Austin is a growing city with a rapidly-changing city skyline.
The self-coined "Live Music Capital of the World" is a popular place to move, boasting a 36.4 percent gain in population between 2000 and 2009 according to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Yet Texas is a large state, and the outskirts of the city and especially the area immediately around Austin boasts ample land to buy. If you plan to build in Austin, decide what type of land you want, purchase the land, hire the right professionals to assist you, and complete your project.
Instructions
1. Determine the type of lot you want. If you are prepared to lay utilities from the street to the property, you can buy a "raw" lot with utilities that run to the street. Laying utilities, without complications, can run tens of thousands of dollars, but you might also find larger tracts of land this way. Another option is to purchase a lot in a neighborhood that has already been subdivided by a developer. Developers have often chosen their own builders up front, however, and build in planned communities with homeowners associations and associated restrictions and regulations.
2. Get pre-approved for a mortgage for the lot and the property you plan to build if you do not have cash for the property. Connect with a bank you already use to get competitive rates.
3. Interview Austin real estate agents. If you've decided to buy a raw lot, be sure you are working with an agent who has ample experience with land purchases. When you build on land, you have to consider land characteristics, local zoning and ordinances, and permitting processes (not to mention state restrictions and regulations). The agent you choose should be able to explain all of these in the specific part of Austin you plan to build.
4. Contact Austin architects, if necessary, and builders (unless you plan to be your own architect or builder). The builder and architect you select must be even more knowledgeable about the laws and processes, because these professionals will be responsible to adhere to them.
5. Submit an offer on the desired property once you locate it. See Resources for ways to find property in Austin.
6. Close on the property contract and begin building once the lot has closed.
Tags: plan build, restrictions regulations
