Buy raw land and make it buildable: access, water, septic, power, permits
A parcel evaluated before purchase on the five things that decide buildability — legal access, perc or engineered septic, water, utility distance, and zoning — the tests ordered under a contingency, the true cost to a buildable pad estimated, and the permits sequenced so nothing is bought that cannot be built on.
Free preview: 3 of 20 steps
Work through them in the real run view, exactly as a buyer does. No account, no payment, nothing saved.
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Who it's for
Buyers of rural or exurban US acreage who want to build a home, cabin, or homestead and are looking at listings that promise 'utilities at road.' Also for anyone who already holds a cheap parcel under contract and needs to prove, before closing, whether it can ever be built on. Not for buyers of developed lots with all services at the curb, and not for commercial or subdivision-scale development.
About this playbook
A parcel priced below its neighbors is usually cheap for a reason — missing legal access, failing soils, no water, a power line a mile away, or zoning that forbids the intended build. This guide takes a buyer of raw land through the five checks that decide buildability before the money moves: legal access, perc or engineered septic, water, utility distance, and zoning. The path runs from the desk research that costs nothing, through the offer written with a testing contingency, to the ground tests and written utility quotes run inside that window, the full cost of the buildable pad, and the permit sequence after closing. County rules govern most of the path, so every step names the local authority to ask and the document to get in writing. It does not cover buying a house with services already in place, commercial development, or the design and construction of the home itself.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 3 of 20 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Verify legal access and zoning on paper
4 stepsPhase 2: Write the offer with a testing contingency
3 stepsPhase 3: Run the ground tests inside the window
4 stepsPhase 4: Cost the buildable pad and decide
4 stepsPhase 5: Close, then sequence the site permits
5 steps
Details
What you need first
A candidate parcel identified, either under contract or ready for an offer; money to pay for the tests — roughly US$1,500–8,000 — that you are willing to lose if the parcel fails; access to county records, online or in person; and the willingness to run the tests inside a contingency period rather than after closing.
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