5 Strategies for Finding Your Dream Lot

Do you want to build a premium prefab modular home but can’t find that perfect lot to build on? Do you want to build your dream home somewhere in Western Canada? Maybe the Prairies of Saskatchewan, the Rocky mountains of Alberta, the Okanagan, maybe the lower mainland of British Columbia, the coast or even the Island.

Finding that perfect piece of property to build your premium prefab modular home can be hard. A lot of property is not really free and clear, and may have design restrictions or minimum floor area requirements and zoning regulations. Sometimes it may even be in British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). With these regulations there can be constraints on how big your home will be and how it will look.

The irony is that while you’ve got a great vision for a modern, beautiful, functional
premium prefab modular home, everywhere you look you see sprawling homes in the style that leaves much to be desired that appear to have been built to get as much volume as possible for as little money as possible.

However, you know that a well designed home with an efficient plan can be a more practical, stylish and cost effective solution than a massive house with wasted space and rooms that no one ever uses.

When you are hoping to build a premium prefab modular home that fits your unique vision and lifestyle, how do you find the perfect lot to build on that will suit your needs.

Here are 5 strategies to find the perfect lot for your premium prefab modular home.

1. Look for a lot with no minimum size restrictions or prescriptive design guidelines.

Most, if not every property is going to be subject to zoning regulations. Zoning is an important tool for urban planning. It keeps things organized and keeps things separate from each other that should not be next to each other (like a housing development and a toxic waste facility).

That’s the easy part, but where you will run into problems is where zoning dictates the height, location and size of buildings on a lot.

While zoning is great to prevent ridiculous homes from being built next to yours and effective way of maintaining property values, the best bet for finding a lot to build your premium prefab modular home is to find a lot that will allow for the design you want and the size you want.

To that end the easiest strategy is to find land that doesn’t have a zoning restriction on minimum floor size or exterior details.

2. Find an irregular lot that makes it hard to build a massive house.

The next strategy we suggest for finding that perfect lot for your premium prefab modular home is to find unique or irregular residential lots that would make it hard to build a large house (even though zoning requires it).

There are always opportunities to sway planning officials that a smaller, more efficient home is the answer to the size requirement on the irregular lot. Moreover, if the zoning requires a large house but the setbacks and other requirements would not actually allow it, then maybe this is the perfect lot for your efficient premium prefab modular home.

Some examples of irregular city lots are pie shaped lots, lots with unique setbacks and easements or other requirements. Ask your realtor for more information about these kinds of lost. They come in all shapes and sizes! Zoning can be tricky in some jurisdictions so it’s important to know how likely it is that you will get a variance before you buy.

3. Build a smaller home and add a second detached unit.

Another option for finding the perfect lot for your premium prefab modular home is to consider building a primary unit and a secondary unit, if the zoning will allow it.  This would give you two separate dwelling units with separate entrances, but it might get you closer faster to the minimum floor area requirements.

By building two units you might be able to combine the floor area of each of the premium prefab modular homes and it’s an efficient cost effective way to meet the minimum size requirements of your lot.

Building two units might be a little over the budget you might have been looking for; however, you might want to consider utilizing one of the units as a rental that can help generate cashflow and pay your mortgage or other bills.

By building a second prefab modular building, you get to control who your neighbor will be, it will improve your ability to find land and it maybe even gives you the flexibility to house a family member, like a parent or child going to school.

4. Purchase and existing house and build a prefab modular home.

Here’s a strategy that has a lot of similarities to #3 above. Really what you are doing is looking for a lot with a home on it already, and then adding a new premium prefab modular home as a secondary unit.

Maybe you want to live in the new building and rent out the existing building. This provides you the perfect scenario to move into the existing home and live there while the new premium prefab modular home is being built.

Like #3 above this strategy requires more up front capital than building a single home, but again the advantage is that you might get the opportunity to comply with zoning or other requirements for more lots.

5. Look in a different location

If you’ve gone through all of the above and you’re still determined to find a perfect spot for your premium prefab modular home, the final step is to look somewhere different all together. This could mean in a different city, town, or municipality where the zoning and building restrictions are completely different.

It’s tough because we know you have your ideal location, budget, size, neighborhood etc. where you want to build your premium prefab modular home but based on the restrictions, the place you had in mind might not be a possibility.

At the end of the day it may even be more cost effective to look somewhere else.

Finding your perfect property in British Columbia, Alberta or Saskatchewan can be a long process. Define the perfect criteria, find a great real estate agent and get at it. There is no doubt that if you remain diligent and persistent, opportunities will present themselves and hopefully one of these will be your dream lot for your Western Canadian premium prefab modular home.

Additionally, you should find it useful to employ professionals that know your particular area and understand what you are trying to achieve.

If you would like to learn more about options or to discuss your project, get in touch with us at info@builtprefab.com or head back to our site at https://builtprefab.com where you can learn more about us,our product, and our process.

Built Prefab designs and manufactures premium prefab modular homes in Kelowna, British Columbia and ships them across Western Canada.