Building a home is still on the list of financial goals of earning populace. Buying a plot or a site is just the start of it.Like any potential buyer you would also start from the location of the site, cost prevailing vs demanded by the seller. etc etc. 

Points I want you to focus on are after all these homework have been done & you require the tools to solve the final riddle.

 “Should i buy this or wait for something better”. That better which may never come to you.

Enlisted under are 11 essential parameters that have to be referred before buying a site. Let’s begin!!!

11. Resale value

We may never sell the plot but having an idea of how much is the appreciation is like being prepared.

More than resale value, cost of the site with or without a building after “n” years is what needs to be thought of, 

more so if you are buying the site only for an investment like many do.

10. Transportation – Connectivity

Even though this is one of the primary criterion I thought it gets qualified to be on this list as well.

Not just how well the locality is connected with rest of the city or town & other towns & cities today, what matters is how is the scenario is going to be after a few years. May be when its time for your son to go to school. Are you on the route map of the school bus?

09. Visioning

How the locality is going to be? Like with connectivity, the proposals for the locality also needs a checkup. Imagine that if there is a proposal that may cause a positive disruption or push a negative

vibe for the residents once done.How does the local governing body see the locality in the next few years? Need not be a great thing always. Take stock of the proposals in as many sectors as you can . Buildings, roads, facilities line airports, bus stations etc. What seems to be quite residential area today will remain like that, of course with a lot many people, or is it going to be a hub of commercial & / or  residential activities? Visualise?

08. Identity of the locality

How does the city or town perceive the locality? Sometimes the city & its populace look up with high regards because of the historical or other virtue it carries. Some times a locality is lined up with hospitals & known like that. There can be a locality with huge open spaces, has wide roads. The locality may be blessed wit a good no of places of worship. what is the identity of the place? One thing for what it is known…

07. Community and its spaces,

What is the one common thing in the community? What is the type or kind of people that reside in the locality? What do majority of the people do? Do they work for a industry, are they self employed, corporates, businessmen. What is the collective identity of the community? This has to be known as it has a larger impact on the social / common spaces allocated or used by the community . It will give an inference of

“do I belong to this group” or “will I be One among them” or “would I want to get identified with them”.

More than the answer, questioning becomes important.

06. Landmarks nearby

Are there any important places of public interest nearby? what type? Government offices, religious places, tourist places, what is it? Does it attract people on a daily basis or at regular intervals. If so then how is the people’s influx handled. Traffic movement, parking, waste management, emergencies etc.

What if there is a unscheduled congregation place, like a convention hall, a hotel, a open ground that hosts political rallies, etc.. Usually these kind of buildings / places attract large and very large crowds.

How is it handled? Or is it a hard day for the locality & people have become accustomed to the disruption?

Are you ready to undergo the same phenomena? It may not be a problem, infact you may have a business that depends on the crowd. Choose wisely…

05. Neighbours

In these times of nuclear family living. Neighbours are the ones whom we usually share a friendly

relation with. If you are aware of the kind of immediate neighbours of the site your buying, you may decide better. The type or kind of neighbours make a lot of difference. For some it may be the religious faith they follow, for some it is the eating habits. The lifestyle, family Size and living conditions also matter. 

So its better to know your neighbours. After all you have to live with them.

04. Physical feature of the site

What are all there on the site is the first information that needs to be registered. Is there a tree in centre or on the side, a boulder or a ditch. Any power lines, poles, high tension or low tension cables present in or around the site. Any storm water drains abutting the site? Where is the drainage line located? Is the freshwater supply line & the sewage line on the same side or different? How has the neighbour built his house?  especially the compound. Are the site dimensions intact as in the documents or there is some encroachment on any side. What lies beneath the surface is not in your control till you become the owner. But you may have a check on what lies on the surface.

Any other physical feature that may pose a threat to construction. For example – Is there a old building that is of no value, you think,  you will demolish it but realise that there is a heritage tag to it & you are not allowed to demolish it. what do you do?

03. Orientation of the site.

What side is the site facing? North or East? No I raise this not because of Vastu or any other blind beliefs. But to understand the facing and design the building to respond “what side needs what kind of attention”. Not all north sides are good & not all South sides bad. “what do you see out of your window?” is the question of the hour that is preferred  to be asked then answered. Design of a house based on the principles of climatology in the better than just drawing a plan based on ordinary thinking. The approach in organising spaces will vary depending upon where the site is located. Geography & climate are interrelated. There can’t be one solution for the same problem in a different geographical & climatic regions. Remember we also change our cloths, eating habits, etc seasonally.

02. Profile of the site 

Without much consideration to the profile of the site you may land on an undesirable parcel of the

land that may or may not be suitable for your purpose. Whatever may be your intent of land use it is advisable to be aware of the profile of the land. while many prefer it to be as regular as possible, rectangular many times, irregular shapes are not bad at all. In fact buildings that are designed on an irregular plot seem to present them selves better in the total setup. This is precisely because of the residual or reminder un built space all around the building that seem to be interesting or simply unusual. Whatever may be the shape its better you know it before buying. Much better if you get a total station Survey, that gives dimension, location on GPRS, LAT & LONG with laser precision, done before buying & use the drawing as an Annexure, both Soft & print formats, to the sale deed.

01. Size of the site

The size of the site is the primary thought of parameter, and also the parameter that has gone wrong many a times. Reason being the choice of the plot seems to be coming more from the affordability perspective than requirement one. Its like preferring desires over deserving. While site is to be looked as an expensive urban commodity its size has to be derived out of what, how, how many, what type of building you want to build on it? A small building on a large site or a small site built or covered almost full by the building. More than other reasons the concern is your investment going high for the primary commodity. 

Instead you may approach an architect! An architect can give you comparative analysis of what is the total built up area you may require and what is the approximate site area the building of that size requires. 

You may appoint an architect to advice you on the choice, give recommendations so that you may finalise and buy the right site. This appointment may be limited only to the selection or may extend to design your project. In any case an architect will be your better bet simply because they come from the building perspective. Its like he knows the answer & both of you together can frame the question. Plus you will get a chance to interact with an architect & decide if he is the one you want to work with for your project or part ways post site selection.

Some reverse engineering here.

To summarise before you buy a site be clear why do you want to buy. Get on to make a brief writeup of what you want to do on the site. Not a detailed story, thats the work of an architect! Without any prejudice make a short write up of how your dream building, say a house, has to be & where, how, all based on the above 11 parameters. And then approach an architect get the critical analysis of your requirement arrive at

the probable size of the site. Then approach a registered realator, so that you transaction is safe, & finalise the site. Don’t forget to get your architect see the site before you actually buy it.

So that any chances of you going wrong are minimal or absent.

must-check things