Buying Land Part ll

I received a call from someone in Raleigh that wanted me to review a piece of property here in Warren County that he was interested in buying. He saw it advertised on-line.

Since I lived here in Warren County, he assumed I was familiar with it. He was correct. In fact, I knew the adjacent property owner. The road that accessed this property for sale, crossed over my friend’s property.

I pulled the MLS information on this property. The first thing that struck me was the asking price. The asking price was about twice the amount for similar property sold in this area.

The second thing that came to my mind was that the MLS sheet stated nothing about any road maintenance agreement, utility accessibility, perk tests or availability of water, etc.

Since the road accessing this property crossed over my friend’s land, I thought I would go see him about any current road maintenance agreement. It is a good thing I did.

My friend said there was no road maintenance agreement and he had no intention of giving one. There was no utility right of way either and he had no intention of granting one.

He said someone could buy the land, build a house on it, and dig a well, assuming there is water on it. But he said they would have to have solar energy as no utility wires were going to cross over his property.

When I called the listing agent about this, he was unaware of the information I gave him. He was a Raleigh-Durham listing agent, unfamiliar with property in this area. When I called the buyer, he was shocked as he was ready to buy this property. It seemed he was buying to move away from urban and suburban areas because of COVID-19.

I shared with you in my April blog what you should look for when buying land. There is still an interest in land because of COVID-19 but you should look before you leap and deal with a knowledgeable agent.

As a quick reminder without going into detail, you should know (1) if the property is land-locked, (2) the topography, shape and size of the property, (3) its previous and current use, (4) is water, sewage and utilities available, (5) any zoning and set-backs issues, (6) is it in a flood zone, wet-lands area, (7) any restrictions, (8) taxes, (9) any contaminants been store or buried on property, (10) how many days on market (DOM), (11) and of course any road maintenance agreements.

I am sure there are other things to look for, but these are the ones that now come to my mind.

Whether you are buying or selling land, a home or farm, give us a call and let us talk before you leap. You will be glad you did. Call us at 252-257-4822 or visit our website at www.cansellnow.com.