I will try my hand at a few of these.

(1) As Mush said it depends on the arrangement - most tract builders sell you everything at once, some custom builders do too. Generally speaking, the more custom you are, the more likely you are to buy the land first.

(2) Typically, you will own the land once the builder sells you the house. Long-term land leases are not something I have seen in residential construction.

(3) Contracts typically favor the writer, so usually if you hire an experienced attorney to write a contract then it will favor you. However, it may cost a lot of money and the more opportunities for other work the builder has, the less likely he is to sign the contract your attorney prepared. My only real advice is a contract is define the work, assign responsibilities and protect both parties. Always expect the best but plan for the worst.

(4) Absolutely.

Before I answer anything else - "The law" of unintended consequences - are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action (wikipedia because I am lazy).

(5) These are called liquidated damages and they are typically allowed within reason. There are often limits on them (they have to be related to actual costs incurred by not being finished). However, in reality these often end in unintended consequences. For example - The builder, noting that projects often run 3 months over, increases the bid price to account for the liquidated damages. The builder is now incentivized to choose expedient over quality, but this often just causes other delays. In the end, the project is 3 months over anyway, the builder is disputing the liquidated damages for every decision that you didn't make in less than 30 minutes, and the quality of the house is less than it would have been in the beginning, for savings that are largely imagined to begin with.

(6) Really the same as 5. A builder should pay for his mistakes but you can think about builder charges in three sections (a) the money he wants to make, (b) the money he needs to make, and (c) the money he has to make. The builder will absorb some costs for mistakes during (a). He will avoid eating too far into (b), and may cut corners to do so. He will vigorously avoid dipping into (c), and getting near it will cause a lot of problems on a typical build.

(7) You will spend hours educating yourself for every item you need to look for. The answer to this is really how much time do you have to educate yourself before you visit the site and what is important to you.

(8) Depends on where you live.

(9) Really it depends on your area and pricing standards. Most residential bathrooms in my area are priced per fixture (the going rate is $500/for anything that has a supply and a drain, $250 for supply only)

(10) Really not a fan.

(11) Really not a fan.

(12) Run 2 to 3 Cat 6 cables to every possible television location, and a few extra cables all through your house. You don't really even have to terminate them. Just run them. Ethernet cables are currently the default distribution cable. That may change to fiber optic at some point but not yet.

(13) Depends on your contract

(14) Your HVAC subcontractor will help design the system.

(15) The reputation of the builder you hired.

(16) Not economical in most of the country. But I still like it.

##3-4: Generally speaking, many architects/builders use contracts based on standard forms, and you will save time, money, energy and good will by having your lawyer mark up their forms rather than drafting something from scratch.

Good luck!

@mushcreek @bry911 wow! thank you for the detailed answers, very informative I will be starting where mush said to look into, hopefully this will help others too. @oaktown thank you highlighting that!

I'm a newbie and watching with interest. We're purchasing land independent of the build and working through that process now, as well as interviewing builders and trying to nail down plan. I don't have answers, but good questions. I can tell you've been reading along (as I have).

I have been keeping a list of books recommended on this site re house planning, design, etc., and one of the titles is "What Your Contractor Can't Tell you - The Essential Guide to Building and Remodeling." Here is the amazon.com link - http://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Contractor-Cant-Tell/dp/0979983800 According to recommendations on this site and in the Amazon link, it should provide you with a good overview of the process. I have a list of books re actual design and what you want to avoid (design wise). If you're interested, I can update by way of a second email.

@Amanda Murphy Thank you for chiming in! It would be very informative of anything that you come across while purchasing your land to lets us know so that we can take some notes! :). @duvetcover Thank you for pointing out that book, I will certainly look into it!

The book is very helpful. In your contract you should have a clause that specifies the timeframe. For example, six months after site is cleared or foundation poured, which leads to a specific date. Beyond that date, the builder should pay for delay for each additional day. Unless it is unforeseen cause like natural disaster. We had that and there was delay. No our builder did not pay us, but having that did help us to put pressure on the builder and get few extra things for free. Just make sure you have something related to delay because that is the most common problem when building a custom home.

Same goes for builders mistake. Have a specific clause in the contract. Another suggestion is to include that "home owner will hire own inspector to inspect home and builder agrees to fix issues recommended by inspector." Something similar to that. That way, if there are any major concern it will come from an inspector and you can hopefully avoid a major conflict. You can hire home inspector for any stage of the build.

Most important suggestion I have is to hire a builder that has good reputation. They are usually not the cheapest one. Make sure you do your research before hiring a builder /GC.

We got tankless water heater, and we love it. Its Rinnai - make sure you size it properly for the house and usage.

@lakeviewgirl thank you! notes taken :) and if you dont mind. Can you tell me why you went tankless? Is there a specific reason/feature that you saw convenient for you?

Tankless is an energy saver plus you never run out of hot water. Additionally you can be taking a shower while someone else in a different bathroom is also taking a shower. And no leaking from the hot water tank. We love our tankless and will be putting it in our new build.