Land Made SimpleLand Made SimplePlain advice from hundreds of land deals, written by Jarod Bell. New tips added as I write them.
An acre started out as the amount of land a team of oxen could plow in one day. That is really where the word comes from. It worked out to a strip 660 feet long by 66 feet wide, and that is still the acre we use today, 43,560 square feet.
Here’s the easy way to picture it. An acre is about the size of a football field without the end zones. So a 10 acre property is roughly ten football fields. Or ten days of plowing if you brought your oxen.
The size is only half the story, though. What matters more is how much of the acre you can actually use. A septic system and leach field take up real room. So does a driveway. Setbacks push your build spot in from the property lines, and an easement can put a whole strip of the land off limits.
That stuff adds up fast on one acre. I’ve seen lots where the buildable spot shrinks to half the property once you draw in the setbacks and septic. That doesn’t make it a bad lot. You just want to know it before you buy.
So ask two questions on any property. How big is it, and how much of it can I use? The county can tell you the setbacks. The seller should know about easements. If they don’t, find out before you send anybody money.
Why would someone choose to live in an HOA? HOAs have tons of rules about what you can and can't do on your own land, so why would someone choose to buy land there? Why wouldn't they buy somewhere that's completely unrestricted and lets you do whatever you want?
This is one of the classic examples that shows there really is a property for everyone. Unrestricted properties are awesome. You can shoot guns, build whatever your imagination can come up with, park your cars in the yard, and even start your own junk yard if you want.
The only issue with that is... so can your neighbors. And when you're in an unrestricted area, there's nothing you can do about it if your neighbor decides to completely trash out their own property. That's totally fine with a lot of land buyers. It makes others super uncomfortable.
In an HOA, you usually pay a yearly or biannual fee that helps maintain the roads, gates, swimming pool, boat docks, clubhouse, and any other amenities they may have. It can be pretty annoying to get that bill in the mail, especially when you don't have anything built on the property yet and you aren't going out there to take advantage of the amenities. There are also usually rules about what can be built on the property. Sometimes they don't allow mobile homes or RVs, and they have limitations about what building materials you're supposed to use when you finally do build a home. That's how they make neighborhoods where all of the homes kinda look the same. They make sure that nobody is completely trashing out their property and that it's generally maintained.
That may sound like a utopia for some buyers, but an absolute nightmare for someone else.
If you're considering buying in an HOA or POA, make sure to ask for a copy of the Covenants and Restrictions, find out the lot number of the property you're considering, and see what the exact rules are ahead of time. It also doesn't hurt to give the front office a call and have a candid chat about what you'd like to do with the property and gauge their reaction before you commit to anything.
You've really gotta think about how you plan to use the property before you start shopping for land, because that's going to make all the difference.
You might be asking yourself, what is a land survey? Do I really need one? There are apps that tell you the property lines, so why should I pay someone thousands of dollars to come out and tell me where my own land is?
A survey is the only way to know the exact coordinates of your property. It really should be the first thing you do. They'll come out and make a map for you, and even put stakes in the ground showing where the boundaries are. This is an absolute necessity if you are about to build something. Imagine building a house and finding out it's actually sitting on your neighbor's property by 3 feet. Things like this happen every day and it can become an absolute legal nightmare for you if you don't follow the right steps.
I've learned from doing hundreds of land deals that you can never ever skip steps.
I have 3 pieces of advice for you and they're GET A SURVEY, GET A SURVEY, GET A SURVEY.
Every county has an appraisal district or assessor, and their records are public. Before you get serious about any property, look it up. Confirm the seller actually owns it, see what the assessed value is, and make sure the taxes are paid up.
If there are back taxes, you want that exact number before you talk price, because somebody has to pay them and you don't want it to be you. A five minute phone call to the county has saved me from more bad deals than anything else I do.
Utilities make or break a rural property. Is electricity at the road or half a mile away? Is there community water, or are you drilling a well? And on smaller lots, septic is the big question, because the county decides whether the lot can support one.
Get those answers before you fall in love with a property, not after. If the seller doesn't know, ask them to find out. When I don't have an answer myself, I say so right on the listing.
Landlocked properties are the classic beginner mistake. Pull up the county parcel map and make sure the property actually touches a road. Then find out whether that road is county maintained or private.
If the only way in crosses a neighbor's land, you need a recorded easement, not a handshake. A property you can't legally reach is a whole lot of nothing.
Land Buying 101 is a free 22 page guide with the blank due diligence report I fill out before I buy anything.