Depending on the size of your land, you may need to establish your own source of drinking water and install a septic tank for sewage. If this is the case, you may also consider setting up solar panels for your own renewable energy source to power your land and home. Once you figure out how you will get your land up and running, you can look into adding additional features like phone and internet service. All these costs will need to be considered in your custom home building process.
Set Your Budget
In addition to the costs involved in acquiring and setting up your land, you will need to also budget for costs involved in the construction and development of your home. You will need to plan out how you will purchase your land and the necessary equipment to develop it, along with any permits required to do so. Consider the costs involved in building and framing your house on your land, as well as installing plumbing and electricity. Between interior and exterior finishes, the costs can really add up. Avoid getting overwhelmed by breaking down your budget into hard costs and soft costs. Hard costs will include everything that is directly related to costs involved with construction and physical things. Soft costs will be for things not related to physical costs like permits, taxes, and engineering.
Hire Professional Help
It’s a good idea to get professional help when building your home and developing your land. If there is an unexpected issue that arises, professional builders and architects are often well equipped to handle the situation. If you decide to do everything by yourself, you will be left to handle any issues that may arise. Hiring a professional builder helps take a huge weight off your shoulders by overseeing and supervising the construction of your home. Before jumping into any contracts and hiring someone, make sure they are reliable and have a good reputation. You want the person you hire to be someone you get along with well. They should be someone you can trust with bringing your visions to life.
Plan Your Design
Whether you are working with a professional builder or doing it all by yourself, planning out your home’s design and layout is an important step to take before beginning any construction. This is a great time to brainstorm and gather inspiration for how you want your home. A professional architect may be able to help design workable blueprints and weigh in with recommendations and personal ideas that may contribute to your home. Make sure you are aware of any building limitations that might be set including neighborhood ordinances or zoning restrictions.
Once you’ve done a fair amount of research and established a clear plan as to how you want to develop your land, you will be another step closer to building your dream home.