A disciplined framework for checking title, access, zoning, terrain, utilities, environmental constraints, and value.
Confirm what is being sold
Match the APN, legal description, map, county record, tax record, and seller. Review title for liens, easements, restrictions, and ownership issues. Acreage alone does not identify a parcel.
Verify legal and physical access
A parcel needs a lawful route and a route you can actually use. Recorded access may cross difficult terrain; a visible road may be private or unrecorded. Review both documentation and field conditions.
- Recorded legal access
- Zoning and intended use
- Terrain, drainage, and flood exposure
- Water, wastewater, and power
- Taxes, fees, and improvement costs
Test the intended use
Ask planning staff about zoning, setbacks, minimum lot size, dwelling standards, camping, agriculture, commercial activity, and permits. Then assess slope, drainage, flood risk, soils, water, septic, power, and communications.
Estimate value and total project cost
Compare recent sales of genuinely similar land, not house lots or distant acreage. Add survey, title work, road improvement, clearing, utilities, wastewater, permits, taxes, insurance, and financing.