What questions to ask when buying land to build a house?

Building a new house is one of the biggest investments that you do in your life. Therefore, you need to make sure that you are making the right choice with it at all times. In other words, you can’t afford to have any mistakes as you go ahead with constructing a house. You will need to focus on the process from the moment you start buying a land to build a house as well. Here are some of the most important questions that you need to ask while you are buying a land to build a house. Make sure that you cover all these questions, so that you can get a complete understanding on what it is like to buy your own land and build a house.

• Are there any conservation easements on the land?

The very first question you should ask is to understand whether there are any conservation easements on the land that you are about to buy or not. Conservation easements would keep land owners away from hunting, clearing, and parting on land. If there are any restrictions to building a house on your land, you will not be able to go ahead and do it. This is why you should ask for this question and understand whether you can proceed with building a land or not.

The conservation easements that are put on land are good for the planet that we live in. They will be able to ensure the conservation of planet and keep us away from encountering troubles that we may face in the future. However, it will be the best option available to consider, especially if you are going to construct something on the land that you have bought.

You will need to ask the seller about conservation easements that are applicable for the property. Without entirely relying on the seller, you can do your own research and get to know about them as well. Based on this understanding, you will be able to overcome numerous struggling situations that you would come in the future.

In the meantime, you should also check and see whether the land is located in a flood zone or not. If most of the land is subjected to flooding, you will not be able to construct a home on it. Hence, you will need to pay attention to it and make sure that you never run into any problems.

• Understand property taxes

After purchasing the property, you will need to keep on making tax payments every year. Before you buy the property, it is better if you can get to know about the taxes that you have to pay. Then you will be able to determine whether you are going to pay those taxes and whether it is something that you can afford.

Different states and regions of the country have different tax rules. Therefore, you should ask from the seller and get to know about specific tax rules that are applicable for your property. You will then be able to go ahead with making those tax payments. You should also understand the tax breaks that are applicable for the land and try your best to get the maximum benefits that come along with tax breaks.

If you are going to use the land for agricultural purposes, it will be possible for you to experience some benefits. This is only an example, and you just need to check what other tax breaks are applicable for the land that you are about to buy. Then you can proceed with your investment and get all the benefits that would come to you.

• What titles and rights are included along with the land?

Rights will be all the benefits that you will be able to receive by purchasing land. You should get to know about them before you go ahead with buying the land. Some of the most common rights that you can receive as you buy the land would include development rights, mineral rights, and road access rights. However, dealing with titles can be trickier. This is why you should do your own search on the internet and get to know more about titles. With that understanding, you can refrain from problems that titles can lead you as you purchase land.

A title would offer a set of rights to you along with the land. The most prominent right out o them would be the right to possess land. Along with that, you will be able to get easement to land as well. In most of the instances, rights of land are passed from one owner to another. Due to the same reason, the rights that you get along with the bundle would not up to date. Or else, they can be complicated. This is where you should think about getting in touch with an expert lawyer. The lawyer working with you will be able to help you in understanding everything about the titles and rights. This understanding will even benefit you as you go ahead with purchasing land.

• Check if you have access to electricity

In order to construct a house and live in the house, you need to have electricity. Therefore, it is important for you to check and verify whether access to electricity is provided along with the land that you purchase or not. Some of the rural lands are located in dead zones. If you purchase such a piece of land, you will not be able to have access to electricity. Even if you want to get electricity, you will have to spend a considerable amount of money. To make sure that you are not spending your money unnecessarily, you should be getting a land with electricity access.

Some people notice a powerline running across the land and decide that it would have electricity. A powerline going near or through your land would not ensure the fact that you will be able to use it. You should get in touch with appropriate authorities and confirm that you can easily gain access to electricity. Then you will be able to overcome numerous problems that you will have to face in the future.

• Are there any environmental hazards, which I should be concerned about?

You will need to check and confirm whether there are any prominent environmental hazards in the property that you are about to buy. When you encounter them after the purchase of property, you will not be able to deal with them effectively. Hence, it is better if you can get to know about the environmental hazards and then decide whether you should be investing your money on it or not.

Imagine what would happen when you walk in the backyard of your house and run into troubles. You should ensure that there aren’t any such problems in the land that you are going to buy. In the meantime, it is important to have a clear understanding about the common environmental hazards that we can see in properties out there as well.

For example, there can be toxic water present in the property. Or else, there can be contaminated soil in the property because of underground pipe leaks. Even if the previous owner has stored chemicals improperly in the property, you will have to deal with environmental hazards. These are some red flags, which you should be mindful about as you purchase your property.

You should get a thorough inspection done to see whether there are any environmental hazards or not. If there are any environmental hazards that can compromise your good health, you should not be purchasing the piece of land. Instead, you will need to look for an alternative land to buy. That’s because you will never be able to deal with them and build your land.

• Has a soil test been done?

You need to do a soil test before you commit to buy the land. That’s because the soil test you do will be able to help you with uncovering numerous important facts with related to the land. Hence, you must do the soil test and understand the nature of soil that exists in there. Based on this understanding, you will be able to decide whether you continue with your investment or not.

For example, you will come across the need to install a septic system in the land you buy. If you want to go ahead with that idea, you need to make sure that the land you buy has soil, which can absorb water that is given out by the septic system. Otherwise, installing a septic system in the land would not be a possibility. Therefore, you will not be able to consider that as the right piece of land for constructing a house.

There are professional service providers, who will be able to help you with getting the soil testing done. You should get in touch with them and complete soil testing. Based on the results that you get out of the soil test; you can decide whether you are going to proceed with the idea of constructing your home or not.

• How can I reach/access the property?

It is essential for you to understand how you will be able to access your property before you make a commitment to buy it. This is where you will need to understand that there are two main methods that you can use to access the property. However, you will only be able to have one way of accessing the property in most of the instances. This is where you should understand what that method is.

For most of the land, you will be able to see a frontage road, which you can use to access the land. This would help you to add more value to the property. That’s because it is capable of providing convenient access to the property owner at all times. If you are having deeded access to the land, you will be the owner of the access road as well. Therefore, you will be able to make modifications to the road according to the way you want. Or else, it is possible for you to find a common road, which is shared by everyone. You will be able to use this road like others and access your road.

If your land is associated with deeded access, you should carefully go through the agreement. This is where you need to understand the specific terms associated with it.

In some of the instances, you will figure out that you are capable of getting shared deeded access with a neighbor. In such a situation, you need to have a chat along with the neighbor and see what kind of rights you have. Based on that, you can have a clear understanding on how to access the land that you are about to buy as well.

Some of the lands don’t have any access roads. These lands are called as landlocked properties. If you want to buy the land and construct a house, you should refrain from purchasing a landlocked property. That’s because you will run into numerous problems as you try to construct a house in a landlocked property. For example, there will not be an access road, which you can use to take all the construction materials needed for constructing the house. Even after you construct the house and settle in, you will not have a method to access the roads. You shouldn’t be dealing with any such troubles after purchasing the land.

• Are the boundaries clearly marked?

In the land you buy to construct the house, you need to make sure that the boundaries are clearly marked. This is often an overlooked question, but you should clearly ask and get to know about it. That’s because lack of understanding about the boundaries of your property can lead you to facing lawsuits in the future.

If you are having any doubts with related to the boundaries of the property, you will need to request for a survey of the land that was completed in the recent past. This survey document will be providing you with all information with related to the boundaries of the property. You can even rely on the survey document as it is providing up to date information to you at all times.

• How will water drain from the property?

You will also need to check and confirm how water would drain from the property as well. If there is no proper way for water to drain, you will end up with encountering water damage. This can lead you to numerous struggles in the long run. Hence, you should clearly ask and see how water would drain from the property. The seller should be in a position to provide a reasonable answer to your question. It should be a convincing answer as well.

Water damage can ruin your property.  For example, it can weaken the foundation of your home. On the other hand, water damage can ruin your belongings, and lead you to problems such as growth of mold. Therefore, it is important for you to reduce the possibility that exists for water damage to happen at all times. By understanding how water would drain, you will be able to reduce the chances of encountering water damage.

• Are there any utility hookups?

Without having utilities, you will not be able to use the land for building your house. Therefore, you must carefully check and see whether all utilities that you need to proceed with the construction of your house are available in the land that you are about to buy. Some of the most prominent utilities that you will need to have include sewer, natural gas, water, and electricity. If one or more of these are not available, you should at least check and see whether any alternatives to them are available in the land.

For example, you might notice that the land you are about to buy doesn’t have a sewer. This is where you will need to understand whether the land will be in a position to accommodate a septic tank or not.

Water is one of the most important resources that should be there in the land you buy. Therefore, you will need to understand how easy it is for you to get water to the land. Assume that you are going to buy a land in Arizona for constructing your house. Then you will have to deal with numerous problems as you try to gain access to water. You need to make sure that you don’t have to deal with any unwanted struggles as you try to build your house and live in the property. You should conveniently get all the support needed to build a house in your land and live in it. This is why you should carefully check and see how convenient it is for you to get water needed.

If the land is located in a rural area, you will have to face issues with cell coverage as well. Unless you want to live a disconnected life from the society, you need to be mindful about this.

In case if any of the utilities are not available, it will still be possible for you to get them. However, you will have to spend a considerable amount of money out of your pocket to get those utilities. Therefore, you should check how difficult it is and then proceed with the decision to buy land.

• How much preparation will I have to do before I start using the land?

Next you should check and see how much of preparation you will need to do in the land before you can start using it. After purchasing a bare land, you will usually have to do lots of preparations in it before you can start using it for the purpose of constructing a house. This is where it is better to have a basic understanding about the extent of preparation that you will have to do. Based on that, you can understand whether it is worthy to buy the land or not.

If the land that you are going to buy has so many trees and bushes, you should understand how much it would cost for you to clean the land as well. Based on that, you can proceed with understanding how much extra money you will have to spend for constructing the house. However, it will not be possible for you to buy land that is fully cleared as well. This is why you should have a basic understanding about the cost to clear the land and then see how you can minimize it. Or else, you will have to buy a land where the cost of clearance is minimum.

Things would get worse if there are any existing structures in the land, which you will have to remove for the constructing of new land. You will need to look at it and get an estimate before you can proceed. You should not just be focusing on the cost of demolishing, but you should also focus on the cost that you will have to bear in order to remove debris as well.

• What mineral rights do I have?

Mineral rights will be something that you will usually ignore as you purchase a land. It is important for you to understand the mineral rights that you have to the land that you are about to buy as well. You must also check and confirm whether there are any leases given to other parties to proceed with extracting mineral from the land you own.

You will need to get in touch with the land owner and get all detailed information with related to this. That’s because the realtor that you are dealing with would not have all these details. By getting in touch with the owner of the land, you can uncover all facts and make a better decision to proceed.

• What are the features of the land?

As you are spending a considerable amount of money to buy a land and construct a house in it, you need to understand what the features of it are. You will need to understand what those specific features are. Then you will be able to get the most out of those features and receive advantage as you proceed with constructing something on the land.

For example, you should check and see whether there is solid rock in place of dirt at the land where you are going to construct your house. On the other hand, you should check and see whether there are too many trees or too much of sand.

Environmental issues should be taken into consideration as you analyze the features that come along with the land. For example, you should check and see whether there are issues with related to illegal dumping that has taken place in the land.

• Are there any structure limitations in the land?

As you have plans to construct a house on the land, you should understand about the structure limitations that exist on it as well. When you are aware about the structure limitations, you will never run into any problems as you go ahead with building a house on the land. Instead, you will be able to make your life easy as you proceed with building the house as well.

For example, some of the lands are having limitations on where you cannot construct a permanent house. In such a situation, you will only be allowed to proceed with constructing a mobile home on the land. You should carefully look and understand what these limitations are. If you are not in a position to understand all the details, you will need to get in touch with the Regional Building Department. Upon request, they will be able to disclose all important information with related to the limitations that you will have to face when you are building something on the land.

• What is the best use of the property?

Before you buy the land, you need to understand what the best use associated with it is. This would vary from one property to another. No matter what, you need to have a clear picture in mind about the best use associated with the property that you are about to buy. Then you will be able to decide whether it is the ideal property available for you to use and construct a home or not.

Upon understanding the best use of the property, you should compare it with your preferences and confirm that you are in a position to go ahead with your requirement without encountering any problems. This will help you to get amazing results out of the land that you buy as well. This is because you will not run into any major struggles as you buy the land and use that for construction purposes.

Some of the factors on how you will be able to use the property would create a negative impact on the value of it as well. Therefore, you should ask this question and figure out how the land is supposed to be used. If the land is supposed to be used for agricultural properties, you should think twice before you construct a house, unless you are going to use that to have a farm along with a barn house. You should be using your common sense as well to ensure that you get the best type of property needed to fit your requirement.

• How do my neighbors look like?

Without taking a look at the nature of neighbors, you shouldn’t be spending your money to buy a property. It will be another mistake that you would do. After constructing the house, you will have to live with the neighbors. Therefore, you should check and see how the neighbors are. If the neighbors are residential properties, you will not have to worry too much about anything. That’s because it will be possible for you to live with them in harmony.

But there is a factory or any other industrial property in your neighborhood, you need to understand that there is a possibility for your life to be disturbed by it. Hence, you should keep this fact in your mind and buy the property. If possible, you need to try your best to find a property that is located in a good neighborhood. It will be a decision that you will never regret about. That’s because the neighborhood you select will be able to deliver numerous benefits to you. Hence, you shouldn’t think twice before you pick the neighborhood and buy your property.

• What permits do I need?

Last but not least, you need to inquire about the permits that you would need to get in order to proceed with constructing a house. When you get to know about the permits required, you need to make sure that you can get them without a problem. This will deliver a great overall experience to you as you go ahead with property construction.

You should carefully understand the permits that are needed for the construction of your house as well. For example, you will need to clear the land before you can construct a house. Hence, you will need to obtain a permit to proceed with clearing your land. Ten you will need to obtain a permit for the construction. All these permits are going to cost you money. Therefore, you should have a good understanding about the expenses that you will have to deal with as well.

Final words

Ask all these questions before you make a commitment to buy a land. Then you will not have to deal with any major problems as you go ahead with constructing your house on that land. You can get an enjoyable overall experience with it.