What It Costs to Buy Land and Build in Loomis, CA

How much does it cost to buy land and build a house in Loomis, CA?
In 2026, buildable parcels in Loomis list from roughly $219,000 for under half an acre to $2 million for 15 acres, with a typical 5-acre parcel around $650,000. Getting that raw land ready to build — well, septic, power, driveway, and Placer County permits — commonly adds $150,000 to $350,000 before a single wall goes up. Construction itself runs about $300 to $600 per square foot for a custom home in the Placer foothills, so a 3,000-square-foot build lands somewhere between $900,000 and $1.8 million on top of the land and site costs. Total all-in for most Loomis custom builds: $1.3 million to $2.5 million.
By Rich & Kat Farless | September 1, 2026

There are 11 parcels of land listed in Loomis right now, and every week we get a call that starts the same way: "We found five acres for $650,000 — that's cheaper than the houses. Can we just build?"
You can. But the land price is the smallest surprise in the whole project.
Here's what we walk clients through before they write an offer on a Loomis parcel, and why some of them end up buying an existing home instead.
The land is the cheap part
Current Loomis land inventory gives you a real sense of the range. A 0.45-acre lot on E T Road is listed at $219,000. Five acres on Sierra College Boulevard sits at $650,000. Fifteen acres on Penryn Road is asking $2 million. Head a few minutes up the road into Newcastle and you'll find a 59-acre parcel at $1,885,000.
Compare that to the resale market. The average Loomis home value is about $962,909 as of July 2026, up 2.2% year over year, and true luxury inventory generally starts above $1.5 million. Loomis is also one of the tightest markets in the region — homes here have been averaging around 2.5 offers, and roughly 38% of sales close above list.
So the math looks obvious at first glance. Buy dirt for $650,000, build for $700,000, end up with a $2 million estate. That's the pitch buyers make to themselves.
The gap between that pitch and reality is site work.
What you're actually buying when you buy raw acreage in Loomis:
A well. Drilling runs roughly $6,000 to $25,000 depending on how deep you have to go, and foothill granite is not forgiving. In Placer County, the well permit has to be pulled by a licensed C-57 well driller, and your site plan has to show every potential contamination source within 150 feet of the proposed well site — septic, sewer lines, pasture, animal pens, and property lines.
A septic system. A conventional system runs $8,000 to $20,000. But Placer County permits three different system types, and which one you get isn't your choice — it's determined by your soil, your percolation rate, and your groundwater depth. If your soil fails, you're looking at a pressure dose system in the 20,000tohigh-30,000s range, or a pretreatment system that often clears $40,000.
Power. If there's a pole at your property line, you're getting a service drop and the cost is manageable. If the nearest pole is a quarter mile away, PG&E charges you for a line extension, and undergrounding can run $200 to $500-plus per linear foot. This single variable has killed more Loomis land deals than any other.
A driveway and fire access. More on this below, and it's not optional.
Permits and impact fees. Placer County's fee schedule took effect July 1, 2026, and a new single-family home triggers the Placer Facilities Impact Fee, Fire Facilities Impact Fee, parks fees, and a 3.5% technology surcharge on top of the permit itself.
Add it up and $150,000 to $350,000 of site work before framing is a normal outcome in the Loomis foothills, not a worst case.
If you've read our guide to inspecting a well and septic system on an existing Loomis home, you already know these systems are expensive to fix. Creating one from nothing is a different order of magnitude — and there's no seller to negotiate with.
What Placer County actually requires before you can build
This is where the "Loomis" address gets complicated, and it's the single most common thing buyers get wrong.
A property with a Loomis mailing address sits in one of two jurisdictions: the incorporated Town of Loomis, or unincorporated Placer County. They have different zoning codes, different planning departments, and different answers to your questions. Before you do anything else, confirm which one your parcel is in.
Inside the Town of Loomis, the RA, RE, and RR residential districts carry a minimum lot area of 2.3 acres. Smaller parcels are only allowed where community water or sewer service is available. That number matters more than most buyers realize — it's the reason so many "splittable" parcels aren't.
On the lot-split question: buyers see four acres and start imagining two homes. Under Placer County's SB 9 rules, an urban lot split requires the parcel to be in an RS, RA, or RF zone, wholly contained within a designated "urban area," and not located in a Very High Fire Hazard Zone. Most Loomis and Penryn acreage fails at least one of those tests, usually the last two. Assume you cannot split until the county tells you in writing that you can.
On fire access: if your parcel is in a State Responsibility Area or a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone — and a large share of the Loomis and Newcastle foothills is — California Public Resources Code 4290 applies to your build. That means minimum road and driveway widths, grade limits, and a fire apparatus turnaround built to the Placer County Fire Marshal's standards. Placer County publishes its own residential driveway standards document. On a long, sloped parcel, engineering and building that access can run six figures on its own.
One piece of good news. Placer County updated its Local Agency Management Program — the rules governing septic systems — with Board of Supervisors adoption in July 2025 and Central Valley Water Board approval that October. The updates reduced the sewer-connection trigger from 300 feet from the property line to 200 feet from the structure, allowed smaller tank sizes, created a cost-based exemption when connecting to sewer would cost more than double a septic repair, and made it easier to tie an ADU into an existing system where capacity allows. If you looked at a Loomis parcel two years ago and the septic math didn't work, it may work now.
We tell every client the same thing here: get a soils and percolation evaluation done during your investigation contingency, not after you close. A perc test runs $300 to $1,900. It's the cheapest insurance in the entire project.
Financing a build is two loans, not one
Buyers who've only ever bought resale homes assume they'll get a mortgage. That's not how this works.
Land loans are their own product. Expect 20% to 30% down on improved land — parcels that already have road access and utilities nearby — with rates running well above conventional mortgage rates. Truly raw land, with no access and no utilities, can require 30% to 50% down. Lenders price these aggressively because a vacant parcel is hard to foreclose on and harder to resell.
Construction loans are separate. Expect 10% to 25% down, construction-phase rates around 7% to 9% in 2026, and interest-only payments on funds as they're drawn over a 6- to 18-month build. Your builder gets paid in stages — foundation, framing, roof — and each draw needs an inspection.
One-time close construction-to-permanent loans combine the two, so you close once and the loan converts to a fixed mortgage when the house is finished. That's usually the right structure for a Loomis custom build, and it's the one to ask about first. For context, the 30-year fixed averaged about 6.66% in late August 2026, and both Fannie Mae and the MBA expect rates to stay in the mid-6s through year end — so the permanent-phase number you convert into is reasonably predictable right now.
Two things buyers routinely forget to budget:
California requires solar PV on new single-family homes. That's a real line item, not a rounding error.
Carrying costs during the build. You're paying land loan interest, construction draw interest, and your current housing payment simultaneously for a year or more.
When building pencils in Loomis — and when it doesn't
Building makes sense when you want something the resale market genuinely doesn't offer: a specific parcel, a specific view, a shop or barn configuration, single-level living on acreage, or multigenerational space you can't find built.
It rarely pencils as a pure value play. In a market where existing homes average around $960,000 and luxury inventory starts near $1.5 million, a custom build that lands at $1.8 million all-in doesn't automatically appraise at $2.2 million. Appraisers work from comparable sales, and Loomis has thin comparable data for new custom homes.
Here's our honest read after 30 years in this market: if the number you'd spend building is close to the number you'd spend buying, buy. If the property you want doesn't exist at any price in Loomis, Penryn, Newcastle, or Granite Bay, then building is worth the complexity — and the extra $200,000 of site work is the price of admission, not a surprise.
Before you commit either direction, it's worth comparing against what it costs to buy an existing home in Loomis, and — if acreage and outbuildings are what you're after — what to check when buying horse property in Loomis, where a lot of the same zoning and jurisdiction questions come up on parcels that are already improved.
One more thing worth pricing early: homeowners insurance in the Placer foothills. A new build in a high fire hazard zone can be harder and more expensive to insure than buyers expect, and it's better to learn that during due diligence than at closing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I split a 5-acre parcel in Loomis into two lots?
Usually not. Inside the Town of Loomis, the RA, RE, and RR districts require a minimum lot area of 2.3 acres, and smaller lots are only permitted where community water or sewer exists. Under Placer County's SB 9 rules, an urban lot split also requires the parcel to sit wholly within a designated urban area and outside a Very High Fire Hazard Zone — which disqualifies most Loomis and Penryn acreage. Confirm with the correct planning department in writing before you buy on that assumption.
How long does it take to build a custom home in Loomis?
Plan on 18 to 30 months from close of escrow on the land to move-in. Site evaluation, well and septic design, and Placer County plan review typically consume 6 to 12 months before construction starts, and the build itself runs 12 to 18 months. Fire-access engineering on a sloped foothill parcel can add several months on its own.
Do I need a perc test before I buy the land?
Yes — do it during your investigation contingency. Placer County requires a site evaluation with soil profile testing and a percolation rate determination, and a standard system needs at least 48 inches of vertical separation with a percolation rate between six and 60 minutes per inch. A test costs $300 to $1,900. If the soil fails, you're facing a pressure dose or pretreatment system that can add $20,000 to $40,000-plus, and you want to know that before your contingency expires, not after.
Is my Loomis property in the Town of Loomis or unincorporated Placer County?
A Loomis mailing address doesn't tell you. Parcels in the 95650 area fall into either the incorporated Town of Loomis or unincorporated Placer County, and the two have separate zoning codes, permit processes, and building departments. Check the parcel number against the county's land use map, or ask us — it's the first thing we verify on any Loomis land inquiry.
Will a bank finance raw land in Placer County?
Yes, but on different terms than a mortgage. Improved land with nearby utilities typically requires 20% to 30% down; truly raw land can require 30% to 50%. Rates run above conventional mortgage rates. If you plan to build within a year or two, ask your lender about a one-time close construction-to-permanent loan instead — it consolidates the land purchase and the build into a single closing.

Buying land in Loomis isn't a shortcut to a cheaper house. It's a different project with a different budget, a different timeline, and a set of Placer County requirements that can add six figures before you break ground. Done with clear eyes, it's how people end up with the exact property they wanted. Done on a back-of-the-napkin estimate, it's how people end up stuck holding a parcel they can't afford to build on.
If you're looking at a Loomis parcel and want a straight answer on what it'll actually cost to build there — or whether an existing home gets you the same result for less — Rich & Kat are here to help. Schedule a free consultation at richandkatsoldthat.com/talktous.

About Rich & Kat Farless
Rich and Kat Farless are a husband-and-wife real estate team with over 30 years of combined experience serving buyers and sellers across the Sacramento region. As the #1 husband-and-wife team in Roseville, CA, they specialize in single family, new construction, and luxury properties across Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties. Connect with them at richandkatsoldthat.com.