Spec house on wooded lot
Two questions:
1. We are planning to build a spec house. How does having a wooded, "secluded feeling" large lot (but not actually secluded) in a rural area (western massachusetts, hill/mountainous area) impact selling price vs. a cleared lot on level land, in general. Having a hard time finding comps for new construction that are on wooded/secluded lots. I found comps but they are all on cleared, level land (which is what I based our financial assumptions on.)
Lot was cheap and big, part of a small isolated "subdivision" closer to a larger city in the area, and due to topology and wooded area, the lot "feels" more secluded. We intend on keeping most of the tree cover on the edges of the property to keep the "in the woods" look and we will be positioning the house so the neighbors' houses aren't as obvious to give it more of a "secluded" feel (although it will also have a larger back yard, etc.) Surrounding houses are a mix of styles, mostly from 70's (dated.)
I know that having a building lot with the "secluded" look will limit our potential buyer pool, but, since the woods/trees/topology will (mostly) block the view of the surrounding neighbors, the hope is that it will allow us to build a higher-end (quartz, viking appliances, etc) house that would potentially otherwise look "out of place" if it were built on a level, completely cleared lot. Since we are doing most of the work ourselves, this allows a much higher profit for us vs. a lower-end builder grade house..
I'm not able to find any comps fitting this situation (new construction, wooded lot, etc), as all I can find are "tract" homes on level, cleared land.
2. Based on the above, debating whether vinyl siding is appropriate vs. fiber cement, etc.. Especially since we are trying to go for a higher-end look (see above.)
Thanks!