The first stage in building a new home is purchasing the land to build it upon. The land you choose can play a significant role in your overall experience in your home, so you’ll want to choose carefully.
Before you begin searching for the land for your new home, we recommend making a list of all of the features you’d like it to include. Here are a few essential things to consider when looking for the perfect land:
Think About Location
Location is something you would strongly consider when looking to buy a new home, so you should also strongly consider it when searching for land for your new home. The location of your new home can impact your commute to work, school, and other regular activities. However, it can also affect your overall costs.
Different cities have different property taxes and fees associated with houses. Additionally, you’ll want to consider the overall cost of living for a specific area compared to your budget.
Note Restrictions
You’ll also want to make sure that the land you purchase is permitted for residential use.
Land can have a wide range of uses these days, and building a house on land requires you to obtain numerous permits. Often, the land in bigger cities like Eugene is zoned for commercial use only. Some land may also need to remain empty to serve as green space.
Ensuring that you can use the land the way you intend to is an important initial step in the land-buying process.
Look For Natural Features
You probably already have an idea of whether you’d like to live in the city, the country, or somewhere in between. However, all of these locations can contain at least a few natural features. Considering which natural elements are important to you can help you narrow your search.
Land that is out in the country can be surrounded by trees, open fields, and bodies of water. Meanwhile, land in the city may be closely surrounded by other home communities and buildings, but you may also find city parks and large yards in these areas.
If natural features are important to you, be sure to keep them in mind throughout your land search.
Identify Square Footage
Of course, you’ll want your land to be large enough to fit the expected size of your new home. Having a few floor plans in mind before you purchase your land can help you visualize their ability to fit in the space.
You should also consider how much additional space you’d prefer around your house. Buying a few extra acres of land can give you and your family plenty of room to spread out, enjoy the home’s exterior features, and feel separated from neighbors.
However, the more land you own, the more land you’ll need to maintain. If you’d rather not spend hours each week mowing the lawn (or hundreds of dollars on a lawn care service), you may want to minimize your additional space.
Consider Your Neighbors
Some people feel safer living in a populated neighborhood, while others would rather be as far away from other people as possible. If you have any preferences about the proximity of your neighbors, be sure to keep these in mind during your land search.
However, you should also consider that your neighbors will undoubtedly change throughout your time in your new home, and that additional developments and home builds could leave you with more neighbors than you start with. If your neighbor situation isn’t ideal now, it could get better down the line.
Think About Road Access
Buying land far from civilization can leave you with a peaceful, quiet home. However, it can also require building a mile-long driveway from the nearest main road.
In contrast, purchasing land in the middle of the city can keep you within walking distance of restaurants and attractions, but it may also restrict your driveway abilities.
Be sure to consider your road access when choosing the land to build your house on.
Visit In Person
Depending on the demand in your area, land sales can be incredibly fast-paced. As a result, you may be tempted to buy the first piece of land that checks your boxes without visiting it in person.
However, traveling to the land and spending time checking it out is essential to ensure that you make the right choice. Doing so can key you in to both positive and negative features you may not have realized otherwise, such as the property’s noise level and proximity to neighbors or businesses.
If possible, we recommend bringing your contractor and architect along with you to visit the land. These experts can help identify any glaring problems they would encounter when attempting to build your home.
At Schar Construction, we have decades of experience helping people just like you find the perfect land for your new home. Contact us today at 541-583-4850 to learn more about our architecture and contracting services.
