The dream of building your own custom home appeals to just about everyone, with good reason, who wouldn't want a stunning home that perfectly fits all of your needs and style?! Unfortunately I have had a lot of family, friends and clients who have started on this journey only to abandon ship mid-way through the journey because of one reason or another. The most common pitfall I have seen is the cost. A small example of this can be found within financing the purchase, because the majority of lenders require a minimum of 20% down when using a loan. For the uninitiated, the cost of building doesn't seem too daunting, after all, the only two costs are purchasing the land, and the cost of construction, right? Wrong, well kinda. In my experience, most people don't consider permit fees and utility hookups when hashing out the rough math for the project. For example, I've had clients in the past who paid around $18,000 just to hook up PG&E on the property, so you can imagine the total cost once you include water and sewer, or septic etc. Another major hurdle is the plot of land itself: Is there wetlands that require extra setbacks? Does a road need to be put in? Does the new road require culverts for draining? Has the building sight been graded? Does the development of the raw land require new sidewalks, streetlights and fire hydrants? As you can imagine, these 'hidden' costs can really add up and turn what you thought was a $600,000 project, into a $850,000 ordeal. Luckily, there are a few different tools that agents can use to find out if the land being developed requires some of these additional developments. Yet another reason to make sure the agent you're working with has experience and resources for the dream your trying to achieve! | 
