What to Check Before You Buy a Lot to Build On
Why Look Before You Buy
A listing gives you the size and the price. It says little about where a home sits on the lot or what the ground is like, and those decide what the lot is worth to you.
We work alongside your architect or designer. They lead the design. We keep you informed at every step and build it with care.
Nine Questions Worth Asking
1. Which Town Is It Really In?
A mailing address can mislead. Plymouth and Plymouth Township are two separate governments, and so are the City of Brighton and the township around it. We confirm which one a lot sits in before anything else.
2. How Does It Get Water And Handle Waste?
Public water and sewer, or a well and a septic system? The answer changes the early steps and where the home sits. We find out for the lot, and our guide to wells, septic and sewer covers the rest.
3. Is There Water, Wet Ground Or Flood Risk?
A lake, a stream, a wetland or mapped flood land each shape where a home sits. We look for all four before you commit. More in our guide to building near a lake or wetland.
4. What About The Trees?
On a wooded lot, the trees shape the whole layout. We walk it with you and plan the home around them. Read our guide to trees and building.
5. Is It In A Historic District?
In a historic district, a commission reviews the design, and any plan to take a building down. We find out before you buy and take the design through that review. Our guide to historic districts explains more.
6. Is There A House On It Now?
An existing house means a demolition before the build, with steps of its own. We check the address with the town before you commit. They are laid out in our guide to teardown and rebuild.
7. Is There A Homeowners Association?
A subdivision or a homeowners association can carry restrictions of its own, apart from the town’s permit. Get the deed restrictions and the association’s documents before you buy, and share them with us so the design respects them.
8. How Do You Reach It?
A lot on a private road, or one needing a new driveway onto a county road, brings extra approvals. We identify them early and file for each one.
9. Who Issues The Permit?
The permit comes from the town, the county, or both. That changes the order of the steps more than the outcome, and we handle each office. See our guide to who issues a building permit.
General information, not legal advice. Each town, county and state office decides what applies to a property.
Questions About Buying A Lot
Will you look at a lot before we buy it?
Yes. Send us the address or the listing, and we will tell you what building there involves.
How large a home will this lot take?
That depends on the lot itself. We work through it for the address with your designer and confirm it with the town before you rely on it.
What if there is already a house on the lot?
Then the build starts with taking it down. We ask the town about that address before you commit to anything.
Do we need a survey before we buy?
A current survey answers many of these questions, and it goes in with the permit application. Your attorney or agent advises on the purchase, and we arrange the survey for the build.
What surprises people most about a lot?
The ground. Wet areas, the soil, or how water and sewer reach the lot catch most buyers out, which is why we walk a lot early.
General information, not legal advice.
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