As an on-your-lot custom home builder, we know that one of the first and most important steps in making your dream home a reality is finding the right land.
And, once you find it, preparing that land for your home. Many people think this process is too difficult or out of reach for them, but we are here to make the site development process as easy as possible. Here are some of our tips to follow when developing your land:
- Take advantage of our Free Site Evaluation. Adair Homes partners with you to help you uncover all the costs associated with developing your property. Remember, the total project cost is determined by the cost of the land, the home and the site development costs.
- Ask questions about your lot. As Victoria Trevino from the Adair Homes team puts it, "Simply ask your county or city about your lot. Check if there are any special restrictions. Clients who have previously visited their jurisdiction and asked about their lot put themselves in a much better position." Adair Homes' Monica Bowser also supports this, and encourages you to join Adair when meeting with the jurisdiction. "We can accompany you to a meeting with your city or county, so you are eased into the building process with someone in your corner," she says.
- Determine what you can DIY. The site development process is one of the areas where you have the greatest opportunity to build value. The more work you are able to take on yourself, the more value you will have when the home is complete. By providing funding for permits and tackling hands-on tasks that don’t require construction expertise, you can reduce overall costs, therefore creating a greater value.
- Get bids from the experts. For the areas that you can't DIY, you've got to look to the pros. The Adair Homes' construction services department has great relationships with excavators, well drillers, septic installers and others that can help provide written bids. This way, once you begin construction, you will know that you've done all the work necessary to make your project a success!
- Tackle utilities first. According to Trevino, you should work on utilities first when developing your site. "Besides permits, utilities take the longest on your list of to-do's to achieve," she says. "The first step is getting your excavator to trench from the power/water source to the site (or closer to the site). You then need an electrician and plumber to set the wiring and conduit (or piping for water). Next the county/city needs to come out and green tag it, which the electrician typically calls in. Finally, you have to call the power company to turn the power on. Additionally, the excavator has to come back out to cover the trenching."
For a full list of items you can DIY, as well as a breakdown of each step of site preparation and the associated costs, download our handy Site Preparation Guide.
