The process of purchasing a plot of land for building a summer house, step by step.

Imagine that in the morning you wake up to the sound of birds singing and the smell of the forest. You go out on the terrace and the sun warms your face, you feel a light breeze and you enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature. Sounds great, right?

For most people, this way of starting the day is special and reserved only for holidays. These experiences don't have to be just dreams, they can become your reality!

As lovers of nature and an ecological lifestyle, we encourage you to buy a piece of land and build a house that will allow you to spend time in the bosom of nature.

In this Guide, we aim to help you purchase land to build a small home. Here are the basic steps you need to take to purchase land for your recreational investment:

• It is necessary to understand what the benefits of purchasing land are for us: indicate your preferences;
• Get to know real estate offers;
• Familiarize yourself with the law regarding the possibility of developing a house of up to 35 square meters;
• Find the right property;
• Determine the project budget.

Having a piece of land to call your own is one of the greatest luxuries available to humanity. The feeling of crossing the threshold into your property is unlike anything we have experienced before. In that moment, you are home and it is your one, personal piece of the planet.

Owning land opens the door to opportunities never before available: the joy of your own garden, the contact with trees, the ability to sunbathe and eat outside.

The benefits of purchasing your own property are endless, but there are a few other things you should be aware of:

There is a financial justification for allocating money to buy land. Within a few years, the value of your investment can increase significantly, especially in the current situation, in which demand for land outside the city has increased.

Ultimately, land value (in theory) increases over time. By pursuing your dreams of getting back to nature and buying your own land, you are setting yourself up to make money.

Apart from the investment aspect, owning land gives you a broader perspective in life. The option to spend time in an apartment or on your own land means you always have a choice.

You can choose your ideal location, the features of the terrain, the exact place where you want to build your home, and plan for any other living liberties that you may not be able to provide on someone else's property.

The real estate market is simply the current state of value and availability of properties for purchase and sale in a given location. Although this situation is constantly changing depending on the economic situation of the world and the number of people looking to buy or sell, it is best to know the current market exactly when you want to enter it.

Since 2020, we have been observing increased interest in purchasing land outside the city. This applies to both Warsaw and all cities in Poland. In the face of the prolonged pandemic, remote work: some people have decided to move their activities outside the city. As a result, plot prices are constantly soaring. At the same time, interest rates are at an all-time low and it seems that we currently have a good time to buy land.

Now that you know why you might want to consider buying land and you’ve started to develop your own ideas about future building projects and your memories of the best-landscaped property, let’s talk about where to find the perfect plot of land.

Your search begins long before you visit a property. Even in the dead of winter, curled up with a cup of tea, you can imagine the coming summer and where you want to be.

Do you picture yourself deep in the forest, looking through the trees and pine cones into the bright, shining sun? Or are you standing on the side of a rocky mountain, admiring the vast landscape spreading out beyond your fingers? Maybe you are actually running through tall beach grasses towards the sparkling sea. These thoughts, desires, fantasies are the beginning of your search for what the perfect piece of land means to you. We have set the stage for how you will view listings and properties that you will visit in hopes of potentially making a purchase.

The possibilities of purchasing land are very diverse, from portals with advertising lists to secret sales of land from friends.

Starting your search online is a great place to start, as most sites allow you to filter listings by land size, location, property features, and more. Here are some of the first places to check if you’re focused on finding land to build your own home on: MORIZON , A TREAT , OLX

Before you can narrow down your land search, you need to determine what type of land you want to buy. In your dreams of waking up to your own vacation home every day, what do you see when you open your eyes? Of course, location is key. What area, how long you’re traveling, what you see and hear around you. Other things to consider include the land’s intended use, your budget, and what features of the property are must-haves or non-negotiables for you in terms of what you don’t want.

Does your heart call you towards a mountain view? Do you prefer the forest? Or maybe you want to live by a lake or river? Add these features to your list of dream properties. Consider the neighborhood: do you tolerate being surrounded by people or do you prefer solitude? Put everything on your list of negotiables and non-negotiables.

Whether it is legal to build a summer house on your plot depends on the spatial development regulations in force in the place where it is located. When building a summer house or a small house, you must locate it on a plot of land whose development conditions allow it. In the absence of a local development plan, you should apply to the starosty for the issuance of Development Conditions and then report the intention to build a summer house in the case of a house up to 35 m2 or apply for a building permit in the case of a house over 35 m2.

Before you make a purchase, make sure you know and are aware of the consequences that restrictions related to the planning conditions of the area impose on you. I am not here to discourage purchase, but unfortunately I get calls from a very large group of clients who buy "recreational" plots on which you cannot build anything!

An essential element these days is the ability to use a summer house with full access to utilities, which is why it is worth familiarizing yourself with at least the geoportal and checking where the utilities are located, which will be necessary to start, for example, heating in the house, and previously to conduct construction. Locating investments outside the networks exposes you to additional costs, which should be included in your calculation.
Estimate the cost of bringing utilities to your property. Keep in mind that costs can vary greatly depending on the size of the home, the number of potential residents, and the location of the plot.

Remote terrain with solid bedrock can mean significant additional costs due to the need to bring in machinery for excavation. If possible, get estimates from local contractors before you even start thinking about buying the property. Simply put, additional costs that you didn’t anticipate at the beginning can overwhelm your budget at the end.

Another thing to consider is how much preparation your land will require before you can start building. Clearing trees, leveling the ground, and laying foundations on different types of soil all impact how you’ll need to prepare your land before you lay the proverbial first brick.

Is there a public road that leads directly to your property, or will you need an easement through someone else’s land to access it? These things aren’t always included in the listings, so make sure this is one of the first questions you ask when talking to the owners and at the city hall.

In addition, consider the current condition of the driveway. During construction, you will need to bring materials, tools, and machinery to the job site. Once the construction is complete, most residential zoning codes will require that the driveway be wide enough for fire trucks to enter the home. If there is no driveway that meets these criteria, you will be looking at another additional expense to put one in.

Managing water runoff from your property is very important when building a house. Wetland may prevent you from building a wooden structure, for example. In addition, if your property is located on a river or in the immediate vicinity of a lake - remember that building within 100 m of the shore is prohibited, unless the local plan states otherwise. In mountainous regions, consider the fact that snow melts from the mountain - if you are shopping in the summer. The area may seem dry, but in reality it is impossible to build on it in winter and spring conditions.

Time to prepare a budget.

The valuation should include the purchase price of the plot, as this is the first set of costs that will allow you to start the construction project, the agent's commission, notary fees. This is the first stage. Then you need to include the estimated cost of building the cottage, its equipment, the costs of utilities and land development.

Regardless of the location where you are building, you must obtain a building permit to start the project. These building permit fees vary depending on the location of your plot. In the case of a summer house on application, the application itself is accepted at the District Offices for free, but you must add the cost of the project submitted to the office, as well as maps and the service of an architect who will draw a development plan of the area.

Once you’ve settled on your perfect plot of land, you’re almost there! Spending your first night on your own land can be incredibly liberating, even before you’ve built any permanent structures.

This is your first step towards the future you are creating, and that is a beautiful thing.

We highly recommend packing a tent and provisions and spending a few nights under the stars on your own piece of Mother Earth. Not only can this help you connect with your new space, but you can also scout locations to build a future summerhouse.

... and when you are ready, we will help you choose the best plans for building your small home. In Part II of the guide, you will learn how to find the perfect design for your summer house.

If you still feel that the process of finding the perfect property and building a house on it is too much for you, you can take advantage of my paid consultations that enable investors to realize their dream of owning their own recreational cottage.