Advice for Buying Land With A Lot of Acreage

Perhaps you’ve been thinking about buying some land. You might even like to buy a large amount of “acreage.” What’s some good advice on that subject?

A lot of people read a couple lines in an advertisement and it sounds amazing. And the price? So reasonable, too! It can be quite easy to buy land without doing any research or homework, but just like with all pieces of real estate, pitfalls should be considered before money changes hands.

Key Questions to Ask When Buying Land With Acreage

When you’re considering buying a large amount of land, there are certain key questions to ask the person selling it. For instance, is there road access or not? You should ask about access rights. You want to make sure you’d have permanent, legal and transferable access specified in the deed. Otherwise, you might be buying land that you couldn’t access by road, and that could create all sorts of problems. Access is extremely important. You’ll also want to find out who is responsible for the maintenance of “the road.” Is it your responsibility? A neighbor’s? The local municipality’s?

Next, consider things like water, sewer and drainage concerns. If there’s a river or stream on the property, would you have the right to use it– to take water from it for your own use? Maybe it’s controlled by someone else! If you wanted to build an outhouse on the property, could you? Is there a public sewer system available, or not? Could/would a septic system be needed?

Have you heard of easements? These are considered rights and privileges that a person/municipality can have in or on another person’s land. Maybe someone needs to build a road or hang some power lines over the property you’d buy, and they’d need to get your permission… or vice versa. It’s a good idea to ask about easements before buying land.

Would the land you buy have (or be able to access) public utilities? Know about power availability before you buy land.

Finally, ask about mineral and timber rights. Ideally, you want them to “come with your land purchase” because they could prove to be very profitable.

If you’re looking for homes with acreage for sale in the South Carolina countryside, learn how the brokers at Metcalf Land Company can help.