The 5 Secrets to Evaluating Land By Reagan Homes in Stonington, CT

Expert Advice from Reagan Homes
30+ Years of Homebuilding Experience in Southeastern Connecticut

You are taking the exhilarating first steps toward building your dream home, and you have begun to look at plots of land. If the land is for sale, that must mean you can build your dream home on it, right? Wrong! There are a variety of factors that can affect not only whether a lot is buildable, but whether it is the right choice for your particular homebuilding needs.

Some qualities that characterize a potential building site for your home will indeed be entirely up to your aesthetic wishes and lifestyle needs, for example whether you want to build your home on the waterfront, on a wooded lot, or in a particular school district. However, there are other important details to take into account that may not be immediately apparent to someone without prior homebuilding experience. If you are someone who has decided to build your new home from the ground up, then take these 5 key factors into consideration while you evaluate a potential site for your future dream home.

#1 – What are the zoning requirements?

Too often, people hear from a realtor that a particular lot is buildable. When they purchase the land, though, they suddenly discover that the zoning requirements will keep them from building the home they’d initially envisioned. Sometimes they learn that there are limitations on how large the home can be or what the floor-area ratio can be. There may also be something called a “setback requirement,” which dictates how far the house needs to be from the edge of the lot.

You can avoid serious disappointment by exploring the zoning requirements for yourself before you purchase a lot. You can get this information from the town where the lot is located, from a local engineering company, or even from a local builder. Dave Reagan from Reagan Homes, for example, commonly helps people to choose the perfect lot before they begin to draw up blueprints for their house.

#2 – What kind of utilities are available?

Checking out utility availability can make a big difference later on, especially since some utility options can be more expensive than others in the long run! Here are a few examples of questions you should ask:

• Does the lot have access to city water, or will you need to have well water?
• Will the house be connected to the city sewer, or will you need to install a septic system and oversee its maintenance?
• If you need a septic system, do you have enough room for the reserve area?
• How will you receive electrical, phone, cable, and/or internet service? Will the wires be overhead or underground?
• Are there any special fees you need to pay to connect your utility services?

#3 – How will the land handle drainage during rainstorms?

The last thing you want is a flooded basement or a muddy puddle in your yard as large as a pond. This can become a major issue, however, if you don’t consider the contours of the land at a potential building site. Consider some of the following questions now to avoid drainage problems in the future:

• What is the topography of the land? Does it slope away from where the house will go, so that rainwater will drain in the right direction? Flat lots can be problematic for this reason.
• What is the percolation rate on the soil? In other words, will the soil absorb rainwater, or will the water simply pool on top of the land, causing large puddles and destroying your lawn?
• Will you need a gravity footing drain or a sump pump to aid with drainage?

Some of these questions may seem a little daunting for the uninitiated. If you feel unsure about any of this, your homebuilding company is a good place to turn for guidance. For example, Reagan Homes has made it their business to help clients understand the value of proper drainage for a home’s building site.

#4 – How will the land affect the cost of building?

If you are building a home where cost is not a concern, then you are a rare, lucky individual. The more likely scenario is that you have a certain overall budget in mind, and you want to build your dream home without exceeding that set amount. Choosing the wrong plot of land can suddenly turn your affordable dream home into a money pit, however.

To avoid that happening, research what the site work will cost. Here are some examples of what to look for:

• How much will it cost to dig and back fill the house?
• Is there a ledge that can affect building cost?
• Is there a high water table?
• Does the lot owner have an A2 survey or just a plot plan? (Most towns want an A2 survey to give zoning approval.)

As with the drainage questions, this is an area where turning to a properly experienced builder like Reagan Homes can make a huge difference. Typically, a builder should be able to give you hard numbers on what it will cost to build from the concrete up. With land, those numbers won’t be fully set in stone, but they will still be fairly reliable estimates.

#5 – Who will build your house?

The aid that an experienced builder can provide is a point that has already cropped up in many of the other key questions in this article. Nevertheless, this detail is so important to ensuring a smooth overall homebuilding process that it’s worth mentioning again in its own section.

Don’t wait until after you’ve purchased your land to seek out a homebuilder. Instead, research and choose a builder with significant homebuilding experience on numerous kinds of land BEFORE you even start to look at plots. Not only can your homebuilder guide you toward the right questions to ask about a potential building site, they can also help ensure that you understand the answers.

In addition, some homebuilders offer a service through which they fully evaluate a lot before you purchase it. Reagan Homes is one such builder who can help ensure that your chosen lot is zoned properly for your dream home. They also confirm that your ideal home can be built there without exceeding your budget. They sometimes even identify aspects of the land that will allow you to negotiate down the price significantly!

In short, when you have the right homebuilding team on your side, you can relax and know you’re in good hands.

The information provided in this article is meant for educational purposes only. If you would like to learn more about home building as it relates to your unique circumstances, feel free to call Reagan Homes at 860.460.4857 or click here to use our convenient online contact form.

Meet Reagan Homes Of Southeastern, CT

5-Star-Rated Custom Home Builders

Expert home builder and developer, Dave Reagan of Reagan Homes has been specializing in custom, premier, and high-quality constructed homes for over 30 years. The team at Reagan Homes has an exceptional reputation within the Southeastern Connecticut communities. Expect to be astonished by the continued level of excellence and detail from Reagan Homes in Stonington, CT, Mystic, CT, Waterford, CT, East Lyme, CT, Groton, CT, Old Lyme, CT, Essex, CT, Old Saybrook, CT and New London, CT.

To start your journey towards your dream home in Southeastern CT or to learn more about our home packages, contact Reagan Homes today!

Reagan Homes
197 Long Wharf Road
Mystic, CT 06355
www.ReaganHomes.com
860.460.4857