Anyone who has had even just a little experience trying to purchase or find land to build on knows that it is extremely frustrating and a lengthy process. Little Rock, Arkansas and the surrounding area is no exception this either. Sure, you can look at a piece of land and determine whether the real estate is visually ideal for your building project, whether it be a hotel with a beautiful view of a nearby ocean or your dream home you’re hoping to build with a spacious woodland backdrop. But what happens after you’ve found vacant land in a particular area that visually meets what you’re looking for? You have a lot of things to consider before you can or should commit to purchasing the lot.
Fortunately, Little Rock has so far escaped the bustling urban sprawl other capital cities have been subjected to. Available property and real estate is a little different here than let’s say Chicago or Seattle–meaning that there is available property for whatever you are searching for. Finding an available lot within your price range is simple at first. There are a lot of websites and local listing services that allow you to insert a few descriptions of what you are looking for and at the click of a button you have a list of available properties that meet the qualifications you are looking for. Where would we be without technology?
Generally the next step is to dig a little deeper, literally.
After finding an available lot, you must conduct a survey of the land you are purchasing. Just like with buying a car, the exterior may look great but it could be a total lemon. One of the worst things that could happen after you purchase a lot is that you lose money– a lot of money at that– due to lack of research and survey of your purchase. Consider the type of soil that you’re building on and the nearby environment. There could be harmful toxins or chemicals in the area you’re considering on purchasing, especially if the property used to be home to a gas station or factory/plant of some kind.
Land surveying is an important step in the vacant lot purchasing process. It may also reveal the true boundaries of your property so you can pay a fair price for what you are getting rather than paying for what you think you are getting.
Okay, what’s under the property is alright. Now what?
Consider what’s surrounding the property. Is there a nearby water source and what happens when it rains a lot? Is the property in a flood-risk area? Mud-slides? Wildfires? Hurricane? Other than natural disasters, think about man-made disasters too. Is your future home going to be on a sharp turn of a road with the potential of automobile damage? And how about zoning regulations?
Purchasing vacant land to build on has many more surprises than purchasing a property that has already been completed, like a home or commercial space for sale. It is important though frustrating to consider all the potentials that could affect your property. If you’re trying to use loans or investments to fund the building of your project, you better believe that every single thing that could go wrong is considered before a monetary investment is made. Before you get yourself super invested into a particular lot, you really need to investigate the potential weak spots or deficits of the property and decide if the risk is greater than the potential gains. These considerations will all be important down the line when it comes time to finance or insure your home.
The zoning laws of a particular area are extremely important as well, and don’t bank on getting zoning laws changed either. If you’re visualizing your dream home, make sure that your dream product fits into what is allowed in a given area. Also, it may seem a little weird to consider the value of a property that you haven’t even built yet, but think about your amazing dream house built in a low value neighborhood. The other homes nearby you will impact the value of your property, so look into recent estimates of the value of properties in the surrounding vicinity of your property.
This is a little more complicated than I thought, but I still want to build my own property?
Good news. If you want to look at West Little Rock, AR lots for sale, it can be easy. There are a lot of people that are trained to deal with the complexities of purchasing and surveying land. I know, take a deep breath! There are real estate agents who are specifically working with vacant properties for both residential and commercial properties. Contact almost any real estate firm agency in Little Rock and they’ll be able to clue you in on what is available in the current property market. Of course, real estate agents do need to be paid, so consider budgeting a little extra help into your building project to take some of the burden of searching for the right property off your shoulders.
I found the right spot and the property is surveyed and is good to go!
Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far in your building process and you’re about to break ground that is super exciting. In order to get a nice ground breaking ceremony going, you’ll need to find skilled craftsman and other contractors who can build your project on schedule (hopefully) and within your budget (also hopefully). If you’re property is in a more rural area, make sure that you find craftsman who are willing to travel to your location. This could be difficult if you’re building in a very isolated or vacant area. Those who are willing may charge you more to pay for the driving distance. It could also be potentially costly to transport all the needed building materials a greater distance, so consider the costs of labor and transport costs as many people and materials may be shipped in from more expensive, urban areas. when hiring contractors as well.
As more people are looking to move to rural areas within a close range of small cities, like Little Rock, a lot of property developers may be pushing out cookie-cutter houses, and if that isn’t what you are looking for consider purchasing a vacant lot and building the house of your dreams.
