Obtain your
free-land-contract-form
for buying the land,
Then get a 100-Construction-Loan
and build your new home
You'll need to obtain a free-land-contract-form from your bank so you can keep your land purchase legal. The bank gave us a free-land-contract-form for an official contract for Buying-the-Land. It takes a few more minutes to keep things legal, but if you keep it all recorded, you won't regret it. Legal forms are available on the internet but in this case, your bank probably has what you need. The main idea is to protect yourself. You may want to consult an Attorney. Because of the free-land-contract-form that we used and using the Land Title Company to hold our earnest money, it didn't seem necessary because the Title Company takes care of all the legal stuff If you can pay for the land outright, then do it, but at least put earnest money on the land. Our banker recommended that we use a title company to handle our money, (third party) in case money needed to be refunded. The Internet or even your bank has a form to use for this purpose. Sometimes the bank will loan you the money for the land with the construction loan. If not, then you may need to get creative. Ex. Take out a 2nd Mrtg on the home you are living in to obtain the money to buy the land, Or Borrow from a family member or private lender In any event, draw up a a contract with the owner of the land The fellow we were buying the land from was killed in an auto accident shortly after we were finished building our home and we had moved into our house. We bought some of his adjoining property to build our home on and with legal papers, the family couldn't accuse us of anything. We were protected with legal documents Even in renting electricity from this same neighbor we used a legal contract so we were protected in the event that he died before we finished and the family didn't believe us. Our contracts were a safe bet. Thankfully we didn't have any problems, but you never know how people are going to react when it comes to “Daddy's money” which is now theirs. In fact, even with your subs, you need a contract. A contract saved us from losing our shirt when the framer contractor tried to get all his money before finishing the job. People warned me that he was going to “walk”. By having a contract I was able to tell him I'd pay him when he finished the job according to his contract. When you hold the contract and the money, you have a lot of weight in your corner. (click here for CONTRACTS w/Subs) Fill out your free-land-contract-form and then make sure whatever way you purchase the land that it is recorded and notarized, and finalized by the Land Title people at a Title Company so it is all legal and both you and the seller are protected
How to Pay for the Land?
If you presently are buying a home and have a fair amount of equity, then sometimes the bank will allow you that amount towards buying the land by adding the cost of the land to the Construction Loan.Get creative and sell yourself and your ideas to the banker. Probably your biggest obstacle will be in finding and purchasing your land to build on. Keep the purchase totally legal. Your construction loan officer likely has a free-land-contract-form to sign with the seller. You don't need an attorney, as long as you can understand the legal terms and you sign all the proper places. Protect yourself and the seller, so that neither of you feels “taken” by the other. These documents need to be registered with the Title Company, and any deposit given for the land needs to be held in escrow with the Title Company in regards to purchasing your land.
Our Credit Union was looking to expand in the Real Estate Dept. and so we got a real good rate on our Construction loan. So, don't be afraid to shop around. Our loan officer even offered to include Buying-the-Land on our loan, since we had equity in our existing home, and we were going to sell the house we were living in once our housebuild was finished. She asked us if we owned the land yet and then gave us a free-land-contract-form
Involve the Title Company with your Purchase
The Title Company has to send over the purchase to the county for registration there. Interestingly enough, that can be a fiasco. We still haven't gotten the county straightened out as to our exact address.
MORE
.... Obtaining a 100% Construction Loan
....Build your new home
....Buying the land
NEXT
.... Pay City Fees and
....Obtain Permit
....Build your new home
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