So, you want to build a custom home on your own acreage. Building on acreage is not for the faint of heart or unprepared. I am betting you have the heart for it, and honestly, I cannot help much in that area. Still, I can help you be prepared.

Buyers build homes on acreage for dozens of reasons. For example, they may want:

• To raise chickens.
• To grow tomatoes, corn, potatoes, watermelons, etc.
• To have a barn for horse, cows, sheep, etc.
• To enjoy the privacy offered by fences and space.
• To build a special compound or insula for their family.
• To build an architecturally distinctive home not allowed in a large community.
• To own a home outside of a homeowner association’s rules and regulations.

Great, so what do you do next?

• Plan and pray. Meet with your family and discuss the goals for your new property. A horse owner’s goals are different from a family aspiring to grow hemp. Lay out your requirements. Do you need five acres, or fifty? Don’t rush your decisions.
• Find the areas where people with similar goals have purchased property. Drive the area, eat at restaurants with the locals and ask questions.
• Consider the location negatives. These might include longer commutes, less shopping option, fewer restaurants and no consistency of building quality.
• Consider the lack of restriction. If you buy in an unrestricted community, you may build your dream home next to someone who wants to build the cheapest home possible.
• Once you have considered the positives and the negatives, vote as a family to move forward.
• Set your budget for the lot and the total project.
• Possibly meet with a builder who specializes in this area.
• Employ a local realtor to help you find a lot (unless you already own one).

You have several decisions to make if you own or purchase a lot. You can act as a general contractor for the entire project. Some decisions here include shaping the land, securing utility and water services and getting necessary approvals for your building plans. Other decisions, if you act as your own general contractor, involve overseeing the construction and permitting. If you are your own contractor, you must arrange and pay for the project.

Or, you could choose to work with a company that does these things for you.

I highly recommend the second option. There are several builders, including David Weekley, Coventry, and Partners in Building that have build-on-your-own-lot divisions. The company that I am most familiar with is Tilson Homes. They have helped Texans build on their own lot for over 90 years.

“If you’re tired of being 10 feet from your neighbor, tired of someone telling you what color your front door can be, tired of someone telling you to get your trash can off the road, or tired of the neighbor kids coming home from college and playing basketball outside your bedroom window until 2 a.m.—then building on your land is for you,” Eric Alrid of Tilson Home said. “If you want to live out that dream of serenity and independence that all Texans have bred into us, it can be done and it’s easier than you might think.”

I hope this article helps you set direction for your dream compound. Feel free to contact our team for help find the perfect lot to make your dream come true.

Timothy Sojka is the broker of the See TIM Sell Team at Keller Williams. His team has sold over 2,000 homes. Tim is also the author of the Amazon #1 political thrillers Payback Jack and Politikill.v