Choosing a location for the construction of your new home is a very important step. Your decision to build your home on a specific location will affect your future home life, the kind of changes you can make to your home someday, and its future resale value should you want to sell it. Here are a few things to ask yourself when choosing the location of your new home:

• Would your building plan go along well with the houses in your neighborhood? Take a look at the neighborhood where you want to build your home. Would the value of your home be consistent with the general value of the homes around it? Are there agreements that you need to follow in terms of what color you can paint your house with, or how high your house can be?
• Are there good schools in the district where you plan to build your house? Aside from being good for your own children if you have any, this would also raise the resale value of your house.
• Are there convenience stores, hospitals, restaurants, and other commercial establishments near the location? It is good if these establishments are within a few minutes drive from the location you are eyeing to make sure that buying things and eating out would be more convenient. Should there be an emergency, it is also good to know that there is a nearby hospital you can drive to. It may not be advisable to be choose a place near business establishments either, because this may affect the noise that you will have to put up with at home.
• How is the crime rate in the neighborhood? You would definitely want to live in a good neighborhood where crime rates are kept at a low level. How efficient is the area’s police and firefighting system? Building in a bad neighborhood lowers the resale value of your property.
• What direction should your house be facing in the area you picked? The direction of your house will make energy consumption more efficient in the long run. Before you start building, you need to take into consideration what part of the house faces north because this will contribute a lot to the climate inside your home.
• What kind of taxes are you looking at? Check whether the taxes you’ll need to pay in the area you choose will be something reasonable for you.
• What kind of terrain are you going to build on? Check whether the location you are eyeing is on a flood zone or not. The higher the terrain, the better it is for some people because of the view you get, and better drainage. Checking the kind of foliage inside and in surrounding areas of the property is also a good idea because this will add to the natural beauty of your new home’s environment.

Checking the location of the lot you want to build on is not just checking the address to make sure you’re building on a prime location. There are more things to consider, and these are the things that will make or break your new home. Take the time to sit down and check the suggestions above to make sure that the location of your home is good for you and your family.

If you are considering a construction loan and have purchased your land already, you may benefit from the equity accumulated over time. Most lenders will use the sales price if the transaction took place in two years or less to calculate equity. If the lender uses the purchase price your equity is calculated only by the difference between the payoff of the land vs. the purchase price. If you purchased your land 2 years ago or more lenders will automatically default to the market value listed on the appraisal.
If your land is in an area where price appreciation has been on a tear, you can request a land appraisal of the property to be included in the “subject to” appraisal of your new construction. This will increase the cost of the appraisal because the appraiser must obtain at least 3 comparable pieces of land, in addition to the standard 3 comparable pieces of land needed to establish the after completion value of your home.