If you've decided to build your own home, you'll need to purchase the land first. Unfortunately, that process isn't always easy. In fact, purchasing land to build a house on can be downright stressful, especially if you don't know what to look for, or what questions to ask. Now that you're looking for land to purchase, here are four factors you should take into consideration.

Access to Utilities

When it comes to purchasing land, one of the first things you need to find out about is the access to utilities. The last thing you want to do is purchase land only to find out that utilities aren't included, and there's no feasible way to bring them onto the property. If that happens, you're going to be stuck with land that you can use for your home. Before you purchase land for your new home, make sure that utilities aren't going to be an issue when it comes time to build.

Size of Easement

If this will be your first time making a real estate purchase, you might not realize that most land comes with an easement or setback. The easement is the area of your land that the city retains control over. This is the land that they can take from you to use for road expansions, etc. The setback is the specific guidelines that will tell you how close you can build your home to the property lines. Before you purchase property, make sure your easements or setbacks won't interfere with your ability to build the home of your dreams.

Potential Nuisances

You might not realize this, but there are a lot of potential nuisances involved in purchasing land. Some of those nuisances include train tracks that run near your home, or land that's been purchased for a prison, or large shopping outlet. Before you purchase land, make sure you won't have trains running past your home at all hours of the night; or have a prison built next door to your home in the next several years.

Resource Rights

When you purchase property, you might expect to purchase all the rights that go along with that purchase. However, when it comes to things like water, mineral, or access rights, you might be surprised to find out that they aren't always included in the purchase. In some cases, those rights will remain with the original owners, municipality, or even companies. In fact, when it comes to access rights, you might purchase land only to find out that it's inaccessible – no way for you to get on your land without trespassing through someone else's property. Before you purchase land, find out what resource rights are included in the purchase. 

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