We get called about lots constantly, usually in one of two moments: before the purchase, when we can help, or after, when we are explaining why the site work costs forty thousand dollars more than expected. This guide is for the first moment.
1. Grade, and whether you can have a walkout
A walkout or daylight lower level is the cheapest finished square footage you will ever buy — often forty percent less per foot than the main level. Whether you can have one is decided entirely by the lot, and it is not always obvious standing on flat-looking ground. Ask the developer for the grading plan. In an established neighborhood, look at what the neighbors have; if nobody on the street has a walkout, there is a reason.
2. Soils
Parts of the Des Moines metro sit on soils that need engineered footings, over-excavation and replacement, or a deeper foundation than standard. On a platted lot the developer often has a soils report — ask for it. On an acreage, budget for a soils test before you close if the price is meaningful to you. Discovering this after closing does not change the cost; it just removes your ability to walk away.
3. Where the water goes
Stand on the lot and figure out where water moves in a heavy rain. Then look uphill: what drains toward you? Iowa gets its rain in bursts, and a lot that sits at the bottom of a neighborhood's drainage pattern needs real money in grading, tile and possibly a retaining structure. Visit after a storm if you can. April tells you things August will not.
4. Covenants and architectural review
Many Central Iowa subdivisions restrict square footage minimums, roof pitch, exterior materials, garage orientation, outbuildings and fences. Several require an architectural committee to approve your elevation before the city will issue a permit. None of this is bad — it protects your investment — but read it before you buy, especially if you want a shop, an RV pad, or a modern elevation on a traditional street.
5. Utilities, especially on acreages
On a platted lot, water, sewer, gas, power and fiber are usually at the street; confirm which, and confirm the connection fees. On an acreage, every one of those becomes a line item: a well, a septic system sized and approved by the county, a power run measured in hundreds of feet, propane instead of natural gas, and a driveway that has to work in February. The gap between a platted lot and a raw acreage is commonly seventy thousand dollars or more in site work alone.
6. Setbacks, easements and the buildable envelope
The lot you are buying is bigger than the area you can build on. Front, side and rear setbacks, utility easements, drainage easements and any tree or greenbelt protections carve out the actual envelope. On narrow infill lots this can be the difference between the house you drew and a house two feet narrower.
7. The things that are not on the plat
Which direction the wind hits the front door in January. Whether afternoon sun cooks the great room in July. What is planned for the empty ground behind you. Where the school bus stops. How long the drive really takes at 7:45am rather than at noon. Drive it at rush hour before you decide.
Send us the lot
We review lots for prospective clients at no charge, because it is far easier to give someone good news early than bad news late. Send an address or a plat and we will tell you what we see — grade, drainage, likely site work range, and whether the house you want fits on it.