What Are My Options for Buying Vacant Land and Building a Home?

Many people come to our neck of the woods with visions of their perfect home, nestled into stunning landscapes.  Sometimes, their dreams and reality match.  Sometimes though, people can't find a home with the right layout, the right size or the right age for their needs.  

You may not find the home of your dreams in the traditional way. That's ok; you can build it! Custom built homes on vacant land give you the opportunity to create your living space brick by brick. What's more, you may actually save money. Let's take a look at some of your options.

Building From Scratch on Vacant Land

Buying land and building a house from scratch is one of the most exciting experiences that you can undertake in the real estate market. You have full reign over the feature set of the home, you can build it with the exact materials that you want, and you can fit the home to your needs.

Building from scratch can also be less expensive than a factory built home in certain cases. With the right real estate agent helping you find and broker deals, you can profit on the buy of the land and the construction of the home as well. The process is detailed; however, if you are looking for customization, this is the way to go.  

With all vacant land purchases where you intend to build, you have to always be sure that electricity and internet - if you want it - can be provided to the lot.  Also, you need to think about where your water will come from and the anticipated changes in property tax after your build is complete.  Working with respected real estate professionals will enable you to ensure you don't make an investment that will not return in the future due to an amateur mistake.  Trust me, I've seen it. 

Buying a Pre-Built (or 'Pre-Fab') Home

The traditional path of buying a pre-built home is still quite popular in Canada, and if you can find a basic house frame that you can update later, then this may be the most convenient pathway for you.  Pre-fab is fast.  Building a foundation for the home is takes some time.  

Often the pre-fab companies can do 100% of the build, including foundation, for a higher price than if you were to sub-contract all of the jobs individually.  The advantage of getting the builders to take over the project is that you don't have to.  

Popular options in our area include Canada Builds, Canadian Timber, Royal Homes and Guildcrest Homes

Some pre-fab builders are getting into the Tiny House movement.  This Toronto pre-fab company  went totally viral with their tiny home.

The Factory Built Home

If you have a plot of land but you do not necessarily need a fully customized house, a factory built home is an incredible option.  They're actually becoming really popular and are shedding their boring reputation

According to the Canadian Manufactured Housing Institute, Canada has around 13,000 factory built single family homes that are built every year. The factory built home has a framework that is already put together, and once the materials get to the construction site, the home can be assembled in a matter of days!

Factory build homes can look really great.  They don't have to be cosmetically boring.  

DIY Home Kits

So these are interesting.  DIY Home Kits are unassembled homes in a box that you put together.  They've been around since the 1970s and they are the most hands-on of the options.  If you've got some pre-existing skills, these can be extremely cheap.  I like this guide from ReThink Rural

There you have it.  Doors are open for vacant land buyers and your options are more plentiful than you thought. 

Warmly, 

Sharon