Journey 38 · Adultingbuildingstewardingexpanding
Own a Piece of Land
“Land is cheap near me. Surely it's simpler than buying a house?”
You become: Someone who can read a parcel before buying it
Cheap land is usually cheap for a reason, and the reason is written down somewhere you haven't looked. Zoning, access, water, septic, utilities, easements and title — before the money moves.
Understand
What the law and the ground each permit.
Practice
Reading records, walking the parcel, ordering the tests.
Create
A purchase with no surprises left in it.
Evidence
A title you understand and a written list of what you may build.
What you are allowed to do
A parcel's value is mostly what the rules let you do with it.
- Understand1h
Look up the zoning and the minimum lot size
Search '[county] GIS parcel viewer' and find the parcel. Note the zoning designation, then find that designation in the county code: permitted uses, minimum lot size, setbacks, and height limits. Write down what you may actually build.
You’ll have:The zoning designation and its permitted uses.
- Understand45m
Confirm there is legal access, not just a road
A track you can drive is not the same as a recorded right to use it. Check whether the parcel fronts a public road or depends on an easement across someone else's land — and whether that easement is recorded.
You’ll have:A written answer on legal access, with the record reference.
- Understand1h
Find out about water and septic before anything else
Is there a public water main, or would you drill a well? Is there sewer, or would you need septic — and has the parcel passed a percolation test? Ask the county health department directly what this parcel would require.
You’ll have:A written answer on water and waste, from the county.
8 more actions · 6h 50m of work
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- Understand45m
Price bringing utilities to the parcel
What is actually on the title
You buy the rights, not the dirt.
- Practice1h
Order a title search and read the exceptions
- Understand40m
Find out whether the mineral rights come with it
- Practice2h
Get a survey and walk the actual boundaries
- Understand40m
Check the flood zone and any wetland designation
Buy it and hold it well
Land has carrying costs even when nothing is on it.
- Understand45m
Understand how buying land is financed differently
- Understand30m
Work out the annual carrying cost
- Evidence30m
Write down what you may build, before you close