3 Things to Think About When Buying Land
Buying land is different from buying a house. Here are three things you should think about when buying a raw plot of land.
Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for sale
Today I’m going to talk about the process of buying land, which can be a little bit different from what many are used when they’re buying a house.There are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to purchasing land.
- Utilities. Typically when you buy a house in a subdivision, you know that you’ll have electricity, water, septic systems, etc. However, when you’re buying a raw piece of land, you don’t know that. You definitely need to determine what the situation with electricity is. See whether or not there are water lines to the property—you may still need to run it from a tap if it’s on one side of a piece of acreage. Most raw land won’t have septic systems in place, so you’ll likely have to install that yourself.
- Exemptions. For example, if a property has an agricultural exemption on it, the taxes will be much, much lower. You can keep this exemption by having hay, livestock, or crops. This exemption can make a huge difference in the taxes you pay.
- Restrictions. Some people think that when you buy a piece of land you can do whatever you want with it. That’s not really the case, however; there are often restrictions. For example, the property I’m at now consists of big acreage plots, but you can’t subdivide it or build a neighborhood on it—it’s restricted to single-family, multiple-home use. Look deeply into the restrictions that have been placed on the land to be sure that your plans for it are feasible.
If you have any questions about this or other real estate-related topics, just let me know. I’d be happy to help.