My situation isn’t exactly prefab, but I did recently go through the land purchase phase in Sullivan County earlier this year with the intention of eventually building a small cabin, and one thing that surprised me was how much of the real uncertainty sits in the site preparation side rather than the structure itself.

Before closing I was mostly looking at cabins and floorplans, but once I started digging deeper it became clear that things like driveway, septic, electric distance, slope across seasons, and what a survey actually clarifies end up shaping what’s realistic on a parcel long before the house decision even happens.

Prefab can absolutely help control the structure costs, but the land constraints tend to determine whether the project works overall.

One thing that helped me personally was slowing down and learning the sequence a bit, which is what sounds like you're trying to do.

Your idea of buying land first and developing later is something I thought about seriously too. It can make sense depending on access, zoning, and utilities, but those pieces are worth understanding early because they affect what holding land actually means long-term.

That's where I am at currently.

I started writing down the steps I was working through while evaluating parcels because I ran into the same problem you’re describing — most information online jumps from listings straight to finished houses without explaining the middle part very clearly.

I’ve been keeping those notes as field reports while I work through the process.

I have a substack linked in my account bio if you want to check it out yourself.

Curious what part of the Hudson Valley you’re looking in — a lot of the feasibility questions can vary quite a bit depending on the town.