Purchasing vacant acreage is a little different than purchasing property with a single-family home or business on it. When purchasing acreage, there are a few essential things you need to consider.
#1: Location Potential
When purchasing vacant acreage, you need to consider the potential of the acreage. You need to consider if you will be able to plug into local utilities, for example, and at what cost or if you will have to install your well and septic system. You will want to consider what other types of property are nearby and how that will impact the potential and value of your land down the line. You need to consider how the natural elements will affect the land you are purchasing.
When purchasing vacant acreage, you need to consider the potential of the land for future development and investment purposes.
#2: Soil and Drainage
When purchasing vacant acreage, it is essential to consider soil and drainage issues. You will want to find out if any drainage issues would prevent sewage access. You are going to want to find out what type of water access you have. Can you hook into city utilities? Can you access the creek, or is it part of the city watershed? Are you allowed to drill for water? You need to beware of how water, soil, and drainage issues will impact how you can use the land.
#3: Learn About Mineral Rights
With acreage, it is always important to look into mineral rights. When purchasing property, you want to ensure that you are not just buying the land but also purchasing the land's mineral rights. If you don't purchase the mineral rights to the land, your land could be taken from you without much legal recourse available to you. Therefore, even if minerals have not been found on the land, you will still want to ensure you own the mineral rights to the land.
#4: Zoning
With acreage, you are going to want to know how the property is zoned. How the property is zoned will impact what you can do with it. Don't assume you can get the zoning changed either; that can be an extensive process that is rarely successful.
When looking at vacant acreage, you need to consider the property's potential and how the soil and drainage will impact how you can use the property. In addition, you need to ensure you are buying the mineral rights to the property, and you need to know what the zoning is for the property. These are four things you are going to want to check before investing in any acreage.
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