A lot of the people who call us already own land, or are about to. Wooded acreage off US-59 near Porter, a tract outside Splendora, a few acres toward Dayton on the Liberty County side. Building on your own land is one of the best ways to end up with the home you actually want, and owning the lot usually counts toward your down payment on the construction loan. It also has a few traps. Here is what we check on every county lot before we talk about a floor plan.
1. Access and setbacks
Is there legal road frontage, or an easement across someone else's land? How far will the driveway run? Setbacks from the property lines and any easements decide where the house can sit, and a long driveway is a real cost.
2. Utilities
This is the big one on county land. If the lot is not inside a MUD district, you are looking at a septic system and either a well or a rural water supplier. Septic needs the right soil and enough room for the drain field, with setbacks from the house, the well and the property lines. Electric service that has to run a long way from the road is another line item. Ask these questions before you close on the land, not after.
3. Drainage and floodplain
It rains hard here. Pull the FEMA floodplain map for the parcel and look at where the water goes on the lot itself. A low spot might mean fill and a built-up pad. A creek at the back might mean elevation requirements. None of it is a deal breaker, but all of it is money.
4. Soil
Houston-area clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and that movement is what cracks foundations. A soil report tells the engineer what kind of foundation the lot needs. On some tracts that is a standard post-tension slab. On others it is piers. The report costs a few hundred dollars and can change the foundation budget by a lot more than that.
5. Clearing and site prep
Pines and hardwoods are why people buy out here, and you will want to keep the good ones. Clearing the building envelope, grinding stumps, building the pad and putting in a construction entrance are all real work on a wooded lot. We walk the lot with you and flag which trees stay.
6. Who issues the permit
Outside city limits your permits come from the county, and sometimes from a MUD or a property owners association on top of that. Around Porter that can mean Montgomery County, Liberty County, the City of Roman Forest, the City of Patton Village, the Roman Forest MUD or the Riverwalk POA, depending on exactly where the lot sits. Each has its own fees, rules and inspections. We have pulled permits with all of them.
Do this before you buy
If you are still shopping, send us the listing. A quick look at access, utilities, floodplain and jurisdiction can save you from buying land that is cheap for a reason. And if you already own it, congratulations: you have done the hardest part. Here is what happens next, or send us the address and we will come walk it with you.