How to Buy Residential Lots and Land

new home construction site
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Before you build a home, you need to buy a residential lot or land acreage to build on. Remember the adage of real estate when choosing the lot for your home: "Location, location, location." We've put together a list of essential things to consider before you buy a lot.

Key Takeaways

  • If you plan to build a home, you will need to buy residential land, which requires different considerations from when you are simply purchasing a home.
  • Unlike an established home, land may not have preexisting water, sewer, electric, or phone services already set up.
  • Other key considerations include public road access, deed restrictions, environmental hazards, boundary surveys, and financing your loan.
  • Be sure you work with an agent who is experienced in dealing with residential land.

Service Considerations

Buying a vacant lot or land brings opportunities, but it also brings headaches and challenges that you don't experience when you buy an established home. Here are things to consider when it comes to essential services:

  • Before you jump into buying land, find out whether city or community water and sewer connections are available on the lot or land.
  • If sewer hookups are not available, make your offer to buy land contingent on the ability to install a septic system rated for the number of bedrooms you require.
  • Find out whether other homebuying contract contingencies are advisable for land purchases. For instance, in some areas, water rights do not convey with land, which means you might not be able to dig a well.
  • Make sure that electricity and phone service are available at the property. Look into cable service if that is a priority.

Access and Building Considerations

Once you know you can obtain essential services, you might be ready to build. Before you start, there are a few considerations when it comes to land access and zoning.

If the land you wish to buy is not accessible by a public road, verify that a road-maintenance agreement is in place. This document states that everyone on the road agrees to help with its upkeep. There should be a deeded right-of-way in place for land not accessible by a public road. The deed should give you and future owners the legal right to access the land, known as an "easement." Study the deed to determine whether other people or tracts of land have been granted easements to use your land in any way.

Check the property's deed restrictions to make sure the type of residence you plan to build is allowed. For example, some areas do not allow manufactured housing. If the lot is in a planned development, ask for a copy of the restrictive covenants. That's where you'll find restrictions for maximum house size, whether additional structures are allowed, and other limitations. You should ask the city or county whether zoning changes are anticipated for the area, or whether there's a plan to build new roads or widen existing ones.

If there are environmental hazards on the land, such as old buried oil or gas tanks, decide whether you are willing to remove them, or whether you will ask the seller to take care of removal and cleanup.

Decide whether you want a new boundary survey. Surveys are standard in some areas but rarely required in others. They're nearly always a good idea.

Note

Don't be turned off by the terms "development" and "subdivision." If you're from a city, you might associate both words with small lots and side-by-side homes, but in rural areas, a subdivision lot might be 10-plus acres in size.

Financing a Land Purchase

Not everyone has the cash on hand to buy land outright. If you do not, you will need to find financing. One option is a land loan, for which the land serves as collateral. If something goes wrong, the lender can seize and sell the land to recover most of their investment.

Empty land is risky for lenders, though. After all, if money becomes tight, you're more likely to pay for your current home and other immediate expenses than an empty lot. To minimize risk, lenders may require a shorter loan term, a higher down payment (20% or more), and a good-to-excellent credit score.

You can finance land in other ways. For example, you can apply for an unsecured personal loan, but those tend to come with higher interest rates and shorter terms. You also could apply for a home equity loan or line of credit, each of which uses your home as collateral. The downside with those is that if something goes wrong, your home could be put at risk.

Selecting an Agent to Help You Buy a Residential Lot

It comes as a surprise to some homebuyers that not every real estate agent is knowledgeable about buying a residential lot or land. Land is a specialty practice. Don't make the mistake of believing that any agent can help you buy land just because they have a real estate license.

From filling out the purchase contract correctly to negotiating specialty clauses and finding a construction lender, an agent with a fair number of residential land closings under their belt will be an invaluable resource over your typical resale agent. You deserve a land specialist for this type of transaction.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where can you buy a lot of land for cheap?

Out of all the regions in the U.S., the Midwest offers the cheapest average home sale price. The Northeast is the most expensive region. This calculation uses new, single-family home sale data, but it gives you a snapshot of the relative cost of housing.

What is the average lot size for a house?

Local authorities use zoning laws to determine lot size minimums and maximums. The average lot size for all single-family detached homes sold in the U.S. in 2019 was just below 8,200 square feet.

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Sources
The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Census Bureau. "New Residential Sales: Historical Data," Download "Median and Average Sales Price of Houses Sold by Region."

  2. National Association of Home Builders. "Median Single-Family Lot Size Hits Record Low."

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