The 3 Main Things to Consider Before Owning Land

So what are the three things you should consider when you’re looking to own land? One of the most important things that I think you should think about is understanding your reasons for wanting to buy land. I talk to a lot of potential investors in land that want to own land for their family, they want to own land for a long-term investment, or they want to buy for recreational use on the weekend, camping… Whatever the reason is, you want to consider these things and understand them for yourself. What’s the main reason why you thought about land? Is it to build someday? Is it just to have something in your name, just to have an investment in your name? Whatever the reason is, understand that first and try to understand for your own reasons: why do you want to own land? That’s really going to steer you through all the decisions it takes to find the right property for you. Number one is to ask yourself, what’s the main reason for you considering owning land with that information you can look at what I think is the most important thing next to that question.

The next most important thing is to look at the zoning of the property that you’re considering. The zoning is basically a way for the county to tell you what you can do with that land. So the county that controls the rules for what you can do and what you can’t do on land and in a particular area of a state, those zoning designations tell you if that use matches up with what you ultimately want to use the land for. So if you’re looking to build someday, you probably want to get land that zone for potentially building, maybe it’s own residential, or maybe it’s own agricultural residential. And so it’s important to understand the reasons why you’re looking. Does that match up generally with the reason or the county’s designating the zoning that those zoning match up with that? If the answer to those questions is yes, you’re on the right track.

Third to consider, in my opinion, is everything else: confirm ownership, utilities, is there road access, and the size of the property. Those are to me, all of the details. So the details would be the good third thing to consider here is to look a little bit deeper. What I usually suggest is if somebody has found a property that they like, it aligns with, what they’re looking for, and the zoning matches up, then at that point, you want to ask as the detailed questions. You want to discuss all the miscellaneous questions with the person who’s selling the land. You want to ask them all the questions you can and you may want to talk to the County. You want to call the County Planning Department. The Planning Department will help you understand what you can potentially do with the property. You want to call the code enforcement you know, department and try to understand like, can I have livestock on my property, things like that.

You might want to consider calling the Assessor’s Office– they’ll help you confirm who owns the property. Trust the person you’re talking to, but verify. So this third category is “the details”. Ask about potential uses of the land, and make sure it still aligns with what you want to use this land for long term. Put your mind at ease by addressing all these areas of concern and calling the county, and talking to the person who’s selling you the land. Maybe they don’t know everything about that specific lot. That’s okay. If you call the County, they will fill in some of the information as well. These are the three things. Just understand why you’re looking, understand what success looks like for you in owning land. Think about the zoning of that property. Does it align with the reasons for you owning land? If yes, then we want to dig in on all those details. The devil’s in the details.

Remember you’ll have to ask your own questions. A lot of times when you’re owning land, you’re going to have to be the person who makes the decisions, which means you’re gonna have to kind of decide what trade-offs, you’re willing to accept. And or maybe you’re not in a hurry. That’s totally fine too. These are just some things to consider.

If you have any questions about how to get involved and how to acquire land and we’re here to help. Chat with you soon!

-Matt