Greg Hanner's Blog

Before you go and buy a vacant building lot to build your dream home on, you should stop and consider a few things.  

• Is what I want to build affordable?  That's easy to find out by consulting with a local builder who should be able to let you know what things cost provided they have a history of delivering homes to clients for the same costs that are originally quoted.
  
  
• I'm told the building lot is approved, so why should I spend money testing it again? An approved lot is largely a lot that meets zoning and health requirements and it's not necessarily a guarantee that the home you want will fit on the lot, that the lot can support a septic system for the size of the home you want or that you won't encounter costly unforeseen expenses like rock/ledge removal, high ground water or costly utility connections.
  
  
• I thought I couldn't work on a vacant lot until I buy it? After you purchase a vacant building lot, it's yours and you can't give it back to the seller. If you put a testing contingency in any offer that you make, then you have the option to back out of the purchase and to get your deposit back.

Here's a quick 1 minute video on deep hole testing which is really important. Perc tests are really nothing more than measuring how fast the soil can accept water - they are not the only thing that you should consider. In the video below, you'll see what deep hole testing is all about: