First of all, I would want to know the financial strength and stability of the developer. Nothing sadder than a half-built subdivision when the developer suddenly goes toes up. Bear in mind that you will be living in a construction zone until the subdivision is built out, which could be years if things move slowly. I would also wonder if an HOA is planned for the future. For some people, that would be a necessity; for others, a liability. Are there requirements for the size and style of the homes? Can someone build a shack in the middle of nice homes?

After all those questions are answered to your satisfaction, there are all of the other land purchase questions, such as flooding, crime, what else is nearby, etc. City sewer or septic, well or city water, etc.

Thanks - what is the best way to check in the financial strength of the developer? The development company is not a builder - they are just selling the lots, putting in the roads etc. We would choose any builder. All houses there currently are on 1 million plus range, and the lots there previously sold for 600k+

Based on my own experience I would contact the county or city where the subdivision is located for information on roads and other services. How this is handled will vary based on location, but find out when the roads become public roads and what other services will be available to you and when.

We didn't do this and much to our surprise our road was considered a private road for several years. The developer was supposed to be responsible for snow removal and maintenance. In our case the developer had no money and did nothing. Fortunately a few of us living there had the equipment to clean the roads of snow and did so. It took a lot of phone calls and meetings with the county to get the final paving of the road and to make it a public road. Until that time the school buses were not permitted to go on the road and the U.S. postal service was also not permitted to drive on it. (We had to install mail boxes at the neighborhood entrance instead of our houses. There were no houses near the entrance so it was a bit of a concern for all of us.) Even newspaper delivery was restricted to the mailboxes at the entrance. Those were the rules of USPS and the school district.

This might even extend to things like trash pick-up, etc.

If you have children or take community classes, check which school district (and which schools), library district, park district, etc., the development is in. People have been unhappily surprised. And, if your state has them, which township! We moved three towns away, and were surprised to see we were on the same township when three blocks away starts the township most of the town is in.

Well, since you get to choose your own builder, you'll be able to compare builders before deciding on the right one for you.

A few things to consider:

Does the development have any rules at all set in place for the minimum home size, sqft of stone front, quality of build, etc? We came across a few neighborhoods like this and I don't think they all had a HOA. If there are zero restrictions set in place, I would be a little hesitant myself...you say the surrounding homes are valued at 1+mil, so who's going to stop someone from building a smaller or lesser quality home valued at 400k right next door?

Excellent points brought up by rrah and bpathome -- check and double check on the school district if relevant, and whether certain roads are private, or what easements you may have on your lot.

I happen to love HOAs because I'm a rule follower and like my neighbors to keep their homes & yards tidy (and not leave barking dogs outside all day) so we specifically chose a development with one, but it is a deterrent for some folks for various reasons -- is there any possibility of this development having an HOA, and if so, are you okay with not knowing what the yearly dues might be?

In my city there's a gigantic development (started as one builder, then over the years has switched hands several times and now I think they allow a few different builders) that started out as higher-end homes and once the market crashed in 2007/8, they started building less expensive homes in the same development. I'd be pretty livid if I owned a higher end home and then had to be surrounded by homes 1/2 the price of mine without knowing ahead of time. Just like there are developments that have gorgeous houses, then right in the middle of the development there are apartments...yeah, no way in heck I'd buy a house with an apartment complex in my neighborhood!