There is a great range of construction types, today more than ever.
However; there are three to four main types.
Wood is easy to acquire when moving to the wild. All you need is to cut some trees and some tools to start building. It needs very little to non support to start building. Constructions of wood can be even moved from one place to another.
It's easy to isolate for cold climates. Actually wood it's already an isolator.
Wood is excellent for module homes, log building, cabins.
One single man can set up an entire home in a very decent amount of time.
In a concrete home, you can poor water all you want, wash your walls and floor as if there is no tomorrow. You can walk over your roof and even prepare parties with family and friends. A concrete home doesn't get burned. It's hard to destroy.
Concrete is excellent for durability, your construction doesn't get destroyed because of fires. It can save your life. It's very good for bad weather; except for snow. It's bad for isolation. However; this can be worked around.
To build with concrete is heavy work. Concrete creates muscles very quickly on its workers. One single man very unlikely will be able to build an entire home on his own; only because the job is hard.
The materials are rarely found in site. They can actually be very expensive. Also to carry the materials is extremely expensive due to transportation.
Still is even much more expensive than concrete. No wonder it's reserved for bridges and monuments. However; container homes can be counted as part of this group.
Another traditional one not included in the main categories is Adobe.
Adobe is basically mod. To say you are going to build with mod sounds like a too poor form of construction. However; it has kept the attention in the last years due to Climate Change.
All you need to build is soil, straws and water. Actually, this is not really true.
Adobe is made out of soil, straws and water. But that type of construction is extremely weak All it takes to destroy it is rain.
Under such conditions it's impossible to build. But the true is that traditional Adobe isn't just mod and straws. It also requires layers of plaster. This is why you see so many white homes among indigenous people. This is actually a special type of plaster. And the houses are pretty decent.
The results are very similar to concrete. Adobe homes can be extremely beautiful, affordable and the most important; climate friendly.
The first to consider is purpose.
Don't worry; your home zone might have already determine that for you. Check with your township what can you do at your site before having big plans. If you don't have a zone assigned; you might have to choose one zone type anyway before building. And think well before doing it. Once you have a zone; it's very difficult to change it if even possible.
Your zone can be for private homes, multiple family homes, agriculture, business, homestead.
If you have an HOA in place; check with them first.
Create a layout or map with the natural resources and inclinations of the site.
Include:
How far and high it's to main roads, rivers or dregs, cardinal points.
This information is important to place buildings and their orientation as well as to plan for pumps, water acquisition, and roads. The high of the terrain is good to plan the leveling for each building and whether you need hills or climbers.
If there are dregs or ponds; it's easier to have an idea of how deep your well might have to be. Even though deep wells give you more water; you do not want to make your hole too deep into the soil. You do not want your water to come from an aquaphor (deep waters). The reason is because you do not want to dry out your land permanently.
The aquaphor is to feed it; not to dry it up. It should be used only in extreme cases with the permission of your town.
The map must follow a scale system. It should be as accurate as possible.
You might want to take a look at the maps already available for your land if any. If you have the money; go to the professionals. It can pay off later on. If not; do your best with what you have.
You will need to measure the leveling of your entire area in order to create an accurate map. Once you have a decent map of the terrain; you will need to make a map of individual constructs including plumbing and electricity. This should include internal roads, reference to the main outside road and easements related the property.
Once you have all the individual maps, recreate your map positioning your new construction with the exact location and submit it for approval.
Secure the money or the loan to start your construction.
If you are taking a construction loan. There are different types of construction loans. One type is agriculture granted by the SDA only for agriculture purposes, or for rural areas. They could also grant a loan to first time owners.
However; must loans are regular loans where the grantee(you) will have to get a second loan for a mortgage once the construction is done.
Unless you have no choice, hire a contractor or builder. The builder could take care of the permits and the approval and creation of maps and diagrams as well as the purchase of materials.
Get the permits. Keep the permit or permits present at the site in case of inspectors. Do not start the process if you don't have the money.
There are many forms of purchasing land.
For instance, I purchased my land from an option online. The good thing was that there were not too many participants. I won several bets.
Nevertheless; even thought what you see might not be what you get, it's an interesting experience to purchase any land for the first time.
The more you know and the more money you have, gives you the luxury of being picky. Being picky is a wonderful attitude when you are purchasing land. Try not to play "desperado" when purchasing land. Be patient and focus.
The most common way to buy property is by visiting a real state office or by searching on line.
However; there are also options that offer land. The best options for land are those organized by the local township where you want to purchase.
The most common one is by visiting the real state office or searching on line and calling the real state agent responsible for selling land. They are the ones responsible to distribute land that has been tax delinquent, confiscated or released by the government. They keep all the records and you know for sure, all transactions are by the rules.
There are also websites dedicated to sell land. They can direct you to nice pieces of land all over the country. They also often inform you of all the ups and down of purchasing land and what kind of land is better for you. They might or might not have very good offers and the best value for your money.
In rural areas, you might reach to see sell signs. Some people go to the extreme of finding abandoned areas and searching for the owners, others do their research of tax delinquent properties in order to find desperate sellers.
Another way to find properties is by purchasing wholesale. This is mainly for those who are professional investors or professional real state agents. They save mega money; but they also have to pay large amounts of cash for the entire package. It's one of the fast ways to wealth.
Like everything; it all depends.
When you purchase bare land; the most important things are access, access to the land, access to utilities, access to roads, access to services, in few words, access to civilization.
Easements or legal entrance to your properties are vital; especially on places where everyone loves to protect their properties with firearms against intruders. Without legal access to your property and the roads leading to your property; you could be taken as a trespasser in the way to your newly acquired piece of land.
Roads also need to be public or if they are private you might need a permit to access those roads.
City owned utilities could not be available. If they are not; you must build your own. Your necessary utilities are basically, water, electricity, garbage disposal, internet service, and waste water drainage. If you are responsible to build your own road; you will have to clear, flatten the area and its maintaining it, including the water retainers.
Another thing to consider is the quality of the soil even if you are not into agriculture. To build anything, you need to make sure it's going to be supported by the terrain underneath.
Another town requirement is a proper survey of the land; especially if the land you purchased has been previously subdivided without an individual survey. This is important for tax purpose and for claims over the property. However; if your land is not surveyed; nobody can't take it away from you to build anything.
While remote places grant you with lots of freedom and cheap land, places closed to the city grant you with services, jobs, neighbors, fun things to do, and many regulations.
Regulations could limit your zoning, the type of home you can build, the size, even the material to use to build, the size of the windows, etc. Yet, these regulations will make you safer, prohibit others to invade your privacy, your peace and your rights.
H.O.A. are another very important detail to look at when you purchase a property. H.O.A. tend to have too much power over the property to the point of being able to take you off from your own property if you miss the payments. However; they can also be beneficial, especially when they only exist for the purpose of developing roads and bringing up utilities. That type of HOA can save you thousands and make life much easier when you purchase land in remote areas.
H.O.A in general tend to make your neighborhood safe, stop home prices and taxes from increasing with dangerous numbers. They also keep the peace of mind of their members, healthy families and neighborhoods.
There are many forms of paying for your land.
It depends on how much you can afford. One way to pay is cash. It might give you the chance to save some dollars and some hassle with banks and financing issues.
However; to have cash is usually not a common thing among most of us. Financing through bank or through the seller are other forms of purchasing. Probably the most common forms of purchasing.
Another way of purchasing is through contracts. You promise to purchase within certain amount of time and your contract form functions as a temporary title. It's like lay away. Once you finish your payments; you receive your real title.
The negative side of this one, is that you have nothing but a title, until you pay over the 40%, you can't sale your rights or anything. If you can't pay, you loose.
If you had paid over 40%, you can sale to pay back and to recover your money.
You also could have the option to turn your contract into a mortgage or to sale your contract to a bank.
Another option could be to add amendments to your contract. But, the other party has to agree to changes.