We jumped in and bought a lot in October and I just financed with HELOC for now paying interest only until the build starts and my current house sells. It will get rolled in to your mortgage anyhow later, I believe as part of the 'total cost' it will just count towards the total value and anything paid on it comes off as equity.

I am in Northern Ohio so can't help with Cincinnati, but have had a wide range of 'guesstimates' so far but full plans help a lot.

If your budget is a million, just buy the lot for cash and save all the hassle.

A local architect may be able to assist you.

We made an offer contingent on preliminary plan approval, we wrote the offer with a kick out clause for the seller. He could continue to market the property and if an offer came in we had 72 hours to remove the contingency. It was a win for everyone. They may say no, but really it doesn't hurt to try. Just talk to a realtor.

It sounds like you have some planning to do. If you rush into the purchase you might regret it in the future. I am thinking most people who purchase land know it is the right land, then eventually take the time to work with an architect to design the right home for them (taking advantage of the property characteristics). You have a pretty big budget, so I am guessing this is a big decision.

We got a lot / land loan and then paid it off, then used that as the "down payment" on the construction loan. Since no one finances 100% on a construction loan - you'll likely have to come up with the lot cost as a downpayment anyway. Buy land that you love and then build on it. We separated the activities by 7 years.

I don't know how it's usually done, but we paid cash for our land, then met with an architect to design a home that fit our lifestyle, our budget, and our land.

With this order of events, you run the risk of discovering you need to make compromises with your floor plan -- or you have to re-sell the lot, possibly at a loss. For us, the landscape/location/views of the lot were worth that risk.