Sometime in the next 5 years, I'd like to buy 2-5 acres of land and build a small house. I would like to avoid taking out a large construction loan, and will probably end up building in stages over a few years. For this reason, I am contemplating buying the land first, so I can pay down the loan while I continue to save for the build.

Since I will not be making immediate improvements to the property, I'm probably going to have to pay a larger down payment and/or higher interest rate for a land installment loan. I have not started comparing rates in my area, but will be looking into it soon.

I live in rural New England, so the property will probably be about $15-30,000 for the size and region I'm looking at. I have excellent credit (750+) and no debt other than my car loan ($8k @ 2.9%), but no big-ticket assets.

I am wondering if anyone has experience with this and has any advice or suggested sources of information. Were you able to easily roll the remainder of your installment loan into a new construction loan? Is it harder to get an installment loan these days? Does collateral figure differently into the approval process for this kind of loan?

thanks for the response. the 2-5 acres is more because I'm a country girl who needs her trees, and isn't used to looking at neighbors Also, there hasn't been much building going on in my area for the last 3 years, and if there has it's been 2-4 unit apartment buildings closer to the city center, so I don't think any local contractors would be interested in a rural location like I'm looking for.

My general plan is this:
Year 1: clear land, build driveway, install well and septic, finalize design plans
Year 2: pour basement foundation, build house including plumbing/electric/heat/insulation/sheetrock etc., make weather-tight
Winter between years 2-3: install molding/trims, cabinets, fixtures, appliances, paint, etc
Year 3: finish all inside projects, landscaping, build garage and deck

Nice plan. There are a lot of sites and banks offering loans. You just have to search online and choose which is the best installment loan offer.