Admit it. You cannot help but feel a tinge of jealousy whenever you visit a friend who owns their home. You cannot help but marvel at their lovely house, their sizable compound, and the privacy that comes with it. You wish that you can follow in their footsteps and fire your landlord.
Well, if you were to purchase land here in Townsville, you would be well on your way to joining the elite club of homeowners. However, before you can enjoy the fruits your labour, you need to get a few factors right when buying the land.
Buying the wrong lot
Rectangular, square, corner, flat, steep, or sloped, land blocks come in a dizzying variety of shapes and size. Each of these options presents you with a unique challenge when putting your house. The orientation of lot affects your ability to build your dream house.
The ideal block should be flat, rectangular, and with a full street frontage and access to all services from water and electricity to home internet. Such a lot gives you plenty of options when putting up the house. It also lowers the cost of site preparation, especially when it has stable soil and is devoid of rocks.
A wooded, rocky, steep, or timbered block will tuck on tens of thousands of dollars in site preparation costs to your budget. You will have to hire a specialist to get the site ready before you can build the foundation. Given the crucial role the foundation plays in securing a house, you cannot afford to cut corners.
Ignoring the Home Owners Association
One of the things that drive many people to buy or build homes is the autonomy that comes with it. Most people get to achieve this goal, but some are not so lucky as they run into HOAs from hell. Such associations have some draconian laws in place that can prove to be a thorn in your flesh.
While most Home Owners Associations are fair and helpful, some tend to go on overdrive. They pass some oppressive laws that often leave the residents seeking redress in the courtroom. If you can help it, it is wise to avoid buying land in an area with such an association.
Some overzealous HOAs pass some unreasonable laws capable of turning your life into a complete nightmare. For instance, they can dictate the type of grass you can have on your lawn and how often you should mow the lawn or face a fine.
Failing to follow these directives, even when they are wrong or misinformed, can see you slapped with hefty fines. Checking into the history of the home association before buying a lot can save you lots of headaches later.
Buying a vacant lot is the first step towards realising the dream of owning a home. It affords you the chance to build a custom home from the ground up. Since lots come in many shapes and size, you would need to tread carefully and pick one that won’t cost you a fortune in site preparation costs.
It would be wise to avoid areas with an overzealous HOA as they suck the joy out of the homeowning experience.
