I may be partial, but hiring a local architect first will enable them to help guide you through all the rest, along with designing a home with you that meets your needs and fits your site. Many architect provide many services for you to choose from.

I have an Idea Book with collected posts. https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/114654901/list/building-a-home

Thank you, @B Carey! My wife has been dragging me to open houses for the last month, and we'll keep going to those while we finalize house plans!

Regarding #3: My sister paid a pretty penny for a company to drill a hole on her 10 acres of land, and they went as deep as they could without hitting water. Turns out, the best place for water is right under the already-existing 100+ year old house. :-O

So, if you already don't have it planned, I'd get an engineer out there to take a look first, and determine where the best place is.

Since y'all decided to forgo an architect, would you mind posting your plans here on the forum? They may get shredded, lol, but there are a lot of folks here who know a lot about design, and could possibly save y'all from expensive mistakes. :-)

One of my favorite pieces of advice is to design a house that is no more than 1.5-2 rooms deep (including covered porches and attached garages) to maximize natural light in the home *and* keep the roof simple, which reduces build/maintenance/repair costs.

Anyway, hope you receive tons more information!

Is $650 a healthy build budget for your area? Do you have contingency room? Where will you live as you build? How will you pay for that? Have to looked at all the soft costs of building and added them in?

You have 15 acres. Did you have guidance where to build to provide privacy, take advantage of views, best location for a garden, space for future outbuilding or pool/pond? I can't move my house, but I wish it was 100 yards further from the road.

Thanks @One Devoted Dame! I've posted the houseplans here! :)

@Seabornman - Good point! We have a somewhat limited range of where to put the house, since only one part of the lot is near public road access. We've selected based on that, and proximity to my folk's house (which is on the neighboring lot). We will be more than 500 feet off the road, so we should have plenty or privacy!

Often folks select (basic) tile finishes including design, patterns and get a price quote then deviate to a more expensive choice after the budget has been set. Between design and installation, market factors can cause the costs to increase. As the build proceeds, folks tend to desire "more" for the bathrooms as they begin to focus more attention on those areas. That saying, "it's just tile" can be the beginning of future regrets. There are the inevitable cost increases from those things that arise during a build which often results in money allocated for other areas being extracted, leaving those areas short on cash. Be wary of older methods or installation materials lacking modern technological advances industry standards. Home reno tv shows are fun entertainment but they do not help owners or the industry with realistic expectations. If this will be your forever home I hope you incorporate aging in place.

Here's a source https://aginginplace.com/universal-design/

Here's a source for qualified installation https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/

Here's one for the the organization who publishes the standards https://www.tcnatile.com/

Congratulations on your new home and best wishes to you!

In Arizona we’re not allowed to clear a lot or start any grading without grading permits or building permits.

Thanks @Vista Montana Builders LLC! We can cut down trees here without a permit, but totally right, we'll need a permit to start excavating/grading. Our builder is handling that second part, we're just coordinating to cut down the trees.