First a little background. We are empty-nesters in our early fifties. The land we've found is 10 acres with river frontage in New Mexico. We will put a shop there for his toys and the house will need a largish sewing room for my sewing machine and long arm quilting machine (it's a 14' long frame).

I've started a list (and hopefully DH will start his this weekend!) with ideas that I want in a house. From the basic 3 bedroom / 3 bath and the basics I want in those to a little more detail like single floor, flooring, counter tops, etc. I'm thinking if we have a pretty good idea what we want and a basic (even if crude) floor plan to take to an architect it will save time and money in the end.

Is there anything we should be thinking of while we scout around for the architect and builder? Our son has homebuilder 2012 software, does anyone have any experience with this software program?

Or is all of this just my way to deal with the stress and we should just wait until we decide on an architect lol? Thanks for any input as my head is spinning :)

Good luck!

Two books I felt worth the small price are:

Designing Your Dream Home:

Good information on what to ask during the interview process, checklists for each room of the house, etc. A few of the checklists well worth the costs of the book and things I probably would have missed such as cabinet size for those large platters and chargers (larger base cabs than standard boxes). Those interview questions helped us weed out more than a couple builders.

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Dream-Home-Everything/dp/14016035 21

We also purchased What Your Contractor Can't Tell You:

Again - tips worth the price.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_21?url=search-alias%3Dstripbo oks&field-keywords=what+your+contractor+can%27t+tell+you+the+essential +guide+to+building+and+renovating&sprefix=what+your+contractor+stri pbooks232

Don't rush the design phase - will save stress and money down the road. Get the design right! Pick the best architect you can for your budget and style. Several of them leaned toward Old World and we are Contemporary and we knew it would not be a good fit.

And ditto what Kelhuck said - stay calm and enjoy the process of creating your dream home.

Cheers,

M

I've managed to waste lots and lots of hours this weekend on Houzz.com! great site. Michelle, thanks for the book suggestions, I'm going to order them tonight. So now it's back to looking at gorgeous pictures on Houzz and researching architects.

Before you buy some things to check:

1) Can you build on the land?
2) Are there any restrictions? EPA? Are you in a protected water preservation area?
3) Are there any hazzards? Nuclear waste? Was it a testing ground?
4) If you can build, are there any restrictions as to what you can build? Height restrictions? Landscape restrictions?
5) When you purchase the land, are your really buying the land you saw? Check the map, check the land registary? Note land title deed insurance only covers the land. If you build and the land title company messed up, then you will be out the cost of the building.

I think the best advice when I built my house was the two words "Don't Panic" from the BBC program a Hitch Hikers guide to the Galaxy.

In my case getting the foundation in was the most difficult bit. After that it got easier :).

Best, Mike.

GENERAL LEGAL ISSUES
1) Is this a legal lot? If not, how do I make it legal?
2) Are there any existing liens against the property?
3) Does the Zoning on the property permit my project?
4) Are there any existing zoning violations on the lot?
5) Are there any cultural heritage sites on the property?
6) Does the deed also convey the mineral rights to me? (Don't be surprised if it doesn't b/c on almost all land, the mineral rights have been divided from the surface rights. But do find out what minerals are likely to be located in your area and who owns those rights. Consider the possibility that the owner of the mineral rights may decide to mine for them. Laws generally give mineral rights owners amazingly broad rights of access to the surface property as NEEDED in order for them to reach their underground minerals. You do NOT want someone deciding to drill an oil well or strip mine for copper in YOUR back yard. It might be worthwhile to find out who owns the mineral rights and whether they would be willing to sell those rights to you for a small fee.)

NATURAL HAZARDS
7) Is the site subject to flooding? (Get a FEMA flood plain map and do NOT plan to build inside of or very near a 100 year flood plain. Even better, don't build in a 500 year flood plain!)
8) Is the area subject to any other natural (or semi-natural) hazards? (landslides, forest fires, earthquakes, faults, subsidence, liquifaction, etc.

ACCESS ISSUES
9) Does the lot have legal access to a public road? (For example, if the only access to the public road system is via a private road over a neighboring property, will the buyer of the lot acquire a legal right to drive over that private road?)
10) Does the existing access roadway meet the fire department access requirements? If not adequate, what will it cost to improve the road?

SEWER/SEPTIC
11) Is the lot served by a public sewer system? If so, what is the sewer connection fee and does the sewer district have the capacity to serve my lot?
12)If public sewer connection is not available, will I be able to install a septic system on the lot? If a perc test has already been done, what were the results? (IF NOT, AND YOUR ARE GOING TO NEED A SEPTIC SYSTEM, MAKE THE CONTRACT CONTINGENT ON PERC RESULTS THAT WILL ALLOW FOR AN ADEQUATELY SIZED SEPTIC SYSTEM!)

WATER
13) Is the lot served by a public water system? If so, does the water purveyor have enough capacity to serve the lot? Do water lines already run to the edge of my property and if not, how far away are there and how much will it cost to get them to my property? How much is the water connection fee? How long does it take to get a water hookup?
14) If the lot is not served by a public water system, is it possible to drill a water well on my property? How much is drilling a well likely to cost?
15) Does the local fire department have water pressure requirements that I must meet before I can build?

OTHER UTILITIES
16) Does the lot already have access to electricity, gas, telephone, cable, trash pick-up services, etc. If not, what is it going to cost to get these services to the lot?

HOA
17) Does a Homeowners Association have jurisdiction
over the lot?
18) Are there any Homeowner Association or Covenants,
Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R�s) related to the development or use of the lot?
19) What deed restrictions exist on the lot?

SURVEYING
20) Has the lot been recently surveyed? (Get a copy of the survey but also have your own survey done BEFORE you buy... and either be on site when the survey is being done or have the survey company mark the boundaries with very clear markers that YOU can see. You don't want to purchase land, start building and then discover that the land you actually purchased is the next one over from the one that you thought you purchased and started building on!

BUILDING PERMITS
21) What building permits are required to build on the property and what do those permits cost?

Max, ohmygosh it never dawned on me to check for DSL! thank you!

and live wire oak we keep trying and trying to plant those darn money trees and they don't bloom!!!

Books are ordered, list of things to check into is growing and my Pinterest boards are getting bigger and bigger. Most of the time this is fun, but every now and again the panic sets in lol.

Keep us posted!