Buying a building lot isn't supposed to be complicated. You find it, you like it, you buy it, right? If life and business were only that simple. Let's just say that the location and price look good, but the costs of finishing the lot are too high to make it pay. Or maybe it won't meet percolation standards. Perhaps excessive slope would drive up your costs. Or maybe zoning restrictions would require lots that are too big – and costly – for the homes you intend to build. Then there's the chance that after you build a traditional home and plan two more, you find out that six nearby builders are putting up contemporaries. Or you go up-market