Читать книгу Building Your Custom Home For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 68

Even though much of the planning for your new home is considered in the design phase that we discuss in Chapter 4, considering the planned size of your house when purchasing the lot is important. You can’t build any house you want on any lot. You’ll probably face restrictions set by the city, county, and sometimes the market. Doing your homework on the limitations of what can be built on a lot can keep you from making costly mistakes.

How do you know for sure that the land you want to buy is going to fit within your budget? You must consider it in the context of the budget for your entire custom-home-building project. (See Chapter 2 for information on budgeting.) Start by researching the sale prices of houses in the area. If homes in the neighborhood are selling for $500,000, then buying a comparable lot for $375,000 isn’t likely to leave you with financial room to build.

Still not sure what to do? Here’s our quick-and-dirty four-step process for getting a rough idea whether a lot is too expensive:

1 Contact a real-estate agent and get a list of properties that have sold in the area during the last year.Make sure the list includes the square footage and room count of each home.

2 Pick the three sale prices that are most similar to the house in square footage and room count that you want to build, and average the sales prices.Most lenders use at least three comparable sales to establish an appraised value, so this number helps you evaluate the property from the lender’s perspective. If no home sales are similar to your desired home in square footage and room count, then you may need to reassess your design or your choice of neighborhood.

3 Subtract the land price from the average sales price and divide by the square footage you want to build.Doing so gives you a rough number for dollars per square foot. (We explain dollars per square foot in detail in Chapter 2.)

4 Call three contractors in the area and ask if they can build for the dollars per square foot number you established in Step 3.The contractors you call at this point can be referrals, names you find online, or business cards you find at The Home Depot. Where you locate them doesn’t really matter because you may not use them for your project anyway — you simply want a rough survey. (For more information on choosing a contractor, check out Chapter 2.)

Taking these steps can give you a rough idea whether you’re even close. This method, of course, does have many variables and unanswered questions, such as the selection of your fixtures and materials and foundational needs. However, if all three contractors you contact are rolling on the floor with laughter, you’re probably looking at an overpriced lot.