NEVER Buy Affordable Land Without Knowing This 

Back in the day, when I purchased my first home to live-in; that was Miami in the early 1990s, first mortgages with rates of 8 to 9% and 9% to 10% were typical. People will have to accept the possibility that we won't ever return to 3%. If sellers must sell, home prices will have to decline, and lower evaluations will follow. Pretty sure I'm not alone in my chain of thoughts.

I always visit the property at night (criminal activity) and during a rainstorm (flooding).

A few items I would add to your list; Zoning regulations, neighborhood restrictions, property taxes with and without improvements, HOA regulations, and mineral rights ownership. You may or may not want to live on the property depending on whether or not you agree or disagree with rules placed on it.

Always check zoning maps. The wooded lot next to you today might be a shopping center tomorrow.

I use to look for cheap land in northern minnesota. Most of the 40 acre plots are either land locked inside a state forest which you can only use for hunting. Or wetland and you cant build there. I saw a really good deal by duluth once and on the map I saw pine trees. I drove up there are it was deforested.

Friend of mine recently asked me if I knew anyone that would want some free land he had bought and no longer wanted. He is from Yuma, and wanted to get a small parcel of land to use as a family getaway in a different climate than the desert. He bought a small parcel of land in California. The parcel was an unimproved lot with no house or utilities, and was located in the woods in the middle of nowhere with nothing located nearby. He thought it would be the perfect spot for them to go wilderness camping and hiking every couple months, and the land was cheap, so he bought it. First issue is when he discovered how insanely high the taxes on the property were. Then he recieved a costly bill for membership in a POA, along with a notice of violation. Not only were they wanting several thousand dollars for annual dues; they sent him a notice that the grass on the property was too long. They stated that the grass must not be more than 3 inches long anywhere on the property, and that if he did not keep it below that length that the POA would be forced to cut the grass for him. Should that happen he would not only be billed for the grass mowing itself, but would also get a $500 fine per each occurrance. Keep in mind that this property is not in a neighborhood, it is literally in the middle of the woods along some old rutted dirt track of an almost road. There are no neighbors around to have complained about anything. The grass was not neatly mowed and manicured when he bought the property. If you did want to mow this place, you'd probably require a weed wacker to do it due to uneven land and the heavy brush and trees of the forrest making a mower unfeasible. He was not told there was a POA on the property or any maintenance requirements. He said that he discovered later that the POA was mentioned only one time on one of the many papers he had signed, in a single sentance that stated he had recieved a copy of their rules, which he read and agreed to. Of course, he had 0 interest in or ability to run to Cali weekly from Arizona to mow a forrest lol. This POA seems to have divided this woods up and sold it dirt cheap, probably intentionally looking for people they could then use those rules to annoy and fine nonstop for financial gain. He attempted to tell them he no longer wanted the land and tried to just give it back to them, they refused. He was told to either mow it, pay the outrageous fines, or be sued. He got out of it through creative means and had the last laugh, but what a mess. I am betting it is the last time he makes the mistake of thinking buying a piece of land is some minor issue he doesn't have to look into much because it's small and cheap.

Another important point to verify is EASEMENT. Always check to verify the easements to the property. You don't want to find out after you've bought a property that your neighbor(s) has rights to drive across your property to access theirs. Maybe you are OK with paying to maintain a road for someone else to use, but maybe not. Utilities can also have easements, sometimes that's just a water line alongside the road, but sometimes it's a high voltage electrical line (or natural gas line) buried underground across the center of the property right where you want to place your house foundation.

Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!

The land I'm on now. We walked it, we talked to folks close by. Our next door neighbor is the person from which we purchased the land. We found out later that this family used the higher area of the land as their personal landfill. Heavy rains uncovered all kinds of garbage here on the lower area! We had no clue but are doing what we can to clean it up.

My wife works for a title company and there is a problem right now of scammers posing as owners trying to sell vacant land without the true owners being aware. If the seller is out of state and the land is listed below market value be very careful

I'm in real estate; this is fantastic advice. Buying land is completely different than buying a 3/2/2 in the suburbs - for all the reasons Wayne mentioned.

Here's a tip. If you are buying land on a private road make sure there is a road maintenance agreement in place. If not, chances are you'll be paying for it all.

Finally a pretty darn good video telling the truth about buying land. A reputable surveyor will identify MOST of these issues for you. Yes it's expensive, but so are the consequences of not knowing BEFORE you sign those papers. Well done, sir!

Another consideration is to make sure it's not land locked, that is when other private properties surround your property and you have no way to get to it. If the property is on a private road you may want to see how many if any other properties have a right of way through the property. If it's on a private road gravel, black top or concrete etc. who performs the maintenance on it and how is it paid for. What are the building codes if any and are there any restrictions?

Craziest thing I ever heard from a co worker that was buying cheap land. She was getting ready to hand off 15 thousand dollars for 2 acres. I suggested she get it surveyed before handing out that much cash being she was nervous. She bit the bullet and asked to get it surveyed before she handed the money to the seller and it was going to cost her 1000 dollars the seller proceeded to tell their was no need and it was a waste of money. She insisted the seller then proceeded to say no . When she said she would not do it without a survey he scrapped the deal. Turns out he was not selling the property description in the Internet it was 2 acres of untamed brush with no access behind his 4 acre lot.

I didn’t hear you mention anything about an environmental impact survey. They required it here in Ohio. Which is another $3-500. Great video! I’ll give it an A+ 😊

I just purchased land on St. George island. I had a survey done and did my research so I knew what I was getting into. Everything came back great. I paid cash so there’s no mortgage payment.

Great Vid ! Left out Timber rights/ water rights if there is a water feature on property . Mineral rights . You can own the land but not own the rights mentioned

I saw some 40 acres in Georgia, when I looked at the property only about 2 1/2 acres were usable, the rest was either swamp or in a flood zone and was almost 100% not usable.

I bought a house in a acre of land. On one side I have a forest with very tall trees, and behind there is a mountain where the sun sets. It's great in the summer, because we get very little sun, the ground is always wet, no irrigation needed, and vegetables grow, even without much sun. But in the winter it gets very cold. I have no regrets, it's amazing how everything is working out.

I looked at a 90 acre property in Pa years ago. Started walking the property and found a massive household garbage dump about 100 yards behind the house. You have to pay for garbage pickup in that area, so the previous owner(s) just dumped everything behind the house.

My biggest concern after buying my place about a year ago was when I found the old farm burn pit. I am uphill from a large pond own by the local Indian reservation. This burn pit was in a draw in the land that fed directly into the pond. There were all kinds of old paint cans and building supplies, toilets and sinks that all got burned. I was concerned that I may be contaminating the soil and water on my land or the reservation land. I spent 9 months in Iraq. I don’t do burn pits. I still have a trash barrel that I haven’t gotten rid of. Just not going to expose myself to that crap. Speaking of reservation land. My house is surrounded by reservation land. About 85 acres of rural land to the south and west of me. It’s used for raising cattle for the tribe. I have a sponsorship sheet that I need to fill out and pay $100/year where a tribal member sponsors a nontribal member to hunt, fish and gather on tribal land. It was only because my wife worked with a tribal member that we had this opportunity. I actually liked the idea of the tribal land because the tribe is not interested in building there. They want it to be used for hunting, fishing and farming. So I know I won’t have any neighbors. I was considering buying 7 acres of land that had about 20’ of fence that butted up against my land. It had a cell tower on it. I didn’t want to have more land to manage than I already have. If I wanted to back out and sell in the future. Few people would want to build a house on land near a major highway and a cell tower dead center. With maintenance personnel coming around. The cell tower owners own the land and driveway used by the cell company. So you don’t collect any money from it. It’s like someone owning a rental house on your land. You own the land but the house is occupied and you can’t collect the rent. Some friends from church found out that there’s an unmarked grave of a young girl who died from scarlet fever a little over a hundred years ago. It wasn’t disclosed in the sale of the property but the neighbors informed them after moving in. By that time they built a swing set over the grave without knowing it. Maybe ask the neighbors about the land. Biggest thing I hate is improper disposal of waste. I found burned cans of something in what used to be the old garden. All I could see on one of the cans was skull and cross bones. So apparently the old burn pit wasn’t enough. They had to burn in the garden too. So now I’m looking to find a new spot for a garden as my plants are needing to be planted. I need to have the contaminated soil hauled away. Because this is a health hazard that is passed on to the next person down the line. The previous owners are long gone but their choices can have lasting effects. Especially on children.

Great video. We ended up paying to bring in utilities. It was ridiculously expensive - and that was 9 years ago. I can’t imagine how much now

Good advice. I was a Town Engineer shared between 12 small towns for 10 years. I saw all kinds of problems with land/land development. In one case, the realtor lied to the buyer(a retired state police CPT). It was only 3 acres not the 13 acres that the realtor and owner claimed. She finally got what she deserved. I suspect that it was an undercover op to get her. The CPT's BIL was the county prosecutor. I did a survey on my land as a condition of purchase and walked it many times. I've seen construction loans as traps many times. The banks sit on the submissions and slow the job down to the point where the job goes over the time limit. The bank then forecloses figuring that they are going to make a big profit. Good Luck, Rick

I'll NEVER forget: You can choose your friends but not your neighbors. A bad neighbor itself is reason enough leave. Especially in a gun country.

I know this is a short video to acquaint people with potential problems, but there are many many more to consider. Here are just a few: Make sure there is no hazardous waste visible, or in the soil if you suspect there may be. Secondly, just because you have "sewer and water and electric" doesn't mean you're golden. The sewer and water connections can be deep, and even in the street meaning you have to dig up a road and then repair it. If they are unusually deep, that is crazy expensive too. Always find out if the laterals are already run into your property, how deep and how far in they go. Also, many municipalities charge an extortion fee.... I mean...hook up fee to get on the train, so be aware of that. The same goes for electric. Often the seller says "electric available" and it's 1/4 mile away and can cost tens of thousands of dollars to bring it to where you need it. In a lifetime of building, I've seen all of these situations and more. Be careful and don't fall for any deal that is too good to be true.

Make sure the land perks GOOD. Growing up we lived in a neighborhood that was built in the 70's, 1-2 acre lots, city water, septic system for each house. The land in our neighborhood perked great, 40-45 years later nobody in that neighborhood has had septic issues. A friend growing up lived in a neighborhood a few miles on the other side of town that was kind of in a valley between two big hills. Built in the 70's, 1 to 5 acre lots, each house had a septic system. People's septic was constantly backing up, flooding their yards, getting ripped out/replaced, just a total mess until the county finally ran sewer lines there in the late 90's. Hookup fee was STUPID expensive, like a 5 figure sum of $$$$. That property should have never been developed cause the soil was MARGINAL at best for a septic system to work.

im a former city hall employee, my top 3 tips before buying a land are: 1: check with the city hall whats the use of the zone, if you can build on it and what kind of building you can do 2: check if it have a road, 3: check if it have acces to basic services like water and electrity

Hire an attorney in the area the land is located, #1. Talking to the neighbors is great advice, always talk to the neighbors directly next door. People love to talk.

Good video, also know your land’s mineral rights. Thank you for sharing.

Also, you need to be very careful with inspectors. They usually are referred from the realtor who legally works for the owner. So the inspector doesn’t want to find too many problems or the realtor won’t continue to refer them.

I bought a house in the country. It turned out to share a septic tank with a structure separated before the sale, and on that side, so a new one had to be dug at my expense. Also, always ask where the sewer is located if it's in town. Not every street has a sewer, even if there is water.

A lot of this info is great for buying a house as well. I wish we had talked to our neighbors before we bought--we would have learned a lot about the problems this house has. Or rather, had before we spent the cash to fix them.

I agree. I bought 2 building lots, one was already cleared. The other was heavily wooded with under brush. The person I purchased it from had it surveyed, and the two lots were going to have a home built in the middle, where I wanted to decide and build two market houses. Upon trying to clear the second lot, we learned it had a culvert pipe that was washed out and about 12 feet deep 15 feet inside my property line. I had to switch from a 1600 sq ft ranch to a 1600 sq ft two story so the footprint would even fit on the lot. I walk lots now or I don't buy them.

Also a good idea to check if there are any HOA's (or the like) in the surrounding areas, though this is less common in rural or lightly developed areas. HOA's have been known to try to impose their rules on properties adjacent to them if they think they can get away with it.

Get a phase 1 report done and a depth to seasonal high water table as well if you want to know whats going on and what has happened to property.

A complicated one can be if there's a Covenant on the property which can restrict what you're allowed to do on it legally.

I'm an environmental scientist. My job is to drive to property sites and search for contamination or the possibility of contamination. Congress passed a law in 1980 stating that anyone who buys property with contamination, owns the contamination and cleanup. You are not required to hire an environmental scientist before purchasing property but it's on you if there's a chemical spill or leaking underground storage tank. If a property is selling for under its value there's a possibility it's contaminated. Do a quick search with your state's Department of Environmental Quality before buying anything. That's my recommendation to everyone.

I almost bought a lot of land in a small town along Hwy 16 and the Russian River in northern California. The key note on the real estate post that made me hold off was "due diligence", which turned out months later into the new year the neighborhood had to be evacuated due to severe flooding from the storm that hit the state with a ton of rain.

Solid advice. I had a friend here in Arkansas that bought several acres of land that was in an isolated area in the Ouachtita Mountains that bordered a Deltic pine forrest. They visited the property and found several of rheir large hardwood trees had been cut down. Tree 'rustling' is a real (illegal) activity and the owner lost several thousands of dollars of those trees.

An additional thing my family has learned the hard way is to ensure you have legal access to the property. Especially in more rural areas, if you have to cross private roads to get to the property, make sure that you have easements across those roads. Also, as others have mentioned, HOAs and POAs are very important to know whether you would fall into.

Thanks for the video. In fact my parents purchased a piece of desert property from what turned out to be a shady real estate agent some 40-ish years ago. Lots of issues with the actual titles, and it took decades for them to find out what they originally thought was their lot was in fact not. The whole area was underdeveloped and continues to be underdeveloped to this day. As to the agent himself, they heard (they don't know factually) he had been taken to court and convicted of crimes related to the sale of these properties. Sadly from what I understand the property itself has not gained any value in the years since the original purchase. Its still valued at pretty much the original price. This is out in the high desert of southern california.

Those are all great ideas and very informative for a vacant land and/or for a new house owner on a existing house with 25,000 or more sq.ft. lot. Thank you.

I bought 7 and a half acres once. Beautiful land. I wanted it so bad and I was in heaven when I bought it. I worked hard in clearing out areas and it was rather enjoyable doing the hard work. No running water or septic. I took baths in the cold creek. I bought a 6 inch wall double wide mobile home to bring onto the land. I could go on and on but.....NEVER, and I mean NEVER will I buy a place again without everything setup ready to move in. Dealing with various lying scum contractors is no fun. That was a lesson learned and will NEVER be forgotten.

Buying a house with large mature trees was surprising costly. We had 3 100+ft trees come down in 2 years each one ripping the power line from the house costing 4k to fix and get the tree removed each time and got us dropped by our insurance.

You can still install a septic if soil won’t perk they will bring in soil that will.

Have an attorney help you with the contract for the builder, if the builder falls behind on meeting the milestone timelines after a certain period the construction contract is considered abandoned by the builder and you can bring in another builder to complete it.

Also a point about surveyors. If you want to just have you property surveyed, it’ll cost say $300. But that’s not legally binding or anything. If you want that you’ll have to pay $3,000-10,000 to have it “pinned”.

100% use a Title company.

Very informative!! Thank you so much! People drive through one of my properties, and it's getting more annoying. I want to raise some funds to help my mom develop her land before she gets older. I have 1.25 acres with a beautiful view of the mountains and I noticed more and more people are developing their lands in my area. After I help my mom, I plan on investing in more land.

It would be nice that after you do a presentation, include a due diligence check list at the bottom, where someone can download it and print it out with check boxes! Other than this obvious recommendation, it’s a good useful video 😊

your point number three, with the neighbours, i did exactly what you said but when my housewas up they all started harassing me, day and night, and we have to sell now to just get away to safety

Brotha,I need YOU for a agent!! 😁I've been looking at Oklahoma property and you have been a great help!! Thank you 🙏

also if you are in remote area ,, make sure you have an easement or way to acces your new piece

Great stuff Wayne. There’s a lot of hidden things when buying land

Love some experienced people giving good advice. Cheers to them

good video. For water: learn what plants grow in recently flooded areas/frequently flooded areas in your location.

Purchasing a peice of land with tons of trees can be a major plus, as you can sell off the trees and make quite a profit off of it. However, the trees must be typically 20 or 25 years or older to sell in bulk

The biggest problems I see are related to lack utilities or the cost to get them, and zoning restrictions. When it costs $35k to drill a well with no guarantee you'll water when it's done, and zoning restrictions that require that and a lot of other things, you could have bought a property that had all that. Many properties are available in the southwest that will likely NEVER have electricity. Not enough people live there to add more capacity. You cant just keep stringing power lines together anymore than you can do it with extension cords. New power equipment is needed, and that has to be connected to adequate power too. The power co.pany isn't going to run lines for miles out into the boonies so a handful of people can live comfortably. There is no water for more people anyway. That land is for sale by speculators who bought 1000 acres and subdivided it, then others bought 35 acre tracts and divided it, into 1/2 acre lot subdivisions. Nobody ever lived there and nobody ever will. It's a desert divided into little squares for foolish buyers who discover the Cheap land EZ financing no credit check offers online. RU-vid is full of them.

I've heard a ton of horror stories about people buying cheap land for cash and not purchasing title insurance because it "wasn't necessary" -- your recommendation to buy title insurance is so important because it can save you in the case the situation goes extremely wrong.

Main streets with lots of traffic could be a selling point if the land is just on the outskirts or a growing city. Buy it cheap, and when the city grows up around it, lease it out to a business, or sell it.

I had a lot of old tree's and it was expensive to have them cut. I love the place so I still would have bought the house.

i'm not american so i'm not really aware of how things work there, but i would also check the ground. If it's natural or waste infill. Engineers never sign off on structures that sit on filled up ground, regardless of what it's filled up with. I'm an architect and i've seen way too many broken hopes and dreams because of this.

Great advice in this video, AND in the comments! Thank you!

It takes patience to find what you want. I looked for two years for a plot of land to camp on. Finally bought 4 acres bordered on 3 sides by a creek just outside of a small town. It would not be a good lot to build on, but it's perfect for my uses.

Always talk to the neighbors. They will know its true value and maybe any dirty deeds that may be taking place.

Make sure that you can get a permit to build on it. Some jurisdictions don't issue permits on parcels smaller than a certain area.

Very helpful video. Im 30 and starting to look at building land so i can build a house within 10 years for me and my wife. Its a lot to take in, but this helped

he nforgets to tell you is easements make sure the property has its own acess and no one has acess to that meaning easements or a shared road because neighbors can cut you off it you have to borrow a road that someone owns to get to your land... also make sure your neighbors are decent make sure the local sherriff is decent make sure theres no illegal dumping etc or people that go out there too shoot or hunt tresspassers some of them are stuborn and wont leave... make sure you have water rights.. and what he dont tell you is that survey you have to pay for so if you dont buy the place your out 1000 or more dollars for nothing what if you do that 5 times yea paying for nothing basically so make sure you want that place before dropping any money and get everything in writing and documented .. theres many more things like how much is the land tax every year.. hidden fees closing fees etc etc if its in a flood plane its useless land you cant do anything but stand on it cant build cant plow etc do a records check go back in time say 100 years see who owned it etc what it was used for etc

My ex-husband and I were looking at a piece of wooded land to build our dream log cabin. It looked pretty good when we had no rain. We had a terrible rainstorm come through for several days and I said we needed to go to that property again. He grumbled, but I was already on the way to the car. When we got there, you would have needed a canoe or flat bottom boat to get to our future front door! Needless to say, we passed on that parcel. My dad used to say you never wanted land that was lower than the road. I see all the time what he was talking about.....

I gotta say this was the most straight-forward shotgun of useful information on this subject I think I've ever seen. You gave me (and a lot of people) a great kick-off point for buying property and avoiding some really terrible snags in the process.

1:11 #3 if you cant stand sound, invest in rockwool and double drywall.

Understanding water rights, and how they work, is extremely important to know before buying land that is used for agricultural purposes. I have 32.5 acres of prime land in Idaho, and it's been difficult to sell due to the ambiguities and nuances of the irrigation here. Essentially, the ditch that this land uses for water goes through 4 private ditches before it gets to my property. This makes the coordination to simply get water in the first place a huge headache!

Been looking for an acreage for a few years. This is solid advice. Pack the dogs, we're going on a trip. heh Thanks for the video!

Before I bought a 10 acre parcel I walked the land, did a historical search on the land, which led to the discovery that the old railroad easement had been re-deeded to the parcel and could be used as a driveway. We studied the history of the area, and requested the seller provide the soil test. We have since had it surveyed with modern equipment and nobody is encroaching on anyone else.

property taxes is also a BIG BIg problam en USA, HOA regulations, and mineral rights ownership is a must to know.

When I first started my real estate business,l ran into every problem you mentioned 😢

i own a property that consisted of 3 seperately deeded 1 acre lots--person beside my property had 14 acres and decided to sell with a quit claim deed and added an acre of my property --didn't find out about this for several years till the present owner made a comment that his property included part of mine--had to go to courthouse register of deeds to straighten out-big hassle

We just bought a large tract of affordable land. We walked the property and had all forms of title searches done. Everything looked good. One of the issues we didn't consider was the forest that covered much of the land. We knew it was there of course but it was in an area we weren't familiar with the plants in that particular area. Turns out half the plants were black poisonwood which is very similar to poison oak. It will make it a bit of a pain to clear but it isn't as bad as it could be.

Appreciate all the tips, this isnt information that many people share freely. Thank you!

Thank you sir for a spectacular video that is filled with extremely important information! Land buying is never to be taken for granted. It is a serious commitment.

I say always just go for it if it’s your first home do it. I just bought 2acres to build my first home it’s beyond taxing but its all doable I have 3 of the cons listed I need sep tank a well and I have several tall trees to remove.

People in the comments section has given as much or more information than the video commentator. All good information. Thanks for sharing.

Another thing to consider is property taxes. I had a piece of land in St, Tammany Parish, La that I had to let go after they raised my property taxes 1,000% in one year. They did it to my neighbors too. Don't look at what the current property taxes are because it may have been assessed many years ago and never reappraised. Often when a piece of property is sold, they will come out and reappraise it at what they consider to be current market value, which in my case was 3 times what I paid. I was in Abita Springs which also had a town property tax based on the Parish tax assessment, so when the parish taxes increased by a factor of 10 so did my city tax. Look at the zoning too. My property was valued higher because the zoning changed, even though it was used as a residential property.

Definitely talk to the neighbors first! Owners wanting to unload property WILL LIE to you to sell it! Walk it, Yep! Go there at night, and see what it's like!

Buying property right now and just going with it. Some of this is stuff I haven’t heard before, especially the building loan. Good info. Gonna have to look into it.

Watch out for Zoning regulations. Here in Oregon, the property could be zoned agricultural and you can't do shit with it. You also have to pay attention to the timber rights as well as the mineral rights. You REALLY have to do your research before pulling the trigger on any property no matter where you are.

Bought 14½ acres in middle Tennessee. My neighbors all have sulfur water wells but I have good water and though it's rocky af here I have enough area that perked for 3 bedrooms 2½ baths.

I noticed in Texas on larger lots, you need to make sure you get mineral rights. If not, whoever owns them can come on your land and drill/set up oil/gas well equipment and roads to get to it.

What about if part of the property is designated wetland and the other isn't? How far from wetlands is safe to build? What if I want a pond on my property? In that case wouldn't wetlands be ideal?

hard and rocky soil also makes it much more difficult to bury dead bodies (if the need for that ever came up)

Ive worked in land development for some years and never bought a piece of property myself, however I have been part of the process of making plans and researching titles and documentation for much of what you speak of. I have a unique opportunity to buy a piece of land cheap, its a beautiful spot with a great view near a undeveloped section of land that's been recently sold for development. Heres the problems. The piece of land is currently enslaved with no easement access whatsoever. Its zoned for a commercial zone - highway, but there is no way to create access to said highway, and certainly not one that meets city bylaws, as it sits on top of a hill and the grade would be too steep. However, the top of the hill has recently been earmarked for future development. I can buy the land cheap, but in order to use it, I would need to get it rezoned to residential, then somehow get an access easement. The issue is the property in question still hasn't been sold for development, and they likely wont agree to give me an easement as it may hinder sale of the lot and its development. I know its a headache, but its cheap, and like I said situated in a spot for the most beautiful vista.

All good information, be sure to talk to the city or town planning and zoning dept. about their thoughts before you spend any time investigating the site. You may be very surprised on what they envision.

Check if utilities are being repaired/upgraded. You could end up with a bill for thousands of dollars.

Is there a HOA? Are there any covenants that restrict your land? What's the zoning?

I've been watching many youTube videos and will have to say this is an Awesome informative video, thanks for posting.

I bought a 5 acre piece of property to build on, but later discovered the _usable_ part of it was too close to the neighboring property's lot line; I needed a 15' setback from the lot line, and I didn't have it. Had to sell that property and buy another pair of adjacent properties, which I later discovered had a turnaround easement on it, plus the ground is a solid basaltic (rock) shelf covered with a thin layer of dirt covering it. It's still buildable, but it'll need an engineered septic system and I'll have to have the County join those two lots into one so I won't have lot line issues. Geesh!

Thank You for the practical advice…. Looking forward to learning more, …….🙂

I've seen advice to not talk to your future neighbors about your plans for the property. Spite is an awful human emotion. One thing that worried me about when I lived in La. is the requirement for pilings. You could drive around and see from the roof line the houses that had settled.

I have lived in my house for 30 years. Theres a street parallel to mine that has the same numbers and street name but, we're drive and theyre circle. that has been a pain for 30 years. i had an oven set on fire. i put the fire out and called the fire department to make sure there was no fire in the wall. they came to the wrong place. Mail and workers will sometimes go to the wrong place. I still kick myself over this.