Once you know that a lot will accommodate your desired square footage for your house and will be within your price range, you have to decide if it checks all your other boxes! It really is the ultimate decision and not one that should be rushed. For us it was where we are planning on living for the foreseeable future while we put our daughter through school and where we hope to grow our family. A decision of this magnitude should not be rushed, although after seeing countless lots that weren't the right fit, we did get antsy to just pick one and call it a day. So take your time, but also don't drag your feet, because in highly populated areas these desirable lots can get swooped up quickly! Here are the things that we did that helped us finalize our decision: (Some of this may seem obvious but I'm going to put it out there anyways because you never know what someone may or may not have thought of.)
1. Drive down the street during all hours of the day. You really have to drive the neighborhood/street during all times of the day, morning, noon and evening, to really get a feel for what the passing traffic will be like. We had a lot we were really excited about until I realized that a lot of people used it as a cut through street between two main roads and at rush hour people would fly down it trying to beat the traffic and get home.
3. Walk the street during the weekend when people are out and about and talk to people! Get an idea of the type of people that will be your neighbors and what they have to say about living there.
4. Spend some time in the town (if you don't already live there). On the weekend we decided on our lot, we went to a street festival in RVC and it was adorable. We were able to freely talk to people in the town (without feeling like we were being creepy) and get good insider information on what the schools were like, what people are like, and what we can expect with moving there in general. If you don't live close by, planning on attending an event like that is really a great option to get a bunch of information all at once.
5. Walk the property and find out what plants and trees you will be able to keep during the build. So often builders have to clear out all the trees and vegetation in order to fit a house of a certain size, and if you're anything like me, it can really be a deal breaker. I love my trees and privacy!
6. Find out if the town has any restrictions on fences or the types of fences you can put up. This may not be important to some, but for us, we have dogs and kids, a privacy fence was a MUST.
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