Design decides what your land is worth

Same lot, two projects

Give the same lot to two teams. The first draws as many homes as the code allows. The second draws fewer, each with a garden, light on three sides and a garage that is easy to use.

On paper, the first project is bigger. On the day of the sale, the second is often worth more. In our experience, more homes is not always more value.

What buyers pay for

Buyers pay for what they feel when they walk in. Light. Privacy from the neighbor. A place to sit outside. Parking that works without three maneuvers. A plan where the rooms are where you expect them.

Square feet are counted once, at the sale. A bad plan is felt every day after it.

Where the value hides

• Orientation. Where the sun rises and sets decides where the living room and the pool should go.
• Width. It decides whether homes face the street or face each other.
• The corner. A corner lot gives two fronts and more light. It also gives two setbacks.
• The trees. A large tree is a cost to remove, or a reason to pay more for the home built around it. Our landscape architect sees the tree survey before we fix the plan. She tells us which ones to keep.
• The cars. Driveways and parking take ground. Where they go decides what is left for gardens.

Start with the buyer

At Parcelle we start with the buyer. Who will live here? What do they pay for in this neighborhood? What is missing nearby? Only then do we draw.

It sounds obvious. But many projects start from the other end: the code allows this many homes, so let us fit them in.

What it means for an owner

Every offer for your land assumes a project, even when nobody shows it to you. A better project supports a better price for the land under it.

It is also why a price for your land, given without a drawing, is a guess.

The land is fixed. What is drawn on it is not, and that part is still open.