Buy land and build a custom home in Johnson County, Iowa.
The hardest part of building a custom home isn't the build. It's everything before it — finding the right lot, knowing what it'll cost to make it buildable, and trusting that the people guiding you actually understand both sides.
Most buyers in the Iowa City corridor who want to build a custom home end up working with three or four different companies who don't talk to each other. A real estate agent who finds the land but has no idea what it'll cost to grade, drain, and bring utilities to. A site contractor who shows up after the closing and quotes a number that breaks the budget. A builder who inherits a problem nobody warned the buyer about.
That's the problem we're built to solve.
One Realtor. One builder. One crew on the ground.
Craig Kuepker is a licensed real estate agent with Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors, the owner of RK Development Group, and the operator of Topline — a full-service site work and lawn care company that handles excavation, grading, drainage, utility lines, and erosion control across the corridor.
That means when you're standing on a piece of land in Tiffin, Solon, or unincorporated Johnson County deciding whether to write an offer, you can get straight answers — in the same conversation — about what the property is worth, what it'll cost to make it buildable, and what the finished home will run.
How the land-to-home process actually works.
Land search with build cost in mind
We look at lots through both lenses at once — market value as a real estate transaction, and buildability as a site. Slope, soil, drainage, utility access, setback restrictions. The numbers come together before you write an offer, not after.
Site walk and feasibility estimate
Before closing, we walk the property with our site crew. You get an honest estimate of what site work will run — grading, drainage, water service, sewer or septic, driveway. No surprises after you own the land.
Land acquisition through Ruhl & Ruhl
Standard real estate transaction, represented by a licensed agent. Inspections, financing contingencies, title work — handled the way any home purchase should be.
Design and pricing for the home
We work with you on a floor plan that fits the lot, your life, and your budget. Pricing is transparent and itemized. Allowances are real numbers, not placeholders that balloon later.
Site prep by Topline, build by RK Development
Same point of contact from raw dirt to keys. Grading, utilities, foundation prep, framing, finish — coordinated under one roof. No subcontractor scheduling chaos, no fingers pointing between companies.
Finished lawn and the first season
Final grade, topsoil, seed or sod, erosion control. Optional first-year lawn maintenance through Topline. You move in, and the property is actually finished — not "we'll get to the yard next year."
What this doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean you're locked in. Plenty of clients buy land through Craig and use a different builder. Plenty of clients hire RK Development on a lot they already own. Plenty of clients use Topline just for grading on a project we're not building. Each business stands on its own.
What it does mean is that if you want the simplest path from "we'd like to build something someday" to "we're sitting on the deck of our new home" — the option exists, and it's local.
Thinking about buying land in Johnson County?
Free conversation. No commitment. We'll talk through what you're looking for, what realistic budgets look like, and whether building is actually the right move for what you want.