Buying land? Here’s what you should know. Lights, camera, action! Hey guys, my name is Ashley Jurney and I’m a realtor with Town Realty in Charlottesville, Virginia, and we want to help you move smarter. You can learn more about us by visiting our website, Towncville.com.
If your dream home doesn’t appear to exist within the local inventory, or nothing meets your needs, you probably need to buy land, on which you’ll build a house. Once you’ve found the perfect lot, you’ll need to work on securing financing. You can pay cash, use a land loan, or even a construction loan to finance the purchase. A local lender can help you find the right loan with the right terms for your particular situation. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about buying land to build a house.
What to do before you purchase land. If you’ve decided to buy land, keep in mind that it’s not going to be a short-term project. Buying land is a major undertaking, and to begin the process you’ll need to figure out how much breathing room you’ll have in your budget for a new house. Some of the costs you’ll have to account for include: engineer fees, permits, survey, driveway, well, septic, utilities, possible tree removal, to name a few. Of course, you have the cost of purchasing the land and the cost of building your house. The cost to build your home can range a lot depending on the builder you hire. It’s recommended to have a builder in mind while searching for land. The builder can work with your local realtor to help you ensure you stay on budget.
How to find land for sale. A realtor like me can be a big help in facilitating your land search. We have access to the MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, which is where other realtors input their for-sale listings. Other third-party websites like Zillow or Realtor.com can be highly inaccurate and they also have a back lag, so they’re not updated as fast as the MLS.