The homesite
moves the price

A plan is the part of new construction you can walk through, but our own pricing moves with the homesite, the garage configuration and the options selected, and with material costs, so a quote is tied to its date. Here is what the homesite changes.

Before price, there is fit. Which plan works on a given homesite depends on the lot's width, its depth and the town's setbacks. On an acre or more in a township like Elk or Pittsgrove most of the plans fit comfortably. On a narrow lot in Deptford or Glassboro the choice narrows fast, and a plan that does not fit is not really an option at any price.

The biggest single split between two otherwise similar lots is usually utilities. Our own land form lists three utility setups: public water and sewer, public water with septic, or a well and septic, and they do not cost the same.

Where there is no sewer, the ground sizes the system. The design permeability of that soil determines the minimum area the disposal field needs, and the rules require the testing at the site of the proposed field, so the answer belongs to that lot and not to the street. A well and septic are also the builder's obligation to install and test under the contract, which is why an unsewered lot prices on its own terms rather than as a discount from a sewered one.

Some things about the lot are not the buyer's to decide. Under the state addendum the seller determines where the house sits on the lot, including reversing the floor plan, makes any grading adjustments, and decides what naturally occurring features stay or go. That includes whether a given tree stays.

One last thing: the difference does not only move upward. One homesite can also price under another, and the reason is often not visible from the road.

Pricing moves with the homesite, the garage and the options chosen, and with material costs; the difference between two homesites is specific to those lots. Written by Justin Kelly, NJ Real Estate Broker-Salesperson. More at South Jersey New Construction.