What Should I Look For in a Lot When I'm Rightsizing Into New Construction?

Start with the site plan, one lot at a time

A site plan, sometimes called a plot plan, is a drawing of one lot seen from above. It shows the property lines, where the house sits, the driveway, and the setbacks, which are the required distances between the house and each property line. It also shows any easements, which are strips of the lot set aside for utilities or drainage, and often arrows or numbers showing how the ground will be shaped.

Ask the builder for a site plan of each lot you are considering, with your chosen floor plan drawn on it. The same plan can sit very differently on two lots that look alike in the sales office.

Grade decides whether a single-level plan stays step-free

Grade is the shape and slope of the ground. It matters because the floor of the house has to sit high enough above the surrounding ground for water to run away from the foundation. On a level lot, that height can often be handled with a gentle walkway. On a lot that rises from the street, the front door may sit well above the sidewalk, and the difference is usually made up with steps. On a lot that falls away from the street, the back patio can end up above the yard.

The garage is the second place to look. The garage floor usually sits lower than the floor of the house, and the door between them is where a step most often appears. Whether that door can be step-free depends on the plan, the lot, and how the builder sets the two floor heights.

On a grading plan, those heights appear as elevations: one number for the finished floor, and others at the corners of the lot and along the street. You do not need to calculate anything. Ask one plain question for each lot and get the answer in writing: with this plan on this lot, will the front entry and the door from the garage be step-free, and what would it take to make them so? That question is far easier to answer before the foundation is poured than after.

Follow the water

Drainage is the other half of grading. The ground should slope away from the house on every side, and the water has to go somewhere: to the street, to a swale (a shallow channel, usually along a property line), or into a drainage easement. On the site plan, look for arrows that show the direction of flow.

Notice whether the lot sits higher or lower than the lots beside it, because a lower lot can receive water from the ground above it. Find where the roof downspouts are planned to empty, and check that the water has a clear path away from the house and the walkways. A path you use every day should not be where water collects or freezes.

Know which way the home will face

The floor-plan post covers windows and light inside the home. On the lot, orientation adds two practical points. First, in a single-level home every main room is on the ground floor, so the direction the back of the house faces decides whether the patio and the main living space get morning sun or afternoon sun. Second, a driveway and front walk on the north side of the house sit in its shade for much of the winter, so snow and ice can stay on them longer.

Neither is good or bad; they are trade-offs to choose on purpose, and the north arrow on the site plan shows them before you commit.

Measure the yard you will keep up

The site plan shows how much of the lot is house and driveway and how much is yard. Rightsizing often means choosing less to maintain, so look at that split directly rather than at the lot's total size. Slopes are harder to mow and water evenly than flat ground, and narrow side yards still need care.

In many new communities an association maintains some areas, such as front yards or common landscaping, and each owner maintains the rest. The association's documents say which is which. Read them, ask the builder to show you on the site plan which parts would be yours, and if anything in the documents is unclear, a title company or an attorney can explain it.

Walk the lot: what the drawing leaves out

A site plan is a drawing, and some things on the ground are not on it. Before you choose, stand on the lot. Look for utility boxes and transformers, which often sit at a corner or along a property line and are not easily moved. Note the street lights, the mailbox location and the fire hydrants. Stand where the main windows will be and look at what they will face.

Then ask what is planned for any open land next to or behind the lot, because ground that is empty today is not always going to stay that way. The community's plat, the recorded map of its lots and streets, shows how the land is divided.