A: The answer to this can be exceptionally complicated. Only a competent land realtor can truly answer this question with any authority. Stauffer & Sons Construction has worked with land realtors in the past and is happy to make recommendations based on a client’s needs.

The short answer is that there are several tests that need to be run and questions that need to be answered before actually purchasing a home. Zoning, site location, surveying, government easements, setbacks, utilities, title history, soil percolation tests, storm drainage, and covenants are just a few of the issues involved when purchasing a lot to build a home.

Our recommendation is this: if you’re considering building a home and would like to build with us, don’t wait until you’ve purchased the land to contact us. We can best serve you if you contact us before choosing a lot. This allows us to give you a fair analysis of the property, and discuss the challenges in building, if any.

In the past, we’ve received phone calls from clients who had just purchased land with the intention of building, but after visiting the site, we had to share the bad news that the lot was completely useless for building a home on. This is a heartbreaking experience, yet is entirely avoidable. By visiting a site before the transaction is completed, we can help prevent this from happening in the future.