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So we decided to go for it, and our third offer was accepted. We were fortunate thatthe vendor was agreeable to a vendor-take-back mortgage, at a very good rate. Thisworked out well for us, because banks will not mortgage vacant land. (Recently Ivelearned that it may be possible to get a development plan approved for a propertythat you havent purchased. With this it may be possible to get developmentfinancing that can cover both the land and the future structureat least up to 65%of the overall projects expected value.) Theyll only get involved once the propertyhas a structure on it at least a foundati on. We would need to finance the land andthe first stage of construction (building the foundation) without any assistance fromthe bank. We would later discover that it is best to have cash reserves for this, sincethe bank will only finance what is compl eted. Ideally, you should own the land outrightbefore beginning construction. We learned this the hard way, after having purchasedthe land!We made many visits to our property once it was purchased. During these visits, wenoticed that good winds typically flow from the north both in winter and summer.In the winter the shelter provided by the trees was always a great relief from thewind on the north side of the woodlot. At all times of the year the place where weplanned to build the house seemed protec ted and naturally warm, with great solarexposure. We had many great picnics with our extended families in our futurekitchen, a patch of wild grass between the many scotch pines growing rampantly,the remains of a formerly thriving Christm as tree business.We began to consider the type of home we wanted to build. We picked up materialat home shows. We read the books wed purchased on various natural buildingtechniques. Some of the insight we gained through our research included:R New Standards R2000-type super-insulated homes, which are tightly sealedwith a vapor barrier, do make sense for our cold Canadian winters but do NOTmake sense for the hot humid Canadian summers. Technologies like straw baleoffer a much more appropriate solution that has advantages through all seasons cooling in summer with no condensation to cause wood rot, warmth throughinsulation in the fall, spring and winter all with good air flow for good indoor airquality. This type of wall breathes, creating naturally healthy indoor air, while atthe same time providing superior insulation so critical to keeping the homecomfortable in the winter and summer.R Building Code Limitations Using rainwater is a simple concept that is notallowed in the building code. Therefore, an expensive ground water well, a pump214