Essential Tips for Buying Land to Build a House: What You Need to Know
Buying land is exciting. It's also one of the easiest places to make an expensive mistake.
Unlike an existing house, vacant land often comes with unknowns that can dramatically impact what you can build and how much it will cost. We've seen properties that looked like a great deal at first glance turn into difficult and expensive building sites after development costs, environmental restrictions, utility challenges, access issues, and zoning limitations were discovered.
Before buying land to build a house, here are some of the first things we recommend investigating.
1. Start With Your Total Project Budget
The first question isn't whether you can afford the land.
The real question is whether you can afford the land and everything required to build the home you want on it.
Many buyers focus heavily on the purchase price of the property while underestimating the cost of site development and construction. Depending on the location, expenses such as clearing trees, grading, installing a driveway, drilling a well, constructing a septic system, extending utilities, and paying jurisdictional fees can add tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars before construction of the home begins.
A lot that stretches your budget may leave less money available for site improvements and the home itself, forcing difficult compromises later in the project.
Sometimes a premium property is worth the extra investment. A view lot, waterfront property, or a truly unique piece of land may justify allocating more of your budget toward the property and less toward the structure. In other cases, purchasing a less expensive lot can result in a significantly better overall project.
Every situation is different, but it's important to evaluate the cost of the entire project, not just the purchase price of the land.
Ask yourself:
What is my total project budget?
How much of that budget can reasonably be allocated to the land?
Will this property require a well or septic system?
Are utilities already available, or will they need to be extended?
Will significant grading, clearing, or retaining walls be required?
Are there jurisdictional fees that will impact my budget?
2. Determine Which Jurisdiction Controls the Property
One of the first things we do when evaluating land is determine which local jurisdiction governs the property.
This process is often more involved than people expect.
The first step is typically identifying which county the property is located in. A simple internet search for what county the address’s city resides in will usually answer that question. Once you've identified the county, locate the property using the county's GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping website.
It's important to verify that the property can actually be found on the county GIS map you're using. In some areas near county boundaries, a property's mailing address may reference a city located in a neighboring county. This occurs because mailing addresses are based on the serving post office, not necessarily the local government that regulates the property.
Once you've located the parcel, determine whether it is:
Within an incorporated city
In unincorporated county jurisdiction
Within an Urban Growth Area (UGA)
This distinction is important because each area may be regulated differently.
For example, a property with a Lacey mailing address may actually fall into several different jurisdictions. It could be located within the City of Lacey, within unincorporated Thurston County, or within the Lacey Urban Growth Area. While properties within the Urban Growth Area are generally regulated by Thurston County today, they are planned for eventual annexation into the city and often have different zoning and development regulations than other county properties.
Urban Growth Areas can also affect utility planning, density allowances, annexation potential, and long-term development opportunities, making them an important consideration when evaluating land.
Once you've identified the governing jurisdiction, you can begin reviewing the codes and regulations that apply to the property.
3. Review the Property Using GIS Mapping
Most counties now provide GIS mapping tools that allow the public to view extensive information about a property before ever contacting the local planning department.
We typically begin by locating the parcel on the county GIS website and reviewing the available map layers.
These tools often provide information about:
Property boundaries
Zoning
Critical areas
Flood zones
Wetlands
Streams
Hydric soils
Landslide hazards
Utility information
Assessor records
This step alone can reveal major constraints that may affect your building plans.
However, GIS data should be viewed as a screening tool, not a final determination. It is extremely useful for identifying potential concerns, but the information shown may not always be perfectly accurate or up to date.
4. Verify Property Boundaries
County GIS maps are useful research tools, but they should not be treated as a property survey.
Many first-time land buyers assume the property boundaries displayed on a GIS website are highly accurate. While they are often reasonably close, they may not precisely reflect the property's legal boundaries and should never be relied upon for locating structures, fences, driveways, easements, or setback lines.
Whenever possible, we recommend:
Looking for existing survey monuments and property corners in the field
Obtaining copies of prior surveys
Reviewing recorded boundary line adjustments
Verifying access easements and rights-of-way
Consulting a professional surveyor when boundary locations are critical
If no survey is available and there are questions regarding property boundaries, access, encroachments, or future development plans, investing in a survey may save significant time and expense later.
5. Verify Legal Access and Easements
A parcel can be physically accessible and still have legal access issues.
Before purchasing property, verify how the parcel is legally accessed and whether any easements affect your plans.
Common items to investigate include:
Road frontage
Private access easements
Shared driveways
Utility easements
Ingress and egress rights
Reciprocal access agreements
Easements can affect where structures may be built and who has rights to use portions of the property. Utility easements, access easements, and other recorded restrictions may limit where improvements can be placed.
In occasional cases, a parcel may appear buildable but lack adequate legal access for permitting purposes. Identifying these issues before purchase can prevent significant complications later.
Existing surveys, easements, and other recorded documents can often be found through the county recording department (typically part of the auditor's office). However, these documents are not always indexed as clearly as one might hope.
While some records can be located directly using the parcel number, others may only be discoverable through broader searches by township, range, and section (these can be found on legal descriptions of the property, often attached to deeds which can be found by searching for the parcel number in the recording departments index). Depending on the age of the property and the quality of local recordkeeping, finding all relevant documents may require some persistence.
Buyers should also remember that the title report prepared during the purchase process will typically identify recorded easements, restrictions, and other matters affecting the property. However, many of these records can be researched independently before entering into a purchase agreement, allowing potential concerns to be identified much earlier in the process.
6. Verify the Zoning
The zoning designation is one of the most important pieces of information you'll find during your research.
Zoning regulations determine what activities and structures are allowed on a property, including:
Whether a residence can be built
Whether an ADU is permitted
Minimum lot sizes
Setback requirements
Maximum lot coverage
Building height limits
Short-term rental restrictions
Future subdivision potential
For example, you may be purchasing property with the intention of building a home and a detached ADU. The zoning code will tell you whether an ADU is permitted and what standards it must meet. Likewise, if you hope to use the ADU as a short-term rental, you'll want to verify whether that use is allowed before purchasing the property.
After identifying the zoning designation, find the applicable section of the municipal code and review the regulations that apply to that zone.
7. Look for Critical Areas and Environmental Constraints
Some of the most costly surprises involve environmental restrictions.
A property may appear ideal until you discover that a wetland, stream buffer, steep slope, flood hazard, or wildlife protection area limits where construction can occur.
In some cases, these features simply influence site design. In others, they can significantly reduce the buildable area of the property.
When evaluating a lot, we always look for:
Wetlands
Streams
Shoreline restrictions
Flood zones
Steep slopes
Landslide hazard areas
Critical wildlife habitat
Hydric soils
It is important to remember that GIS layers are often intended to identify potential critical areas and may cast a broader net than what is ultimately regulated. As a result, mapped wetlands, hydric soils, streams, or other critical areas do not necessarily mean those features will be confirmed during the permitting process.
However, if a potential critical area is identified on the jurisdiction's mapping, it will usually need to be addressed in some way during the permitting process. Depending on the circumstances, the city or county may be willing to review the site and determine that no regulated critical area exists. In other cases, a qualified environmental consultant may need to prepare reports, perform field investigations, or delineate wetlands to demonstrate whether a regulated critical area is present. These studies can add both time and cost to a project, making it important to identify potential issues early.
8. Understand Utility Availability and Site Development Costs
One of the biggest mistakes land buyers make is assuming that all vacant lots cost roughly the same amount to develop.
In reality, development costs can vary dramatically from one property to another.
Questions to investigate include:
Is electrical power available at the property?
How far is the nearest connection point?
Will the property require a well?
Will it require a septic system?
Is public water or sewer available?
What internet options serve the area?
Will substantial clearing or grading be required?
Are retaining walls likely to be necessary?
Is driveway access already established?
A seemingly inexpensive lot can quickly become one of the most expensive options if extensive utility work or site development is required.
Conversely, a more expensive lot with utilities readily available may ultimately be the more economical choice.
Septic Systems
The cost of a septic system can vary dramatically depending on site conditions.
Factors such as soil type, groundwater conditions, topography, and available drainfield area all influence what type of septic system will ultimately be required. A conventional gravity system may cost significantly less than a pressure distribution, mound, or other engineered system.
Available soil maps, GIS tools, and site topography can often provide clues about what type of system may be required. However, the final determination is typically made by a qualified septic designer following site evaluation and testing.
Wells
Similarly, the cost of a well can vary substantially from one property to another.
One of the largest factors is depth. In some areas, water may be encountered at relatively shallow depths, while nearby properties may require wells hundreds of feet deeper.
When evaluating a property, we often review nearby well logs through the Washington Department of Ecology to establish a reasonable expectation for depth and cost. However, well depth can vary even between neighboring properties, and the final outcome depends on the conditions encountered by the well driller at the specific drilling location.
9. Understand Impact Fees and Other Jurisdictional Costs
Many buyers assume that once they purchase a lot, they only need to budget for construction costs and permit fees.
In some jurisdictions, additional impact fees are required before a building permit can be issued. These fees help fund public infrastructure such as schools, parks, and transportation systems that will serve the future home.
The amount can vary dramatically depending on the jurisdiction.
Some jurisdictions have no impact fees at all, while others may require tens of thousands of dollars in additional costs. In our area, we've seen impact fees exceed $15,000 for a single-family residence in some jurisdictions, while other jurisdictions may charge little or nothing.
Because these fees vary so widely, they should be investigated early and incorporated into the overall project budget.
10. Talk to the Planning Department Before You Buy
Even after reviewing maps and regulations, there is tremendous value in speaking directly with the local jurisdiction before closing on a property.
Most planning departments are willing to answer general questions and point you toward code sections that may affect your project.
Bring:
The parcel number
Property address
GIS printouts
Site photos
A brief description of your plans
If your goal is to build a home with an ADU, subdivide in the future, operate a short-term rental, or pursue something beyond a standard residence, planning staff can often identify potential concerns before they become expensive problems.
A short meeting or phone call can often uncover information that would otherwise take hours of independent research.
11. Build Your Team Early
You don't have to navigate these questions alone.
A qualified designer, builder, surveyor, engineer, or land-use professional can often identify opportunities and challenges that aren't obvious to someone evaluating land for the first time.
In many cases, spending a few hours evaluating a property before purchase can save months of frustration and thousands of dollars later.
If you've selected us as your designer or builder, evaluating potential building sites is one of the ways we can help reduce uncertainty before you make a purchase and ensure the property aligns with your goals, budget, and vision for the future. We can also help you develop preliminary budget expectations for site development and construction, even before detailed plans have been created. If you're considering a property and would like a second opinion, don't hesitate to reach out.
Final Thoughts
The best building lots aren't always the cheapest, the largest, or even the most beautiful. The best lot is the one that supports your goals while fitting comfortably within your overall project budget.
Before purchasing land, take the time to understand the regulations, constraints, development requirements, and hidden costs that may affect the property. A little research up front can help ensure that your dream homesite doesn't become an expensive surprise.
And remember: a property that looks perfect online may look very different after reviewing surveys, easements, zoning regulations, access rights, environmental constraints, utility availability, and development costs. Due diligence performed before purchase is almost always cheaper than discovering a problem after closing.
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