Building our Happy
Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to build a home.
Growing up, my family bought some land out in the country and lived in a mobile home while my dad started construction on our house. Before our home was finished, my parents divorced and the land/home was sold.
So I guess for me, it was always unfinished business to build a home for my family. While I am not the handy-man my dad is, I still have a dream of building a home just the way we want it. (With the help of a contractor of course!)
Building a home sounds so scary right? I’ve spent years researching, reading blogs, stalking Zillow for land, and creating Pinterest boards. There is so much content on the internet, it makes it difficult to know what to do!
I have had a fairly hard time finding good content on smaller custom built homes. Most the posts I have found have mostly been for neighborhood builder homes (homes that you purchase where the builder lets you pick out of some of their handful of floor plans and choose the finishes). So in an effort to help someone like myself, I will be blogging our experience with building a custom home from the very beginning!
While building a home has always been my dream, it was not originally my husband’s. So it took many years of convincing (and agreeing to have a man cave) for him to agree to my ‘crazy plan’.
Though I have been talking about it for years, we really decided it was what we were going to do in early 2020. Being the planner that I am, I had been searching the internet for land for months already, but we had such a hard time finding what we wanted. The lots we found were either really small or astronomically priced. We had certain criteria we wanted before purchasing a lot.
OUR WANTS
1 acre
In the same town we are in
Nice neighborhood with limited HOA rules
$20,000 budget
In spring of 2020, we found a one acre lot in a cute neighborhood, and thought that could be the one! The one acre lot was near the water, close to our family, and the neighborhood was beautiful. Price wise, the lot was going for about $20,000, which was our initial budget.
We did a lot of research and got the opinions of our family (many of them have building/permit/land knowledge), but decided that lot just didn’t seem right. It was partially wetlands and would have required extensive permits and likely would flood often. We crossed it off our list and continued our search!
A month or two later, after finding NADA, we decided to look outside our original budget.
It was then that we found our dream lot, something we hadn’t even originally thought we wanted!
A beautiful, 5 acre lot in an area where all the lots are 5-15 acres, so we won’t be tucked on top of each other. The first acre of the lot was already cleared, and the back 4 acres are fully wooded.
The lot is further out than we originally planned, but it is so beautiful. The drive takes you down where houses are few and far between, through wooded lots and has an ‘out in the country vibe’ that I crave. Yet, it is close enough to town for my husband to be happy too!
Across the street from the lot is a horse pasture and the sun sets over the trees towards the back. Driving out to the land to take a look, and then seeing it for the first time, it just felt like home.
I could picture our life there, the farmhouse, the horses in the pasture across the street, the kids running through the backyard, it was home.
Here comes the downside, it was listed for $50,000. Which was more than double our budget.
We spent a few days going back and forth over the pros and cons, but ultimately decided this was OUR HOME. We had to have it. Even if that meant spending a couple more years paying off the land before building.
We put in an offer for around $44,000. After submitting our offer, the realtor let me know someone else was also looking at the lot, but my husband and I talked and held firm on our offer. If it was in God’s plan, it would work out.
A few days later our offer was accepted!
WHAT WE GOT
5 acres
Further from town, but close enough to be happy
Over Budget
Peace of mind knowing we will be living our dream in a beautiful place
PURCHASING LAND
We purchased the land using a land loan from our local bank, Santa Rosa County Federal Credit Union.
For those of you interested in land loans (or unimproved property loans), SRCFCU finances up to 90% of selling price OR appraisal value, whichever is less. We looked at a few banks before we submitted an application, but decided to go with SRCFCU because they were so nice and had wonderful rates! Some of the other banks had different percentages that they would loan as well- so this may vary depending on your bank. One of the banks we researched only financed 75% of the sell price/appraisal value, so be sure to check around and see which bank works best for you.
To find our land, I frequently searched sites like Zillow and set up alerts on the criteria we were looking for, this helped me get notified quickly as soon as something new hit the market meeting our needs! If you’re in an area where good land goes quick, it is absolutely necessary to be set up with notifications. We did not use a realtor to help us find land, but that is an option if that makes you more comfortable.
I put together a quick little checklist to help you on your land buying journey!
Sign up for alerts!
Signing up for alerts on sites like Zillow will help you find the land that meets your needs quickly. This is especially important if you are in an area where land is scarce.
Financial Planning
Before finding a piece of land, determine how you will pay for the land- cash or financing. If financing, talk to your bank about land loans and if they will roll the loan into a construction loan or if you would need to pay it off before applying for construction.
make sure the land is buildable
There are several things you may need to do to determine if the land will suite your needs- ensuring a building site, soil testing, proper zoning classification, availability of utilities, etc.
survey, appraisal, title
You will need to obtain a recent metes and bounds survey of the property to determine property lines, an appraisal to verify property value, and a title search from an attorney.
plan for the future
Since you will be living here eventually, be sure the area meets your needs. Verify school districts, drive by the area at different times of day and weather, check your commute to work, etc.
LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
Now that we have purchased our land, we intend on paying it down before starting our build.
Y’all know me though, I have already scoured Pinterest to determine EXACTLY the house we want. Floor plans, design elements, Christmas setups (oh yea- have I mentioned I’m a wee bit Christmas OBSESSED).
We decided on Plan 52285WM found on Architectural Designs website. This is a 4 bedroom, two story farmhouse, that has exactly what we want!
Our list of wants included an open floor plan, two bedrooms upstairs (plus that bonus room/man cave I promised my husband), master bedroom downstairs, a room for my office, and a spare room for guests.
We LOVE that this house isn’t too large. That was one of the hardest things when looking on Pinterest is that most 4 bedroom houses were 3000-5000 square feet.
I will be sharing ALL the house building details with you including all the hiccups we have along the way- because LIFE right?
Do you have any homebuilding tips or questions of your own? Drop them below in the comments!
