It all just depends. It took us maybe 3 months to break ground but it took an additional 3 months to make the sale final. We asked for time to do a feasibility study and it took 3 months to get all the info we needed to be sure it was buildable. So from our offer to breaking ground was 6 months. The build itself can take 6-12 months or more as well.

Some people redisgn plans for over a year or more. Do you have an idea of what you want? Are you under some sort of time constraint?

Does your bank require 50% down for the land? Generally, you will need 50%down for land ppurchase, 20% down for construction loan, and want a 10-20% fund for all those house building overages.
If the realtor is right, and they have a cash offer coming in, they will probably only take your offer if it is considerable more, as a cash offer is much faster and less hassle.

I'll give you the quick and dirty version of how our property purchase went.

The selling agent told me that it had been on the market only for about 6 weeks. - Wrong. I found out it had been on the market numerous times in the past couple years.

The selling agent told me that the list price was a heck of a deal, almost like giving it away. - Wrong again. I checked the county records and found out it was above current market value.

The selling agent told me that there was an offer on it already, and if I wanted it I should act now. Wrong again. I told him that's fine because I was just starting the looking process and didn't really need it right now. 1 week later he called to let me know it was still for sale.

Now this time around, I got my own agent representing my wife and I. (Luckily he is a friend of mine, and was more than willing to help.) He was watching out for our interests, and helped negotiate the price to almost $40,000 less than what they were asking.

Moral of the story? DO NOT trust the selling agent acting alone. They are more worried about lining their own pockets. The more they sell it for, the more commission they get from it. If you can, find another agent that you can trust and will work for you, not for himself.

So yes, you should definitely be skeptic about 3 people interested at the same time. Also, if you're not 100% sure if you can handle the new bills and not be over-extending yourself, I would recommend you wait. You'll have property taxes on top of what you owe on the loan. I would suggest liability insurance on it too in case some nimrod walks on it, breaks their leg, and decides to sue you for everything you've got.

So maybe this wasn't very quick, but I just wanted to share with you how things went for me. As far as the building goes, I've had our property for over a year and a half, and still don't have a plan set in stone. I can tell you though, have fun with the design, make it exactly how you want it. And don't rush it, good things come to those who wait.

Good Luck!

From the time we made the deal to buy the land to the day the shovel went in the ground was 13 months. We didn't have to deal with septic, etc. We just had to deal with an architect. Permits as well, but mostly the architect.

There is ALWAYS another offer. We always get told that when we're buying property. We always call their bluff and we've never lost out to another bidder. Do your due diligence. Sleep on it. If it sells, it wasn't the right property for you. Another one will come along. On this lot, we had been trying to buy another one, but the seller was hoping to get more than it was worth. We couldn't come to an agreement. We ended up getting another one, significantly better than the first. And since it was owned by a giant moron of a Realtor, we actually paid less because he didn't recognize the value in it.

Offer 10/31/06, closed on the loan 7/2/08 (this was the feasibility mentioned above), broke ground 7/31/13!

Between closing ont the land and breaking ground, then economy tanked and we weren't about to overextend ourselves in a unsteady market so we waited it out. Best decision ever. It allowed us to save and do a lot of the site prep (Well drilled, pumphouse built, power brought in, septic design, driveway punched in a lot clearing) ourselves out of pocket.

That's the good... the bad is that it allowed me a LOT of time to determine finishes and over 6 years my tasts grew more and more expensvie ;-)

Thanks all for your feedback. DH and I decided that we will wait and get our stuff in place, and if it's meant to be it will be. We do have an idea of a plan, though it's about 1000sq ft larger than I wanted, but I like it so much that I can't see how to modify it.

Any suggestions on a free (or cheap) app or site that I can draw the plan out on?

from the date of purchase to beginning of build was about 1 year
most of that was waiting on the builder
our builder took care of septic and well, we did culverts, driveway, temp power pole and land clearing
our subdivision does not require that you begin the build at any particular time after land is purchased, the previous owner of the land we owned the property 30 years..

Many people use Google Sketch-Up for drawing. It's free, and can do quite a bit once you get the hang of it.

From purchase to breaking ground for us was 1 day. We put offer on the land on Christmas Eve. From offer to closing was easily 6-8 weeks for the process wheels to turn. During that period, we worked with the architect on the plans, interviewed builders, and lined up financing. Closed on the land end of Feb and the next day the builder had the lot cleared. Had a foundation poured within 7 days of purchase.

The "someone else interested" might be b.s., but it may be true. If you don't feel ready to jump in and take off full speed, then tell the realtor you'll take the risk. There are always other lots. In our case, it wasn't a game and was actually the truth though. The land we bought had been on & off the market for a while, during the slump. When we finally saw it, it had just come back at a lower price. Us and two other buyers ended up interested in the same lot, but because we'd seen it first, selling agent gave us first right to bid. The other buyers bought the adjacent lots. But if not for the competition, we would've preferred to get the details in place first.

we put 20% down on the land and purchased it alone, then worked on our plans. we weren't sure exactly what style we wanted to build or which architect we were using.

they give you a year to tack on the construction loan to the land loan. if you don't submit your plans and get the construction loan within one year of purchasing the property, the note on the land doubles.

we ended up selling our land because the bids from builders were coming back 80,000 more than we expected.

we are renovating an older house now, that of course, is costing much more than expected : /

We are running our pre approval now, with putting all of our 'assets' on paper I would say we should have no problem getting the loan. We have decided to wait, and not be rushed to put our bid in. We have been in contact with the current property owner and he's a nice family guy, and expressed an interest to sell to a family like ourselves vs someone elseâ¦COOL. DH found out about another lot that he wants to look at 40 acres wooded but don't know where exactly the property line will be so does it include any clear land to build or will we have to clear an area is still a question we don't know the answer to. If we opt for the 2nd one we'd then have to bring power in.

The lot that got this whole process started is 8.5 acres partly wooded, but with a nice clear area to build on, already has power to a large pole barn, and a small well. It to me would be easier upfront to get started with. DH likes the idea of more woods for hunting, and has hope that he would be able to sell off some of the timber to make up for the extra expense of having to bring power in.

What are your thoughts? would you do 8 acres already cleared with a barn and out building, and drive in place, or 40 acres raw land wooded that we have to prepare..both are the same asking price.

i would look at location, neighborhood, topography, possible building sites,
taxes, cost of power cost of power is pretty prohibitive in our area
4000 a pole at maybe a pole every 100 ft........

Closed on a Thursday and started clearing the road and a spot for our home on Friday. Our electric service was $750.00 and that was for running about 600' of wire and setting a couple of poles....it would have only been $450.00 but I went from 200 amp to 400 amp service transformer.

8 years-lol. We bought the property knowing we would build in the future. From first meeting with architect to final permit(that came last week-yay!!!!) took 18 months. It took 12 months to get through the permitting process-we're building in central coast California-had to go through at least 7 committees-crazy but it's done and we are on our way!

after land purchase what is the best first step? finding a builder? GC? architect? designer? is there one person/group that does all services or will there be lots of people ? We are hoping to close by oct. 24th, waiting on the appraisal from the lender so that we know if that's a go or not before having the septic tested to know if we will be able to tie into thatâ¦though i think part of that depends on the house we plan to buildâ¦so i'm at a loss as to what to do first/next.

I have an idea of things I want to incorporate into our build but am starting to feel like I don't know how to put one foot in front of the other. (sung of course sing song style like the Christmas cartoons). I'd like to at least inquire about ICF, some type of passive solar heating for winter months as the back of our house will be south facing so want to use that to our full advantage, ideally 3br plus a 'guest suite' with ADA bathroom, which we could always call 'flex space' or den if that means our plan wouldn't fit the current septic if we call it a 4th bedroomâ¦any guidance where to start? links to research of posts on this forum you can guide me to would be great. I've been reading for hours and hours and always just end up with more questions than answers..perhaps i'm not asking the right questions :)

cz_scrap - ugh. Our permit process took a bit longer than expected, no fun at all. Finally got all that over with late August, framing going on now.

Divine_serenity, we met with our architect right after having the offer accepted on our land (still hadn't closed on it yet, that took about 6 weeks). He walked the property with us, and we discussed what kind of house would best sit on the property due to orientation, etc.

Although we already had our builder in mind, we didn't actually sit down and meet with him until we had our final plans from the architect.

From the offer on our land until moving into our home was about 15 months. With that said, we spend about the first 6 months of that finalizing plans with the architect and waiting for building permits. The actual build time was 9 months.

I doubt I'll be of help. DH's grandmother bought the property in 1935. We tore down the old house and started building in 2007...the old house had been vacant for 15 years before we started building...

Angela- thanks for the reply. Did you already have an architect in mind to consult while you were waiting for closing ? I don't even have names yet. Building in rural Indiana, looking forward to the home show they do at the fair grounds every year except the thought of waiting till january to make contacts with people drives me bonkers. I don't tend to do the hurry up and wait game well. I want to feel like I'm making progress. Today I was out painting trim on our house getting it ready to sell, and looking for boxes to start the declutter process. I am hoping and praying that by this time next year we will be breaking ground. (and not be living 80 miles away from the build site). Really working on saving money, and budgeting like crazy too. .

It was about 8 months. We bought the land this time last year, and started building in May. We could have started sooner, but being in Ontario it's more expensive and harder to build in the winter. It took about 3 months to finalize the plan, and another 3 months to meet and decide on the contractors.

If you have a house already, you could consider a home equity line of credit as a cheaper source of funds. If you don't then my suggestion would be to save a bit more so that you can be more flexible. When we bid our house out, we soon realized that it was much cheaper to self contract and do some of things ourselves. It's more work and harder to secure financing, but it helped to make this otherwise impossible dream possible.

This post was edited by Oldmaster on Wed, Sep 24, 14 at 14:05

We have a home equity line, but just a small one, haven't used it in ages. We are doing ok.

Question for you all. In our purchase agreement there is a clause that says if we are unable to utilize the existing septic we can walk away penalty free. While it is believed we can we won't know till our inspection. While I love the property I'm ok with walking away too. Especially b/c the upfront costs of redoing well/septic, down payment, inspection /appraisal fees etc will take a good bite out of our savings. I don't believe you can tie the well/septic cost into construction loan is this true or not?

divine_serenity, we did already have an architect in mind. A friend recommended one and we were so happy with our meeting with him that he was the only one we spoke with and ended up hiring him!

I don't believe you can tie the well/septic cost into construction loan is this true or not?

Why would that be true? Isn't that part of constructing a home?

However, if the value of the land is based on the assumption that the septic system is useable, and it's not, then you've paid too much for the land by however much it costs to replace the septic/well. Assuming it costs $20k to rectify that, and you paid $100k for the land, and the rest of your build budget is $100k. If you went into the construction loan using the land as your equity, it would only be worth $80k, and you'd need $120k to finish your build. It puts you in a very different position than if you went in with land worth $100k and needed a $100k loan. That's why you'd want to walk away, maybe.

I've heard some people say they were unable to include the cost of well/septic in their construction loan, glad to hear this isn't always true. Dh still would move forward with the purchase of the property despite the findings of the septic inspection. (He and I still don't agree on this, but he did finally say he would consider decreasing our purchase offer at least.) Sure wish the appraiser would know if it were usable. I know the size of septic you need depends on the size of your home and number of bathrooms. That's one thing that worries me, the trailer that was there was 3br maybe 2 bath. I plan on 3 bedroom with at least 3.5 baths if not 4 . I am hoping the existing septic will be suitable for something larger than 1200 sq ft .

It's been a week and I still don't know if the lender has scheduled the appraisal, she's terrible with communication!

divine_serenity, we paid for our septic out of our construction loan. And when we had our soil testing done, we were told it that it tested to be suitable for a 5 BR home (or 4 BR if we did an oversize tub in master bath), but they never mentioned any specific square footage maximum.

I've heard some people say they were unable to include the cost of well/septic in their construction loan, glad to hear this isn't always true. Dh still would move forward with the purchase of the property despite the findings of the septic inspection. (He and I still don't agree on this, but he did finally say he would consider decreasing our purchase offer at least.) Sure wish the appraiser would know if it were usable. I know the size of septic you need depends on the size of your home and number of bathrooms. That's one thing that worries me, the trailer that was there was 3br maybe 2 bath. I plan on 3 bedroom with at least 3.5 baths if not 4 . I am hoping the existing septic will be suitable for something larger than 1200 sq ft .

It's been a week and I still don't know if the lender has scheduled the appraisal, she's terrible with communication!

divine

I was wondering if the property appraisal went through on your land?

We are in the same situation as we bought land last year and are at the beginning stages. Our first step will be meeting with an architect. We are also planning to add a shed and bring electricity to the property this year.

Purchased land 5 yrs ago, paid it off a couple of years later, still working on our (2nd) house plan. If you're picky AND frugal, be patient!

The size of the septic is based on the number of bedrooms, not bathrooms here in Maryland.