Typically, you will have the land purchased prior to building.  The construction loan will pay off any money still owed on the land.  You will also need to have blue prints, engineering, permits, and septic approval.  These items may need to paid for before your can close a construction loan.  The equity from those items will also count toward the down payment of the construction project.  Save Your Receipts and Canceled Checks!  You will need them to get credit.  

Talk with us before you spend all your cash on these items.  There may be better way to finance all the up front costs.

Another thing to keep in mind is the lenders ability to finance a log home.  Usually, the appraisal and draw process will prevent a typical home lender from ever completing the loan.  Give us a call if you are unsure about your local bank trying to learn the log home lending process and would rather put our experience to work for you.