@jani.....I am still getting over the flu (been brutal) but now ready to talk about your potential build (exciting)!
Downsizing.....not my strong point :)
I think it’s vital for you to figure out and make a list of what the nonnegotiables are. For me the very first thing was privacy and exterior space with NO view of neighbors, so finding a suitable piece of land was first on my list (and not an easy task).
So, I went looking for land at the same time I looked for a builder. We had an acquaintance who was a builder and was highly recommended by friends so before we hired him or even sat together and talked numbers I asked him to come look at the land I was considering and give me his opinion of its build-ability. We met at the property and went over how much clearing I desired and the size and style of house etc. From there we met at his office and discussed how he operates and I explained my expectations as far as quality of materials etc. At that point he was able to give me a VERY ROUGH estimate of cost and time to build. He recommended some architects he worked with.
The builder and I (together) met with one of the architects and we laid out our budget, house style, sq footag etc. for the architect. The architect then came to look at the land. Before we purchased the property, I also insisted the builder do a soil test to make sure the house pad would be on solid ground. When I was sure about the suitability of the property we made the purchase and then signed on the dotted line with our builder. From that point we signed on with the architect and the rest is history.... and I aged a hundred years since then :)
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