That’s not code language. These are just some of the records you need to learn to pull up and read when you  are buying land. We learnt the hard way that land listings; unlike house listings have fairly vague wording. The actual boundary markings on the land are often even more confusing; assuming they are marked at all! Real estate agents who are good at selling land are few and far between. Besides; when you walk into a house, you know for the most part what you are walking into. Land is not that cut and dry.

Whether you can build on a land at all and what you can build, are governed by the rules from multiple entities.

  1. Health Department: This department is in charge of well and septic.  I have addressed ‘Well&Septic‘ in detail in a separate blog post. The Health Department holds the keys to giving you a permit to install the well and septic. Obtain the results of any perc tests done on the land from the health department. If the perc was successful; check if the perc results have expired. If a well is already present, ask for results of the water flow test done on the well. If no perc testing has been done, enquire with the health department about the land – very often they will tell you right off the bat that the land will not pass perc tests (flood plain/existence of a stream/being downhill from other land are all potential red flags for perc tests).
  2. Planning and Zoning Department: This department is responsible for regulating zoning. For e.g., if the area is zoned Agricultural, you will only be allowed to build agricultural sheds/silos/barns. If the area is zoned Restricted Conservation, there will be strict rules about the land that can be cleared for construction. If the area is zoned RDT, there is a density restriction like one house per 25 acres. If a 5 acre plot being sold is in an RDT zone, you may or may not be able to build on that lot. These are just examples – check the description of zoning codes for your county.
  3. HOA rules/covenants: If the land is part of an HOA or private subdivision, there can be strict rules about the type and size of houses that you can build. We found one with a requirement that the house should be a minimum of 3000+ square feet! You will be given access to the HOA documents only after you submit your written offer for the land. You will then have a window of a few days to take back your offer if you find any clause in the documents that you cannot meet. Do not buy land hoping you can change the HOA rules. Technically you can fight it; but it typically takes years and life is too short.

Note that you need a green light from  all 3 of the entities above. One doesn’t really care about what the other states. So a land that passes perc and has no HOA covenants could still be unbuildable if it is zoned Agricultural Reserve.

Do not fall for MLS listings that are vaguely worded – ‘land with lots of potential’ or ‘the possibilities are endless’. We have found lands listed saying they haven’t  been perc tested; only to pull up health department records saying that the land had fail multiple perc tests. Just because the adjacent lot has a house; doesn’t mean your land can necessarily support a house. Perc requirements and zoning codes change over time and land which was buildable 5 years ago; might not pass the criteria today.

Pull out the SDAT record and check if the acreage and primary structures on the land match the MLS listing. Check the land value and the value at which it last changed hands and the date that occured. You can pull out the Tax ID (account number), district, map, grid, parcel, lot and a host of other numbers from this record.

Pull out the GIS mapping from here by clicking on the link which says ‘Property Explorer’. Verify if the shape of the GIS mapping matches up to any land boundary information provided by the Seller. Download the plat and check on the size, shape, location and zoning stated on the plat. Check if any recommended areas are marked for the septic and well (if the land has passed perc). Read all the small writing on the Plat including any soil restrictions – these could restrict your buildable area; especially basements. Check for any marked flood plains/forest conservation sections/overhead power lines/streams/setbacks/common easements.

Interestingly, Google maps seems to have overlaid the GIS mapping on their maps – you will see it when you zoom in to the land under ‘Map View’. Definitely check street & satellite views on Googlemaps and Bing and Yahoo maps. Sometimes these are taken at different times and seasons. For e.g., we were able to see the satellite view during fall colors on Bing maps, during summer with full forest cover on Google maps and during fall on Yahoo maps (this is particularly useful).  Our land had a small shop that was torn down. Google maps didn’t show it since it was taken recently; but Yahoo maps showed exactly where the little building stood on the land; so we were able to dig and check on the old foundation stones.

Snow emergency priority road maps and priority road listings are particularly useful.  Look up the long range planning maps for your county………………yes; call me anal. But I’m an engineer. I love data.

Note: I am providing links to Frederick county records. Needless to say, you will have to find the corresponding records in your county of interest.

Reading documents about how to read documents can be pretty boring stuff. So I’ve created a video where I have used a different approach to showing you the process. I have taken a couple of MLS listings for land and walked you through the process of pulling out the relevant information.