Before you go and buy a vacant building lot to build your dream home on, you should stop and consider a few things.
- Is what I want to build affordable? That’s easy to find out by consulting with a local builder who should be able to let you know what things cost provided they have a history of delivering homes to clients for the same costs that are originally quoted.
- I’m told the building lot is approved, so why should I spend money testing it again? An approved lot is largely a lot that meets zoning and health requirements and it’s not necessarily a guarantee that the home you want will fit on the lot, that the lot can support a septic system for the size of the home you want or that you won’t encounter costly unforeseen expenses like rock/ledge removal, high ground water or costly utility connections.
- I thought I couldn’t work on a vacant lot until I buy it. After you purchase a vacant building lot, it’s yours and you can’t give it back to the Seller. If you put a testing contingency in any offer that you make, then you have the option to back out of the purchase if the soils are not to your satisfaction as a Buyer and you can get your deposit back if the testing contingency is properly structured and you provide proper notifications to the Seller as outlined in the land Purchase and Sale agreement.
Here’s a quick 1 minute video on deep hole testing which is really important. Perc tests are really nothing more than measuring how fast the soil can accept water – they are not the only thing that you should consider. In the YouTube video below, you’ll see what deep hole testing is all about:
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