What to Look for When Buying Land A Complete Guide

December 9, 2025 Ross Amato

When you're trying to figure out what to look for when buying land, it really all comes down to four critical pillars: legal access, zoning rules, the physical land itself, and utility availability.

Getting these four things right is the difference between a great investment and just buying a pretty piece of scenery you can't use. Think of it as your pre-flight checklist before taking off on your land ownership journey.

Your Essential Land Buying Checklist

Investing in land is one of the most exciting things you can do. It's a blank canvas for your dreams, whether that’s a weekend getaway, an off-grid homestead, or just a smart long-term asset.

But unlike buying a house where you can see most of the problems, the biggest issues with raw land are often hiding in plain sight—buried in legal documents and county regulations. A beautiful property is only as good as your legal right to access it and use it the way you want.

This guide gives you a simple blueprint, breaking down the whole complex process into four easy-to-manage areas. Once you understand these, you can look at any piece of land with confidence and avoid those expensive, frustrating surprises.

The Four Pillars of a Smart Land Purchase

Before you fall in love with a panoramic view, you’ve got to do your homework. These are the core areas that need your full attention:

Legal & Physical Access: Can you actually get to your property? Legally and physically, year-round? Some parcels look easy to reach but don't have a deeded right-of-way, which means they're legally landlocked.
Zoning & Land Use Rules: What will the county let you do there? Zoning rules are what determine if you can build a home, park an RV, or just use it for weekend camping.
Physical Characteristics: Does the land's terrain, soil, and water situation work for your plans? A steep, rocky slope or poor soil can make building a simple cabin wildly expensive.
Utility & Infrastructure Availability: How are you going to get power, water, and internet? Bringing utilities out to a remote property can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, so you need to know what you’re getting into.

This flowchart breaks down these four core pieces of a successful land purchase. It shows how access, zoning, physical traits, and utilities all form the foundation you need to check.

As you can see, a good purchase depends on confirming each of these factors before you commit. If you want to dive even deeper into this process, check out our full guide on how to be a smart land investor doing your homework before buying raw land.

To help you keep track, here's a quick reference checklist summarizing the most important questions for each pillar.

Quick Reference Land Buying Checklist

Factor Category	Key Questions to Ask	Why It Matters
Access	Do I have a legal, deeded right-of-way? Are the roads physically passable year-round?	Without legal access, you can't get to your land. Poor physical access can cut you off during bad weather.
Zoning	What is the official zoning designation? Can I build a home, park an RV, or camp here?	Zoning dictates what you're legally allowed to do. Assuming is a recipe for disaster.
Physical	What is the topography like? Is it in a floodplain? What is the soil quality?	Steep slopes, flood zones, or bad soil can make your plans impossible or incredibly costly.
Utilities	Where are the nearest power, water, and sewer lines? Is cell service and internet available?	Extending utilities can cost a fortune. Off-grid systems are an option but have their own costs.

This checklist isn't exhaustive, but it covers the big-ticket items that can make or break your land-buying experience.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we work to make this whole journey simpler. Our listings provide clear, upfront information, and our straightforward owner financing lets you bypass the headaches of traditional bank loans. With low, fixed prices and a process you can complete entirely online, we make owning your own piece of the American West transparent and achievable.

Securing Legal Access to Your Property

Imagine finding the perfect piece of land—the views are incredible, the terrain is just right, and the price is a steal. You even see a dirt road leading right to it. But what happens if that road crosses a neighbor’s property, and one day they decide to put up a gate?

This is where one of the most critical parts of buying land comes in: understanding the difference between seeing a path and having the legal right to use it. A beautiful parcel is worthless if you can’t get to it, which is why confirming access is a non-negotiable step on your checklist of what to look for when buying land.

Physical Access vs. Legal Access

It’s a simple but crucial distinction. Physical access is seeing a road or trail that gets you onto the property. Legal access is the official, recorded document that guarantees you can use that road forever, no matter who owns the land around you.

A visible dirt track is a convenience; a deeded right-of-way is a guarantee.

So many first-time buyers make the mistake of assuming that if a road exists, they have the right to use it. This assumption can lead to buying a landlocked property—a parcel with no legal way to reach it without trespassing. It's a massive mistake that can render your investment completely unusable.

How to Confirm You Have Legal Access

Verifying your access isn’t tricky, but it means looking at the right documents, not just driving out to the property. To protect your investment, you need to look for one of these things:

Deeded Easements: An easement is a legal agreement recorded in the property's deed that gives you the right to cross someone else's land to get to yours. This is your proof.
Public Road Frontage: This is the easiest form of access. It means your property line touches a publicly maintained road, like a county road or state highway. County maps will show this clearly.
Plat Maps: When a larger property is split into smaller lots, the county requires a plat map. This map shows the layout of all the new parcels, roads, and any easements created to make sure everyone has access.

The key takeaway is this: an old, well-worn road means nothing without the paperwork to back it up. Your right to access must be written, recorded, and legally binding.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we take this massive hurdle off your plate. We make sure that every property we list has clear, verified legal access before we even offer it for sale. Our listings give you the core information you need, so you can focus on your vision for the land instead of worrying about how you'll get to it.

With our low, fixed prices and simple online buying process, you can confidently find your property knowing this critical foundation is already in place. We've done the homework on access so you don't have to.

Understanding Zoning and Land Use Rules

Before you can build anything on your land, you have to know the rules. Every single piece of property in the country operates under a local rulebook called zoning. Think of it as the county’s official job description for your land—it spells out exactly what you can and can’t do there.

Ignoring zoning is one of the biggest and most expensive mistakes a first-time land buyer can make. You might have a perfect vision for a cozy cabin, but if the property is zoned strictly for agricultural use, you could be stuck with a beautiful piece of land you can never build on. This is a non-negotiable step in figuring out what to look for when buying land.

Your dream for the property has to line up with what’s legally possible. The good news? Checking the rules is pretty straightforward, and doing it upfront will save you from a world of headaches later.

Decoding Common Zoning Classifications

Zoning codes can feel like a foreign language at first, but they usually boil down to a handful of common categories. The exact terms can vary from one county to the next, but you'll almost always see some version of these:

Residential (R): This is land set aside for housing. It often gets more specific, like R-1 for single-family homes, and usually comes with rules about minimum lot sizes.
Agricultural (A or AG): Land meant primarily for farming, ranching, or timber. You can often build a main house on AG-zoned land, but there might be strings attached regarding its size, location, or other non-farm activities.
Recreational (REC): This zoning is geared toward things like camping, hunting, and seasonal cabins. These areas often have strict rules against permanent structures or living there year-round, making them great for a getaway but not a full-time home.
Commercial (C): As the name implies, this is for businesses like stores or offices. It's not something most rural land buyers are after, but it’s good to know if a neighboring property has this designation.

The rules don't just stop at what you can build. They also cover things like setbacks (how far from your property line a structure must be), building height restrictions, and even whether you can park an RV on the land long-term.

Understanding the property's specific zoning isn't just a good idea—it's the only way to know if your plans are even possible. One quick call to the county planning department can literally save you from a multi-thousand-dollar mistake.

Beyond Zoning: Covenants and Deed Restrictions

On top of the county's rules, some properties come with their own private set of regulations. These are usually called Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) or deed restrictions. You’ll find them most often in planned subdivisions, and they can be even more restrictive than the local zoning laws.

For instance, CC&Rs might dictate:

The minimum square footage for any home built.
The specific types of building materials you're allowed to use.
Whether you can have livestock or certain kinds of fences.
Limitations on running a business from your home.

These rules are legally binding and "run with the land," which means they stick with the property forever and apply to every future owner—including you. It's absolutely critical to check the property's deed for any mention of CC&Rs before you buy, just to make sure no private rules will get in the way of your plans.

Verifying Zoning and Land Use

Figuring out a property’s zoning is a simple, direct process. Your best friend here is the county's Planning and Zoning Department. All it usually takes is a quick phone call or a visit to their website with the property’s parcel number (APN) to get an official answer.

The real estate market is always moving, which makes doing your homework more important than ever. For example, in 2025, global real estate transaction volumes saw a strong rebound, with major markets showing a 19% year-over-year increase, totaling $739 billion. This boom, fueled by stabilizing interest rates and high demand for residential land, shows why buyers need to be extra careful in checking a property's infrastructure and regulatory approvals. You can read more about these global real estate trends on nuveen.com.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we simplify this part of the process. We include key zoning information right in our listings and focus on properties that are ideal for building, recreation, or off-grid living. With our low, fixed prices and straightforward owner financing, you can buy with confidence, knowing you have the foundational info you need to get started on your dream.

Evaluating the Physical Qualities of Your Land

While the legal paperwork is the invisible foundation of a good land deal, the land itself tells the most important story. Its physical traits—the hills, the soil, the water—are what will ultimately decide what you can do with your property and how much it’s going to cost. This physical check-up is a huge part of what to look for when buying land, making sure the dream you see online is just as good when your boots are on the ground.

Think of this step like a home inspection, but for raw land. You wouldn’t buy a house without checking the foundation, and you shouldn’t buy land without examining the ground your future will be built on. A beautiful view from a steep, rocky cliff might be impossible to build on, while that perfectly flat pasture could be a hidden wetland that stops construction in its tracks.

Taking the time to understand the land’s physical nature is your best insurance against expensive surprises. A few hours of research now can easily save you tens of thousands of dollars and a world of frustration later.

Reading the Lay of the Land: Topography

The shape of the land’s surface is called its topography. Is it flat as a pancake, gently rolling, or steeply sloped? This one factor has a massive impact on everything from building costs to what you can even use the land for. When you’re evaluating a property, a key part is understanding what topography is in geography, because it dictates what’s possible.

A steep grade might offer dramatic views, but it can make putting in a foundation, or even just a driveway, incredibly expensive. On the flip side, a perfectly flat parcel in a low-lying spot could be prone to flooding, turning your slice of paradise into a seasonal swamp.

You don't need to be a surveyor to get a good sense of the terrain. A few free online tools are your best friend here:

Google Earth Pro: This is a fantastic desktop tool that lets you "fly" over the property and see a 3D model of the terrain. It’s the next best thing to being there.
County GIS Maps: Most counties have Geographic Information System (GIS) maps online. These often include topographic layers with elevation lines that show you exactly where the steep slopes and potential floodplains are, right from your computer.

Understanding What Lies Beneath: Soil and Water

The ground under your feet is every bit as important as the view. The type of soil you have will affect everything from pouring a stable foundation to planting a small garden.

Bad soil, like expansive clay that swells or shallow bedrock just below the surface, can’t properly support a structure or a septic system. A percolation test—or "perc test"—is a must if you plan to install septic. This test simply measures how fast water drains through the soil. If it fails, you likely won't get a permit for a standard septic system, which can stop your building plans cold.

Your land's ability to handle water is non-negotiable. Whether it's the soil's drainage for a septic system or the availability of a water source for a well, water dictates what's possible.

Along those same lines, you have to know where your water will come from. Does the property have a spring, a creek, or a high water table suitable for a well? In many parts of the West, water rights are a tangled mess and are often sold separately from the land itself. Never assume that seeing water on a property means you have the legal right to use it.

The broader market shows just how valuable these physical traits are. Real estate is the largest store of wealth globally, projected to hit $393.3 trillion in 2025. Agricultural land, which is totally dependent on good soil and water, makes up a huge piece of this, valued at $47.9 trillion after 7.9% growth in 2024. It’s clear that land with good dirt and reliable water isn't just useful—it's a fundamentally valuable asset.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we simplify the start of your land buying journey. Our listings provide the essential details, and with our low, fixed prices, you can confidently pick a property. This lets you focus your energy on the exciting part—exploring the physical potential of your new investment.

Solving the Puzzle of Utilities and Infrastructure

We tend to take power, water, and internet for granted in our daily lives. But when you’re looking at a beautiful, wide-open piece of raw land, those basics are anything but guaranteed.

Figuring out the reality of connecting your property to essential services is one of the most critical parts of your due diligence. This isn't just a minor detail—it's a major budget item that can easily add tens of thousands of dollars to your project. Seeing a power pole down the road and assuming it’ll be easy to connect is a classic, and often costly, mistake.

On-Grid vs. Off-Grid: What It Really Means

As you browse land listings, you'll see terms like "utilities at the property line" or "off-grid potential." The difference between them is massive for your budget and your plans.

Utilities at the Property Line: This is what most buyers hope for. It means services like electricity and water are physically available right at the edge of your parcel. But it's not free—you're still on the hook for the cost of trenching and running those lines from the boundary to wherever you plan to build.
Off-Grid Potential: This is a nice way of saying there are no public utilities anywhere close. You'll be responsible for creating your own power, water, and waste systems from scratch. While this offers incredible freedom, it requires a serious upfront investment.

The single most important factor is the distance to the nearest utility connection. Extending power lines can cost thousands of dollars per pole. If the closest hookup is a mile away, the expense can be absolutely staggering.

The Real Costs of Connecting Your Land

Getting a raw piece of land ready for a home involves three big-ticket infrastructure items. If you're starting from scratch, you’ll need to budget for all three.

Water Source: If you can't tap into a public water line, you'll need to drill a well. The cost swings wildly based on how deep you have to go and the geology of your land. In many parts of the West, it’s smart to budget $15,000 to $30,000 just for the well and pump system.
Septic System: For wastewater, a septic system is the standard solution. This isn't as simple as just digging a hole. It requires a soil "perc test" to make sure the ground can drain properly, followed by excavation and installation. This can easily run from $10,000 to $25,000 or more, depending on your soil and local health codes.
Power Source: Extending the grid can be surprisingly expensive. For many, a modern solar power system with batteries is a more affordable long-term solution. While the technology has gotten much better, a robust system that can power a home is still a significant initial investment.

Knowing the full cost of utilities isn't about getting discouraged; it's about going in with your eyes open. When you budget for these expenses accurately, you prevent your dream property from turning into a financial nightmare.

This is exactly why so many land buyers are embracing modern solutions. Solar power and satellite internet services like Starlink have made off-grid living more comfortable and connected than ever before. If that path sounds interesting, you can get some great insights from our article on living off-grid in Costilla County, which breaks down the practical steps.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we make a point to provide clear information on utility access in our listings. By offering land with straightforward, low fixed prices and owner financing, we make it easier for you to plan for these essential infrastructure costs, giving you a clear path to building your dream.

Your Simple Path to Land Ownership

You’ve done the homework. You know what to look for, from road access to zoning quirks. Now comes the final step: the purchase. This is where most people get tripped up, facing a wall of bank loan applications and complicated closing processes. We believe this should be the easiest part of the journey, not the hardest.

At Dollarlandstore.com, we’ve built our entire process around knocking down those traditional barriers. It’s all about transparency and simplicity, making sure anyone can own land, no matter their credit score or real estate experience. The path to getting the keys to your own property is clear and direct.

A Refreshingly Simple Purchase Process

We've stripped out all the usual complications. When you find a property you love on our site, you can lock it in with just a few clicks. It’s really that simple.

Every listing has a clear, fixed price. That means no surprise fees, no last-minute changes, and zero haggling. What you see is exactly what you pay, so you can budget with total confidence. This isn't just a policy for us; it’s a core part of our mission to make land ownership fair and straightforward.

We’ve replaced the stress of complex paperwork and the uncertainty of financing with a simple, secure, and direct online process. Our goal is to put the keys to your own piece of land directly in your hands.

This straightforward approach is more important than ever. The global land market is a big deal, valued at around USD 490 billion in 2024 and expected to climb to USD 664.4 billion by 2030. That growth shows just how much demand there is for land, which makes finding a simple and affordable way to buy it even more valuable.

Owner Financing That Works for You

Maybe the biggest advantage we offer is our owner financing. We finance our properties ourselves, which means you get to completely skip the frustrating and often disappointing process of trying to get a traditional bank loan.

No Credit Checks: Your credit score doesn't matter here. We believe everyone deserves a shot at owning land.
Low Down Payments: You can get started with a very small initial investment, making ownership incredibly accessible.
Affordable Monthly Payments: We set up payment plans that are designed to be manageable and fit right into your budget.

This opens the door for so many people who thought owning land was just a dream. As you wrap up your purchase, understanding the nuances of a warranty deed is another key step to secure your rights and ensure the property title is clean and protected. To see just how powerful this financing model is, check out our guide on how seller financing paves the road to land ownership for you.

With us, your path to land ownership is finally clear, simple, and secure.

Your Questions Answered

Even with the best guide, buying land for the first time brings up plenty of questions. It's only natural. We've heard just about all of them, so here are a few of the most common ones we get, along with some straight answers to help you move forward.

How Much Do I Really Need for a Down Payment?

This is one of the biggest hurdles for most people. If you go the old-school route and try to get a bank loan for raw land, they often want a huge chunk of cash upfront—sometimes as much as 20-50%. Banks just see empty land as a bigger risk than a house, so they expect you to have a lot more skin in the game.

That’s where our owner financing completely changes the picture. At Dollarlandstore.com, we wanted to get rid of that barrier. You can secure a property with a very small down payment, often just a document fee. You don't need a massive savings account to get started.

Can I Actually Buy Land with Bad Credit?

Yes, absolutely. This is another spot where our approach is the total opposite of a traditional lender. Banks will comb through every detail of your credit history, and a low score is usually an automatic deal-breaker for a land loan.

We believe everyone deserves a shot at owning their own piece of land, no matter what their credit report says. That's why we offer owner financing with no credit checks. Your financial past shouldn't stop you from building your future.

What’s the Difference Between "Raw" and "Unimproved" Land?

People often use these terms to mean the same thing, but there's a small difference that’s good to know.

Raw Land: Think of this as land that’s completely untouched. It’s in its natural state with no roads, no utilities, and no clearing.
Unimproved Land: This parcel might have had a little work done, like a rough dirt road graded for access, but it still won’t have utilities like water, power, or a septic system.

Both types will need work before you can build, but unimproved land gives you a tiny head start. Understanding which you're looking at helps you budget more accurately for what it will take to make it usable.

How Can I Double-Check Things Like Zoning and Access?

We put as much information as we can in our listings, but we always encourage buyers to go straight to the source for peace of mind. Your single best friend in this process is the Planning and Zoning department for the county where the land is located.

Just grab the property’s parcel number (APN) from the listing, give them a call, or check their website. You can ask them directly about what the zoning allows, if there are any building restrictions, and confirm the details on legal access. It’s a simple step that ensures your vision for the property lines up perfectly with the county's rules.

Ready to find your own piece of the American West without all the usual headaches? At Dollarlandstore.com, we keep it simple with low, fixed pricing and easy owner financing. Take a look at what’s available today and start your land ownership journey.

Browse our land inventory now at Dollarlandstore.com

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