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Once you have decided you want to build your own house get as large a piece of land as you can afford.

If you can't pay all cash, you can usually work out a deal where you pay for the lot in monthly installments, or get a mortgage for it.

It is usually better to wait until the lot is paid for before starting to build the house. As soon as you get the lot, you can begin to plan the house as well as the way you are going to plant and landscape the lot. If you want an orchard or shade trees, you can get the planting started, even if you can't build for a few years yet.

Get in mind the location of the house on the lot, and where you will want the things to be planted so they will not interfere with the building work. It is very difficult to preserve shrubs and small trees if they are in the area immediately adjacent to the house.

If the lot is not level, the grading must be completed before you plant anything. Look ahead instead of doing your work twice. Be sure you are doing everything according to a master plan, so that when you get through you will have a place that looks as if someone had planned it instead of just letting it grow at odd times.

Since many cities are expanding rapidly, when you look for a lot don't look too close in. Perhaps better and larger lots are available at less cost just a little farther from the center of town.

Try to imagine what the area will look like in two or three years.

We have discussed mostly the things you want in and around your new building site. What about those you would rather not have? Noisy highways too close to your house can be a nuisance when you are trying to sleep on a restless night.

Railroad switching yards or the main lines of busy railroads can be equally distracting. Factories that give off unpleasant odors or have noisy machinery are not the best neighbors. You might also get tired of a view that overlooks dreary prospects, gas plants, oil refineries, or factories belching smoke. Keep your house a safe distance from these things.

The Soil and Land Structure

It would also be wise to check into the quality of the soil to make sure it will raise shrubs, a good lawn, and also a garden if you wish to raise one. Of course, you can have soil hauled in, but this cost must be added to the cost of the lot.

Sometimes the substructure is such that it is difficult to get a good foundation for your house. Beware of a lot that has been filled to a depth of several feet within the last twenty years.

Your foundation must extend below the fill to make it satisfactory.

Be sure that you have the right lot, because if you build on someone else's lot, you have built the house for him. The house belongs to the one who owns the lot. In many foreign countries this is not so; people lease the land and build their houses on it, and are free to move them if they wish, but in America the house and the land belong together.

When you purchase a house or land always use a mortgage calculator to help you save money over the months and years.