Building a New Home on Your Lot
West Michigan New Home Builder, best first-time home building experience, build on your lot
Whether building on a lot you already own or still choosing your lot, we are ready to help you evaluate your lot and understand your budget!
Building a new home on your lot can be one of the most rewarding and exciting undertakings to experience. There are several considerations to keep in mind before breaking ground. Choosing the right On Your Lot Builder, understanding your budget and lot evaluation will make the experience unforgettable and satisfying!
Evaluating your Lot
It is a good idea to walk the lot with your builder before you decide a lot is the correct purchase. A lot may appear to be a great deal, selling for much less than apparently similar lots. Many times, those lots feature conditions that make them cost more to build on. Woods Builders is happy to walk your lot with you and help you look out for those things that could increase the building costs on the lot!
When evaluating a lot, we look for:
- How suitable is the lot for your home? – We look out for lots that may not drain well or fall in a wetland. We look at how much dirt we may need to take in or out of the lot for your new home build. We also take into consideration the final grading of the lot for your home.
- Determining the house placement – We look for the way to best situate the house to get walkout or daylight in the lower level. We also want to make sure we set the foundation at the correct height to make sure your driveway doesn’t become too steep and that your foundation walls are high enough.
- What type of special requirements might this lot need? – Are there a lot of trees to remove? How far back off the road will the house sit? Does the lot feature any irregular shapes that affect the drainage, house location or the setback?
- The soil types – Sandy soil vs. clay soil. Sandy soil is great for putting in foundations. It is cost effective and sandy lots usually drain well. But sandy lots can be pricier. Typical clay lots can be just as good to build on with a little site work. The actual lot may cost less than comparable sandy lots, but the site may require some additional work like drain prep with stone and tile and a sump pump.
Understanding your budget
No one wants to have any surprise budget costs appear during their build. Woods Builders approaches new home builds on your lot with up front pricing and no surprises! Understanding the relationship between the house and lot allows you to see how they affect one another. Once you’ve walked the lot and determined the lot price and the site work costs, Woods Builders makes your house costs easy to understand!
Woods Builders starts with a portfolio of pre priced plans. This is the base price for the house. When we complete the lot evaluation with you, we determine how the lot will affect the excavation, driveway, foundation, water/well and sewer/septic portions of the budget. This gives us the base price of the house and all the lot and site work costs for your budget.
The final piece affecting budget is the options and customizations for your house. Options and customizations can be big things like adding square footage to a plan, finishing a basement or adding a third stall garage or they can be finishes like selecting countertops or flooring. See the chart sample breakdown of the budget below.
New Home on Your Lot – Woods Builders Can Help!
Woods Builders is prepared to offer advice and walk your lot with you. Whether building on a lot you already own or still choosing your lot, we are ready to help you evaluate your lot and understand your budget! Woods Builders is happy to work with you to customize one of our standard plans to best fit your lot, budget and lifestyle.
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