Use this before
Use this before a rural land offer and during due diligence. Share the intended home, barndominium, shop, livestock, business, or future split because land suitability depends on planned use.
Use, title, and boundaries
- Which authority controls land use and building?Confirm city or county zoning, building permits, wastewater authority, road authority, fire review, and any overlay district from the parcel address.
- Is my complete intended use allowed?Describe the home, barndominium, attached or detached shop, animals, business activity, short-term rental plans, accessory dwelling, and future buildings.
- What do the deed, title commitment, and survey show?Review ownership, legal description, liens, access, encroachments, rights-of-way, utilities, drainage, mineral rights, and other recorded interests.
- Do private rules add limits?Read subdivision covenants, architectural controls, road agreements, maintenance obligations, minimum sizes, material requirements, and owner-association documents.
- Can the parcel be divided or combined later?Ask about minimum area, frontage, access, wastewater, platting, and utility requirements before assigning future value to a split.
Access, ground, and water
- Is access legally recorded and physically usable?Confirm who owns and maintains the road, recorded access width, gates, bridges, culverts, seasonal conditions, grades, turning, and emergency access.
- Where can a building actually sit?Plot setbacks, easements, right-of-way, wastewater areas, wells, streams, ponds, floodplain, slopes, utilities, and protected areas on the survey.
- What do soils and terrain suggest?Use soil mapping for screening and site-specific evaluation for foundation, slab, wastewater, drainage, road, fill, rock, and retaining decisions.
- How does water move across the property?Look for flood history, mapped flood risk, wet areas, erosion, ditches, upstream runoff, pond overflow, blocked culverts, and neighboring drainage.
- What happened during prior site work?Ask about fills, dumps, buried debris, old foundations, wells, tanks, lagoons, drainage changes, logging, mining, and environmental concerns.
Services, cost, and timing
- Can wastewater be approved?Identify the authority, required evaluator, proposed system area, replacement area, design limits, permit path, and any prior test or permit history.
- Where will water come from?Confirm public availability or private-well feasibility, route, connection or drilling needs, testing, capacity, pressure, treatment, and ongoing responsibility.
- What will utilities require?Request written provider information for power, gas, and communications, including service point, distance, capacity, easements, deposits, extensions, and customer work.
- What will site access and earthwork cost?Price clearing, entrance, culvert, driveway, temporary access, cut, fill, compaction, rock, drainage, erosion control, retaining, haul-off, and restoration.
- Which approvals must happen before closing?Use purchase terms that provide enough time and access for survey, title, zoning, wastewater, utilities, environmental, financing, appraisal, and builder review.
- Which assumptions remain after due diligence?Write down each unanswered question, estimated allowance, risk owner, decision deadline, and exit condition before removing contingencies.
Official sources
Open the current agency or technical source before making a property, design, or permit decision.