Finding the perfect piece of land to call home can be one of the more challenging steps in building a custom home. But having the right home building team in place can simplify the process and, more importantly, help to ensure you buy the right piece of land for your goals. One of those important team members is your realtor.

In this episode, we talk to Jan Hibbs, Vice President of Hibbs Homes and Realtor with Coldwell Banker Gundaker in St Louis, MO, and JanaLee Jacobson from Berkshire Hathaway in Park City, UT about the lot search process and how to find the right land to build on.

Jan, JanaLee, and Kim talk about what factors you need to consider when deciding where to look for land, maneuvering the challenges of land scarcity in the current market, and what to consider when designing your custom home to get the best resale value.

Demolition and excavation are officially underway at the Schaper home. We started with the demolition at the property, removing the home that was in disrepair. The next step was excavating the lot to prepare for construction.

The lot in this historic neighborhood held a number of surprises for our crews starting with clay soil that has to be improved before it can withstand building. The build turned newsworthy with the discovery of a mine shaft and a historic cistern. The cistern turned out to be a time capsule holding Prohibition-era bottles and artifacts.

The Dogtown neighborhood, known for its rich clay soil, has a long history of brickmaking and industry. Many of the challenges we unearthed on this lot were tied to that history.

We're back! In Season 2 of The Art of Custom podcast, we will be taking a deeper dive into the custom home building process. Follow along with clients Rick and Meredith while they build their dream home in St. Louis's Historic Dogtown Neighborhood.

In this season, we'll talk about each part of the custom home building process. We will be with them every step of the construction process from designing the home through moving day!

Follow along on The Art of Custom Podcast Homepage - see pictures and videos of the process.

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