Buying land may seem like a similar act to buying a home, but it is very different. The issues that have to be dealt with are more or less completely different than those with house hunting. There is one exception to this statement.
One rule that doesn’t change with land is location, location and location. You need to deduce what is going to be built in the area in the future. Building a nice custom home next to a future slaughterhouse is not the best of choices. One also needs to envision what is going to be built around your home and how that will impact you.
Once you have a feeling for the perfect spot, you need to get down to the details. This means utilities, easements, roads and surveys. Let’s take a closer look.
Utilities are obviously vitally important. You need power, gas and so on. The question when buying land is whether these are already in place in the area. If so, hooking up to them from the street shouldn’t be a huge problem. If they are not present, you have a situation you have to deal with. You may have to go with a septic sewer system. At a minimum, you are going to have to pay to gain access to electrical lines and such or go completely “off the grid” with solar, wind power and the like.
Easements refer to a right of use on property. This is typically the right of ingress and egress, to wit, the right to drive in or out over a property. You really want to avoid a situation where you buy a lot that has no access to the road in or out of the area. On the other hand, you also want to make sure you know who has the right to cross your land!
Building roads is an expensive affair. In most areas, this cost is passed through to homeowners in the area. This is particularly true when new homes are being built. Make sure you understand what you are committing to as the costs can be high.
Surveys are often required by lenders before they will give you a loan on the purchase of the land or construction. A survey simply establishes the boundaries of the property from a legal perspective. This is vital as you might be surprised to learn that the property line is in a different area than you thought. Avoiding surprises is definitely wise.
As you can see, the issues involved with buying a piece of land are much different than buying a home. It can also be a bit costlier than you think, but it is usually a good investment in the long term. After all, they aren’t making land anymore.
Raynor James writes about issues surrounding land FSBO for FSBOAmerica.org where you can list your land for sale by owner for free for 1 month.