You are all ready to start building your new custom home. You’ve discussed the custom home design with your residential home builder and you are ready for them to break ground. Everything should be simple now, right?
Well, maybe not. Not every lot of land is created the same. If you are building in a developed community versus a new neighborhood, the differences will be profound. Here are a few bits of information to help you be aware of how your building site affects the building process for your custom home.
Utilities
If you purchased land in an area that has yet to be developed, there may not be any utilities already on the land. Depending on the location, there may not even be utilities on neighboring pieces of land. The types of utilities needed and the distance between your land and existing utilities can have a huge impact on building times and costs.
- Electricity – This is the main concern as all other utilities (such as your septic system, heat pump, and well) will be powered from electricity. While some electric providers will run power to your home site for free, other providers will charge a fee if it goes over a certain distance. Some will even charge for the full installation.
- Water – It must be determined if city water is available or if a well must be drilled. You cannot assume that a well can be drilled anywhere and that the water would be good enough or sufficient enough to supply a home. Well-drilling companies in the area will know the water table and will be able to give you a better idea regarding whether the area is adequate for a well.
- Sewer – This is the least likely to be available in rural areas, which limits the areas that can be served by existing treatment facilities. You will need to have a septic system installed if no city sewer system is available.
- Natural Gas – It’s nice to have, but not necessary. You can do all electric or have propane gas installed.
- Phone, internet, and cable – While these lines may not be installed, local providers are readily available for installation. Depending on how far you are from the last customer, you may have to pay for lines to be pulled. Satellite service may also be an option.
Other Concerns
There are other concerns that your custom builder must look into before they can begin the building process.
- Flood Plain – While your lot of land may not seem like it is in a flood plain, you’ll want to check the FEMA-mapped flood areas to be sure. It is hard to get approval for building in these areas.
- Zoning – Make sure the zoning is compatible with building a house. While incompatibility does not happen very often, it’s important to take the legal description of the land to the city or county to determine whether your land is within agricultural or residential zoning.
- Survey – Before any type of work begins, make sure that a pin survey is done, not just a title survey. This will alleviate any easement, right-of-way, or land right issues.
When you are looking for the right home construction company to build your custom home in the Nashville, Tennessee area, contact Vesta Homes, LLC. We work with a hand selected team of vendors, subcontractors, architects, and designers that come together to provide an elite product. Contact us today!
