Considerations for Selecting a Lot to Build On

Making the decision to build a new home requires a great deal of thought and consideration.  Once you have made that exciting and life-changing decision, you will need to decide exactly where to build.  Searching for your new homesite is one of the most critical steps in the building process and there are five important things to consider in your search for the perfect lot to build on.

1. Location

The primary thing to consider when beginning to evaluate a site/lot/land for your new home is… Location, location, location!  That may be an oversimplification, but let’s break it down to something meaningful.  Deciding on a general location matters immensely for the type of lifestyle that you’d like to have.  For example, do you want to live in the city, the suburbs or in the countryside?  Each area has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. For example, some locations will cost more to build the exact same house on than other locations. Cities and suburbs may have zoning requirements regarding the structure, while no such restrictions are likely to be found in more remote areas.  Zoning is not the only issue, but it can limit the home’s design in certain areas, depending on the municipality and the potential HOA requirements, as well.  It is also possible that there may be restrictions built into your Deed that require approval from your local Homeowner’s Association or Architectural Control Committee, as well.

2. Soil Type

All locations start with soil.  What type of soil are you considering building on?  Soil type is one aspect that many potential homebuyers often overlook without even realizing it.  Different soil types will require different foundation specifications.  For example, a rocky hilltop will require a completely different kind of foundation design than a foundation that is built on clay or sand. No matter where you build, an engineered foundation and soil testing is a MUST before designing and pouring the foundation of your new home. Nothing is more important that having a structurally sound foundation. The higher the risk of shifting sand or expanding soil, the more steel reinforcement that the foundation will require.  All building sites need to have the proper soil testing performed with boring holes tested by a laboratory to determine the soil’s plasticity.  Then, those test results are sent to an engineer who designs a foundation specifically for the soil content of the particular lot.  At Haven Design and Construction, this is one step that we never skip.  Our policy is to always have new construction foundations engineered and inspected before pouring concrete. The value of an engineer is incomprehensible, and we would simply not build without one, even if one is not required on a remote building site.  The risk of a cracked or shifting foundation is simply not worth the potential danger, headache, or the expense to repair.

3. Lot Topography and Clearing the Lot

Once the soil type is considered, the topography and tree density of the lot should also be taken into account.  If a lot is level, the foundation is easier to construct and is more cost effective to build than a foundation on a lot with a considerable slope.  A lot with a considerable slope may require additional site grading before the construction of the new home.  In addition, a cantilevered structure on a cliff requires significantly more engineering than a level lot, although the amazing views may be worth the additional engineering expense.  Most lots can have homes built on them, but the topography of the land certainly dictates the cost and type of foundation required.

Tree Density should also be considered.  Obviously, clearing a lot will require an additional expense than a lot that has already been cleared and graded.  If the trees are dense, taking in equipment is also significantly more difficult than clearing a lot that has trees spaced further apart.  Certain types of trees that are removed may also be required to be replaced, depending on the municipality (see more on that in #4 below).

4. Municipality Restrictions – Building setbacks, height restrictions and tree requirements

Another critical thing to consider when shopping for a lot is the size of the building setback that is required by the area’s municipality.  Each municipality has their own set of specific requirements, and they can vary wildly by city and location.  These setbacks can require that the structure is placed anywhere from 5 feet to 30 feet from the property lines (these are only examples), which can truly limit the size and shape of a home that you’d like to construct.  In these circumstances, building permits will not be issued until compliance is achieved or a waiver is granted for the placement of the home on the lot. Waivers may cause significant delays and are never guaranteed. Each municipality has its own requirements for front setbacks, side setbacks and rear setbacks. They are not all the same and each site needs to be researched thoroughly, since there may even be differences by street locations within the same municipality. Even with written materials provided by these municipalities, there may be gray areas or questions that need to be submitted to the appropriate development offices before finalizing site plans. 

Building setbacks are not the only thing that may affect your design; some height restrictions may limit rooftop and chimney heights, as well. Finally, more and more municipalities are beginning to require tree surveys prior to site plan approval.  Based on the survey, a builder may be required to replace heritage trees that need to be demolished to make room for the new home’s location. Knowing and researching all of these municipality requirements is necessary before deciding to purchase a lot.

5. Utilities

Another issue driving lot selection is the access to essential utilities such as gas, electric and sewer. Research needs to be done to determine if your building site has existing or reasonably accessible utilities. Is there a gas line nearby? Is there a power line or an underground transformer nearby? Is there a sewer line nearby or will your site require a septic system? (In older municipalities, sewer line maps are not always available.) If a septic system is required, do you have the land area needed for an evaporative field, or will it need to be an aerobic system? 

More engineering considerations…. Do we plan for a future swimming pool, water feature or a fire pit feature?  The placement of septic lines and post construction drainage needs to be incorporated into the future site plans for the home. The latest “must have” utility is fiber optic cable for internet service.  However, for remote areas, this may be circumvented with the growing availability of satellite internet service. (Thank you Elon Musk).

6. Accessibility for Delivering Building Materials

A site visit to your proposed location is essential to evaluate any potential future obstacles for the delivery of construction materials to the site.  This is another important item that homeowners often forget to consider.  Are there low hanging trees where large delivery trucks would need to drive through?  Is there a sufficient turning radius in the area for a semi-truck?  Are there narrow gates that do not allow a large delivery truck to drive through?  Or is the home in a mountain location with a steep incline that makes delivering construction materials challenging?  

In one circumstance, our client already owned a lot that we were building on, and we had to park our supplier’s roof tile delivery truck a mile away from the construction site.  This circumstance required us to take each individual palette of roofing tile via forklift down a long and narrow tree-lined road.  This was necessary because there was not a sufficient turning radius for the large delivery truck to turn around in an older, hidden, and very private neighborhood. The project was still possible, it just required a little more time, some creative planning in advance, and some very patient subcontractors and delivery drivers. 

7. Direction of Sunlight on the Home

Once all of these critical issues have been addressed, the direction of the sunrise and sunset relative to the placement of the home on the lot should also be considered.  Cardinal direction is important for incorporating energy efficiency into the design, so that it does not need to be supplemented later as an afterthought.  Cardinal direction is necessary to consider when deciding which direction that your home will face, so that your dream home doesn’t feel like an oven in the Summer or an icebox after sundown in the Winter.  If the hot sun is still a concern, the exterior walls on the affected portion of the home can also be thicker, or may be more heavily insulated for maximum comfort and energy efficiency. 

Building a new home is an exciting time and finding the perfect lot is a critical element in planning your dream home.  When considering a lot for purchase, the location, the soil type, the topography, the municipal restrictions, the access to utilities, the direction of sunlight, and the access to the property for delivering construction materials should all be carefully evaluated in the final decision.  Proper planning up front will ensure that the building process goes as smoothly as possible.  Our team would love to evaluate the lot that you are currently considering, or it would be our pleasure to guide you in the process of locating a suitable lot for building with us.  Achieving the best new construction results is all about planning ahead and making educated decisions on all of the many important site considerations.