Design Process
Buying Land and Building a House in 7 Steps
The adventure of buying land and building a house is truly something that not everyone is willing to undertake. Whether due to lack of initiative, motivation, or simply because they have never considered it. The truth is that becoming the developer of your own home is a dream reserved for passionate individuals with the energy to undertake a project that typically takes an average of two years to come to fruition.
It is in this process that the architecture profession takes on its full meaning. Accompanying someone who wants to build the home of their life from the first site visits until the last curtains are hung is a fascinating process that in many cases establishes bonds between architect and client that last a lifetime. And it’s no wonder! Designing a home is something so personal and intimate that the architect spends hours and hours trying to understand the family’s lifestyle and how they will use their house now and in the future.
If, in addition to building a house, it must be eco-friendly, an even greater challenge is added. While today the decision to build an eco-friendly house should be part of any residential project, it is still considered an extra effort and an additional non-essential condition.
In any case, whether eco-friendly or not, the process of buying land and building a house is complex and relatively lengthy (around 2 years), and therefore today’s post aims to summarize the steps to follow, emphasizing the most relevant aspects to consider during development.
While the article title only mentions two steps—buying land and building a house—it is actually a somewhat more complex process. Below is a summary of this process, reduced to 7 steps.
Step #0: Contact with Architect
As mentioned in other posts, it is very important to contact an architect at the beginning of the process, even before starting to search for land. It is not advisable to begin the search and evaluation of land without the judgment of an expert.
Buying land involves many conditions to evaluate to ensure it is suitable for building, and while today it is possible to build almost anywhere, the construction costs of a house can vary greatly if the land is not suitable. For this reason, it is highly recommended to visit the land you are considering purchasing in the company of your architect.
Additionally, the architect can provide an initial cost orientation, both for the land and for professional fees for the architecture project and house construction. This will allow you, although based on estimates, to begin conversations with banks for mortgage evaluation, should you wish to apply for one.
Step #1: Requirements List
Once we have the architect who will guide us through the process of buying land and building a house, it is time for us to guide them in defining our needs and lifestyle.
To do this, it is highly recommended to create a requirements list in which we will note everything we think our house should include and, above all, how it should function based on our current and future lifestyle.
We must answer questions such as:
– How many bedrooms do we need? Storage space? Outdoor areas? How does the kitchen function in relation to the rest of the house—is it a place where the family cooks together and therefore where much of life takes place? Is it connected to the living area or closed off? Do we need a storage room and pantry? Laundry and drying area?
In short, what is the program for the new house?
And in the realm of eco-friendly construction, we must ask ourselves questions such as:
Do we want our house to be insulated to function without heating? Will ventilation be natural or through heat recovery? Do we want to collect rainwater? Dry toilet?
The questions are many and the possibilities unlimited. It is best to clearly state to the project team how far we want to go in terms of an efficient and self-sufficient house.
Step #2: Contact with Banks
The eternal question for most of our clients is always recurring:
Will the bank give me a mortgage to build a house? How do they know how much money to give me if I haven’t built it yet?
Let’s take it step by step. The first mortgage pre-evaluation will be done with the bank before spending a single euro, right after contacting the architect. The architect will give us an approximation of the total cost of the project and construction process, and with this we can begin mortgage evaluation conversations.
The bank should give us a maximum mortgage figure based on the forecast we have presented, distinguishing between own capital and borrowed capital.
It must always be kept in mind that the bank will never give us the total mortgage amount to build a house all at once, but will manage it throughout the entire construction process based on certifications of completed work.
For example, when we have finished the structure, the builder issues a certificate that is reviewed by the architect confirming that the structure has been completed as agreed upon in the plans, and then the bank will pay this portion to the builder.
Step #3: Buying Land
Once we know our total budget, taking into account the money we have available and the money the bank is lending us, it is time to buy land.
How do we know how much money to allocate to the land and how much to the house from this total?
The answer to this question is complex because although statistics show that the proportion between land price and house is between 30-40% of the total budget for land, this figure is very relative since land prices vary greatly depending on location, sun exposure, and ease of construction (whether they are flat, whether there is rock in the subsoil, etc.).
The personal decision of each individual and what we prioritize is also important; for example, land with views will be more expensive but not necessarily more comfortable or sunny.
Sometimes it is worth reducing the size of our house to live in a more suitable location.
In fact, for us as eco-friendly house architects, the first criterion on the land evaluation list will be sun exposure throughout the day so that we can maximize it to heat the house.
If you want to see the complete list of land selection criteria, you can read the full article I wrote about buying land a few months ago.
Today, through the internet, we can find practically all available land offerings, either through real estate agency websites with which owners have signed exclusives or through private contact websites like Idealista.
So, is it worth contacting a real estate agency or API to locate and buy land?
Well, this will depend on the time we have available. APIs or Real Estate Agents do not usually charge for the support service in searching and selecting land since they work on sales commission, which leaves us less room for negotiation with the seller. On the other hand, the API’s work will save us many hours of visits and land pre-selection and can give us access to land put up for sale exclusively before anyone else. Additionally, the API can also help us evaluate whether land is being sold at an appropriate price or above/below its value.
The recommendation would be to get 100% involved in the search and search in parallel through private owners on the internet and with the help of an API.
Furthermore, contact with an API will not only help us with the search but will also advise us regarding prices and sales conditions.
It must be kept in mind that if land is sold with an exclusivity contract, we can only buy it through the API managing the sale.
Step #4: Architecture Project
It is time to enter the studio. The project process begins with several meetings in which we gather all information related to our client’s lifestyle and needs.
Our work begins by asking questions and raising doubts:
To what extent will your house be eco-friendly? It must be kept in mind that if we invest a bit more, we can easily achieve a house that functions without heating. Are we willing to pay this initial additional cost that will be quickly amortized in the form of energy savings in the coming years? Or do we prefer a conventional house with some energy efficiency systems?
How many m2 do we need? What is our life like now and what will it be like in the future? Perhaps we now have children who in the future will want their own room or will become independent, leaving rooms vacant. How do we manage this change?
Are outdoor areas important to us? If so, do we want a pool? Landscaped area with or without maintenance? Do we want a vegetable garden?
In short, what is the program for our future house? It is necessary to define a specific list of needs and convey our ideas and lifestyle to the architect so that, based on this list and other restrictions such as urban planning regulations or site conditions, we can make an initial proposal.
From here begins a process that lasts approximately 6 months in which we hold constant meetings reviewing and defining your house in detail.
How long does a house project take?
We always tell our clients that designing the house takes an average of 6 months, in which the first 3 are spent working hand in hand with the client with constant definition meetings, changes, back and forth, etc., and the remaining 3 are dedicated to detailed definition of the house construction.
Thus, the complete process of buying land and building a house can take around 2 years, counting 6 months for searching and buying land, 6 for the project, and approximately 12 for construction.
Step #5: FINDING A BUILDER
We always say that building a house is something most of our clients will do once in their lifetime, and they usually dedicate a large part of their available savings or a mortgage they will pay over the coming years to it.
The process of buying land and building a house is a great responsibility for the architect, who acts as a companion throughout the entire process, advising and guiding the client not only in design but in all associated processes to make the project a reality, from bank contacts to permits or licenses. The architect must put their experience and, above all, their working method—acquired and improved project after project—at the client’s service.
In this sense, a key process during the project is the selection and awarding of the work to a builder.
Many people mistakenly approach the builder before the architect. The builder then usually recommends a trusted architect for the project.
In these cases, the architect can never be on the client’s side to defend their interests against the builder since their work depends on the good relationship with the builder and not with the client.
It is always important to find an architect first, and once we have the project, jointly select the best builder with the advice of a professional.
Many clients ask us if we offer a package of project and construction of their house with a trusted builder.
We, as architects, have several trusted builders with whom we have collaborated on many projects, but we never offer a project plus construction package.
And why is this?
If the architect goes hand in hand with the builder or vice versa, the client will never be certain that the architect is guaranteeing their interests. We believe that the architect must respond to and defend the client at all times, and therefore in our case, although we have several trusted builders, we always request several quotes to compare and sign a contract with deadlines and penalties with the builder to protect the client.
Additionally, to make the process as transparent as possible, we always recommend that the client include in the builder pre-selection a company or builder known or recommended by the client themselves, so that they can compare prices with the builders we know.
Once we have the pre-selection of 3 builders, we present them with the same project document that includes all the details of the construction process, construction systems, and materials so that they return it to us complete with prices for each of the processes.
This document is called “measurements,” and once each of the builders returns it complete with prices for each item, this allows us to compare and negotiate with each of them to finally choose the company that interests us most, which sometimes does not have to coincide with the most economical one. Perhaps we are interested in a particular builder because they commit to finishing the work within a certain period of time or simply because they have given us greater confidence.
Step #6: Licenses and Permits
Once we have purchased the land and have the finished project, it is time to apply for a building permit from the town hall.
In reality, this process is carried out in parallel with the builder contracting.
Building permits can take between 1 and 3 months if there are no setbacks, although in town halls of large cities this process can be delayed up to a year. It is normal to expect that the permit requires 3 months and to try to expedite the process by submitting the project in parts: a first, more simplified part that serves to initiate the permit application procedures and is called the basic project, and a second part that is the complete and detailed construction project that serves to start building a house and is called the executive project.
Step #7: Building a House
The time has finally come to build the house.
As I mentioned, this can take around a year from when we have land and construction project, but if necessary it can be expedited through the use of semi-prefabricated construction systems in the workshop.
In our case, we offer the design of our houses in conventional materials such as brick or concrete, which require more manual and slower construction processes, or building a wooden house that can be partially manufactured in the workshop with very advanced machinery while the foundations are being built on site, thus saving total construction time.
It must be kept in mind that if we are paying rent while building our new house, more months of construction also mean more months of investment in rent, so sometimes we have to weigh whether it is worth building faster even if it is more expensive to save money on rent.
As you can see, buying land and building a house is complex, and even summarized in 7 steps and trying to give you maximum information about things to consider, I have the impression of having failed to mention thousands of precautions and decisions that must be made.
Therefore, we always consider it a key factor to go hand in hand with a professional throughout the entire process, and as we mentioned at the beginning of the post, to search for and select the architect before starting the process to be advised from when we buy the land until we build the house and move in.
As always, we remind you that if you are thinking of building an eco-friendly house, you can contact us.
At our studio, we work on eco-friendly house projects, creating custom projects for all types of families and budgets.