First, the most important questions:
1. Do you own a piece of land? Or are you looking for one?
Before you purchase a house plan, you need to own land or be looking for a lot to buy. We’re happy to work with you to determine the best plan for your lot. Call or e-mail us any time.
2. Have you developed a construction budget?
Keep in mind that construction loans have different terms than buying an existing home – often requiring very good credit and 20% to 25% down. Here is a Quick Reference Guide about residential construction costs that you may want to print.
What you need to know about your lot:
- Location of North on the site
- Lot dimensions
- Building setbacks, lot coverage, building height, method of measuring building height
- Lot access
- Character of the lot: flat, sloped (if so, which way is it sloped?)
- Natural features: What on the site do you want to preserve? (Hint** Identify the best part of the site, and don’t put the house there. Choose a house that allows you to connect and preserve that part of the site)
- What is allowed on your site by the governing jurisdiction, your subdivision cc&rs, by your historical district. etc.
- Is the house served by public utilities or is water and sewer on site? (This affects the building area and location of the lot.)
- Prevailing weather pattens