When you’re ready to begin looking at land for your future home, the team at Reagan Homes is here to help. We’re passionate about helping you live in your dream home! We understand that it can be intimidating to think about building a home from scratch. But when you partner with us, you can rest assured that you have the best professionals in the business on your side.
Our comprehensive approach to land development and custom homebuilding lets us stand out from the competition. From start to finish, we will help you every step of the way.
When embarking on the journey to build your dream home, the initial step often involves the search for the perfect piece of land. However, it’s a common misconception that any available lot for sale can accommodate your dream home. Unfortunately, this assumption is not accurate, and choosing the wrong piece of land can lead to various complications.
Since 1987, Reagan Homes has been an iconic homebuilding company in Connecticut, serving New London and Middlesex counties. While our reputation is built on custom homes and renovations, our expertise in land development is crucial to ensuring the success of your dream home.
Clients often approach us with a beautiful lot, expressing the desire for us to build their dream home there. Regrettably, despite the lot’s aesthetic appeal, there are instances where restrictions prevent the construction of the exact house they envision. To avoid such pitfalls, involving us early in the land selection process is key. We specialize in evaluating land and potential teardown opportunities to facilitate your dream home construction, providing sitework estimates based on our assessments.
Zoning Requirements: Navigating zoning regulations in your desired town is crucial. We assist in understanding limitations on home size, floor-area ratio, and setback requirements.
Utilities: Assessing utility availability early on is vital. We explore options like city water versus well water, evaluate costs for connecting to city sewer versus septic systems, and consider the placement of electrical, cable, and telephone lines.
Drainage: Effective drainage is paramount to avoid issues like flooded basements or waterlogged yards. We assess land contours, ensuring proper slope away from the house location, and evaluate soil characteristics, including water table and percolation rate. We provide insights into using gravity footing drains or sump pumps for efficient drainage.
A success story involves an 8-lot subdivision in Mystic where new houses faced potential flooding. Working with FEMA, we raised foundations, brought in fill, and successfully rezoned the homes out of the flood zone, saving homeowners from needing flood insurance.
In essence, considering drainage is crucial before purchasing any lot. We are dedicated to evaluating the best drainage scenarios for your chosen lot, ensuring a seamless and successful homebuilding process.
Choosing the wrong plot of land can suddenly turn an affordable dream home into a money pit. To avoid that from happening, we can help you estimate the site work costs on a particular lot. For example, we will consider questions such as:
These are just a few of the factors we examine. Sometimes, if ledge is a concern, we may suggest raising the foundation slightly to avoid blasting costs and rock removal. In such cases, we can bring in general fills to the landscape around the foundation.
In a recent project, we assisted a family in saving thousands of dollars on the purchase of their lot. We anticipated the need for extra fill to avoid blasting costs and negotiated to have those expenses subtracted from the lot’s purchase price.
Estimating building costs isn’t an exact science, but turning to an experienced builder like Reagan Homes can make a huge difference. We can provide hard numbers on what it will cost to build from the concrete up, but we can’t do the same for land-related expenses. We won’t know exactly what we’ll find until we start digging. With land, those numbers can’t be fully set in stone. However, we can still offer fairly reliable estimates for the sitework budget. Most often, we can keep our clients within their budget range.
