All of this past week’s discussion about lot selection was much to consider, but remember the three most important things about real estate: location-location-location. When Amaris Company assist’s a client with the purchase of a lot, we recommend the lot be purchased with a blanket contingency that allows the buyer to exit the purchase agreement, that way if the lot does ultimately fit the needs of the buyer a full refund of earnest money can be obtained. When the real estate market was hot a few years back, a contingency of this type might not have been possible. In the current market conditions, securing a lot with a contingency of this type is completely doable.

Once your lot is secured, the builder should first look at a variety of factors to determine the maximum allowable building footprint for the lot you have chosen. Things like lot set-backs required by zoning, wetland buffers, trees locations and a number of contributing factors will determine the building footprint. In suburban type subdivisions the building footprint may have already been determined by the land developer and City and is already preset. In any event, prior to beginning the actual designing of the home, the building footprint must be determined. The red box in the sketch to the left below represents the maximum allowable footprint on a recent project once we allowed for the wetland buffer (e.g. solid red shape), rear yard setbacks, front yard setbacks and side yard setbacks. Further in the process, as the design progresses the layout is verified by a surveyor (shown on right).

Infrastructure:
“Green” building encourages building in developments that are served or near existing infrastructure (water and sewer). Not only does it make sense, the costs of a well and septic system adds significantly to the building budget. If water and sewer are not nearby a lot may not be feasible to be built on.

Proximity to local services is another consideration in selecting a lot for a “green” building project. There are points to be gained for selecting a lot with immediate access (1/4 to ½ mile) to community resources such as schools, churches, banks, post office, supermarket, transit and open space.

So far I bet this “green” building process might not be as strange as you thought. In fact, the lot selection things just plain makes sense.

Preferred Locations:
Green building programs highly encourage the building of homes near or within existing communities. Points are earned for building on a previously developed lot, an infill lot or a lot in a new development where the development is immediately adjacent to previous developments. The point of this is to encourage the reduction of urban sprawl. “Close in” developments reduce the energy consumed and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions emitted from driving extra miles to and from work each day. Indiscriminate development wastes valuable farm land and open spaces. “Close in” development strives to strike a balance between development growth and protecting our natural resources. The common sense side of this is you save on your monthly gas bills, the wear and tear on your cars (and maintenance) and have less windshield time. It just plain makes sense doesn’t it?

Orientation:
Ideally you would like the east-west axis of the house within 15 degrees of due east-west. The best situation is to have the rear of the house facing south so you can take maximum advantage of natural lighting and can add solar equipment to the rear roof, which will be totally hidden from the street side. All Amaris built homes come “solar ready” for both solar voltaic and solar thermal systems. This is a fairly inexpensive event during initial construction that saves a major headache and future cost in the event you ever install solar down the road. In addition, a home properly designed on a south-facing lot can achieve passive solar heating in winter, but be shaded in the summer.

Most development designers do not give much thought to home orientation because developers are focused on maximizing the number of lots in the development. Designers are often rewarded by maximizing the number of lots in a new development. Oddly enough, south-facing lots may not always be at a “premium” because buyers have other priorities such as the lot size, trees, walk out lot, cul-de-sac, etc. Speaking about trees, a heavily wooded lot may not be the best option for several reasons.

The goal of a south-facing lot is to maximize natural light. If the southern tree canopy blocks winter sun, it defeats the purpose. Natural light is often overlooked by the vast majority of builders. In my view, natural light adds a level of comfort that is hard to fully appreciate until you have lived it. I feel less tired, have more energy, my electricity bills are lower and I think it even gives me a better attitude. In fact, some research reports that the lack of vitamin D may actually contribute to chronic fatigue and depression. Conversely, a dark and dingy home will add to electricity bills and may even affect your general well-being.

A heavily wooded lot can also cause premature failure of roof shingles; water problems if leaves are not cleaned from gutters; affect the foundation, sewer or drain tile systems with root systems; and possibly become a safety hazard from high wind or lightning events. Trees in close proximity to a home will contribute to bug infestations too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love trees but they need to be carefully planned. In summary, the south-facing feature of a lot is hugely important. Designing the home so that the majority of the living spaces receive natural light from southern exposure will make a huge impact on the comfort of the home, save you on monthly electricity and energy costs and reduce your maintenance costs.

When building a “green” home there are several considerations for selecting your lot. In order for the project to receive project certification, a number of prerequisites must be met. For LEED certification, the following are site selection prerequisites:

Prerequisites:
1) Lot cannot be land within 100 feet of a wetland, or
2) be at or below 100-year flood plain, or
3) be identified as habitat for endangered species, or
4) be prior park land, or
5) be land that has prime soils or soils of state significance

State and local regulations would prevent most of these things too. Practically speaking, you would not want to build in a wetland or in a 100-year flood plain. Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words. …

• What are the average real estate values for the sub-division (defined by county assessor’s office) and how does that fit in with your budget?
• What are projected local real estate taxes going to be for the value of the home you plan on building?
• Are there tax assessments pending for improvements?
• Is there an association for maintenance of common areas?
• Are real estate prices stable in the neighborhood? Are there a number of For Sale signs?
• Are there encroachments from neighbors that may be a serious problem?
• What will it cost to make the lot ready for building? Extraordinary costs such as extending services and/or well and septic systems, soil corrections, importing/exporting soils are just a few of the items that can add significantly to the cost of a lot.
• Things like building flood plains, setbacks, zoning limitations, soil conditions, wetlands, endangered species, Indian mounds and road access issues can cause a seemingly beautiful lot to be sub-standard or completely unbuildable.

It is best to work with a builder before you purchase a lot. It is always best to purchase a lot with a due diligence contingency that gives the builder and yourself the time to sort out these and other issues. An experienced builder will know what to look for and can help qualify the lot.

What did I miss?

Very early in the process it is important to locate and select a lot. A lot is a very important part of the building process. You really cannot effectively start the home design process until a lot has been selected. The lot dictates the orientation of the home, window placement, floor plan and limits the style of home based on whether the lot is flat or sloped to the front or back.

Before we evaluate the “green” considerations for a lot, let’s think about the non-green attributes that are very important. Often, buyers fall in love with a particular lot but fail to consider all of the important attributes. Things such as:

• Is the lot in a quality neighborhood?
• Is the neighborhood filled with growing families, mature families or seniors? What are you looking for?
• Does the neighborhood have access to parks, trail systems and other amenities nearby?
• Is the noise from nearby trains, runways, road traffic, rifle ranges, commercial and retail operations acceptable?
• Do nearby commercial or retail operations emit noxious smells?
• What is the proximity to high power lines?
• What is the concentration of multi-family units nearby?
• Is the neighborhood stable? Check with police.
• Availability of quality schools, shopping, churches, recreation, services (e.g. banks, dry cleaning, etc) and freeways
• Distance and time it takes to get to work?
• Is family nearby?


More tomorrow.