What Comes First: Land or House Plans?

Do you want to purchase land and build your own home? That’s an exciting project and often the largest and most expensive one you will undertake in your life time. There are a few things you should consider before you spend even a penny, that may keep you from experiencing disappointment, or worse yet, financial loss.

Unfortunately, you cannot build on any piece of land you desire. There are certain rules and regulations you must comply with and one of the most important is zoning. For instance, land that is zoned commercial or industrial is not appropriate for home building. Covenants and easements can also place restrictions on the type of building or materials you use, the placement or size of the building you are erecting or even affect the square footage of your property. To find out if you are subject to any building restrictions, you will want to check the title and property records before you purchase the land.

There are many websites that sell home plans designed by professional architects that you may find useful for building your home. Plans are available for many styles of home from a simple cabin to grand luxury homes. By selecting a pre-designed home plan you will have the advantage of selecting from thousands of different style homes and living in an architecturally designed residence without having paid thousands of dollars for the blueprints.

Once your building plan has started to take shape, you may want to think about the next step. Do you already own the land and are looking for the perfect house plans? Are you smitten by a modern home and want to find the perfect setting on which to build? What comes first, the house or the property?

If you can work on both projects at the same time, you will probably have a high degree of success and shorten the time it takes to build your home. You don’t want to purchase house plans only to find that the perfect setting is a narrow, but deep lot that won’t accommodate a home with a pronounced vertical axis. Will you be able to bring in heavy machinery to lay the foundation or does the soil have the right characteristics for your building project? Do you need a geo-technical survey? If you want 2 stories, will you have to clear the front yard of trees in order to keep the view?

By working your project from both ends (land and house plans) towards the middle, you will have a better picture of how to merge your preferences into a single plan that will be exactly you’re your liking.