Key Takeaways
A complete 22-point checklist for inspecting any raw parcel before you buy, so you catch deal-killers before they cost you.
- The three items that sink most land deals are no legal access, no septic feasibility, and an undisclosed flood zone or wetland.
- Confirm clear title, liens, and the exact legal description first, because everything else is worthless if the seller cannot convey ownership.
- Legal access is not the same as physical access. Verify a recorded easement or road frontage, not just a driveway.
- Most checks are free using county records and federal tools: the FEMA flood map, the National Wetlands Inventory, and the NRCS soil survey.
- Run the checklist during your contingency period and keep your earnest money protected until every item clears.
Buying raw land is simpler than buying a house in most ways, except one: the problems are invisible until you dig. A parcel can look perfect and still be landlocked, unbuildable, or sitting in a floodplain.
This land due diligence checklist covers 22 specific things to verify before you buy, grouped by category, with the exact free tools for each one. Work through it before you remove contingencies and nothing at closing will surprise you.
Quick verdict: never buy raw land without written contingencies and time to run this checklist. Start with title and legal access, because those two failures cannot be fixed after closing. If a parcel clears title, access, zoning, and buildability, most other issues are price adjustments rather than deal-killers. When something serious surfaces, renegotiate or walk while your earnest money is still protected.
What Is Raw Land Due Diligence?
Due diligence is the investigation you run between signing a purchase agreement and closing, to confirm the land is what the seller claims and fits your plans. On raw land it is the single most important part of the deal.
Unlike a house, a vacant parcel has no inspection report, no disclosure about the roof or the wiring, and often no visible clue about what lies beneath the surface. You verify ownership, access, zoning, utilities, and physical condition yourself, mostly through public records that cost nothing to search.
Start by screening listings on a vacant land marketplace that shows parcel data upfront, then confirm every detail independently before removing contingencies. Never treat a listing as verification.
How Much Time Do You Have for Due Diligence?
Your window is the contingency period written into the purchase agreement, commonly 30 to 60 days for land. Protect it in the contract.
Make the offer contingent on satisfactory due diligence and keep the earnest money refundable until the period ends. If the checklist turns up a deal-killer, you walk without losing the deposit. Our guide on how to make an offer on vacant land covers the contingency language that actually protects you.
Never waive contingencies to win a competitive deal on raw land. The moment you do, every risk on this list transfers to you.
The 22-Point Land Buying Checklist
Work through every item before closing. They are grouped into six categories, from ownership to physical condition.
Ownership and Title (Items 1 to 4)
Nothing else matters if the seller cannot deliver clean title, so start here.
1. Confirm the seller owns clear title. Order a title search from a title company to verify the seller legally owns the parcel and can convey it. ALTA reports that fraud and forgery claims, including seller impersonation, average over $143,000 per claim, which is precisely what a title search exists to catch.
2. Check for liens, back taxes, and judgments. The title search should surface mortgages, tax liens, mechanic’s liens, and judgments attached to the land. All must be cleared before or at closing.
3. Verify the legal description and APN. Confirm the parcel’s legal description and Assessor’s Parcel Number match the deed and the land you believe you are buying. A mismatch can mean you are buying a different or smaller parcel than the one you walked.
4. Review the deed type and any restrictions. Know whether you are receiving a warranty deed or a quitclaim, and check for deed restrictions, covenants, or an HOA that limits what you can do with the land.
Access and Easements (Items 5 to 7)
A parcel you cannot legally reach is close to worthless, so verify access carefully.
5. Confirm legal road access, not just physical access. A driveway or a trail is not legal access. An easement is a recorded legal right to cross someone else’s land, and without one a parcel is landlocked no matter how easy it looks to drive onto. Verify road frontage on a public road or a recorded access easement in the county records.
6. Check for easements across your land. Look for utility, access, or drainage easements that let others cross or use your parcel, because they limit where you can build.
7. Ask who maintains the access road. If access runs over a private or shared road, find out who maintains it and whether a road maintenance agreement exists. That cost falls on owners, and an unmaintained road is a recurring bill.
Boundaries and Survey (Items 8 to 9)
You need to know exactly what you are buying and where it sits.
8. Get or review a boundary survey. A current survey confirms the boundaries and the actual acreage. Tax records and listings are often approximate, and an acreage error changes the value directly.
9. Check for encroachments and setbacks. Confirm no fences, structures, or roads cross the boundary, and check the county’s setback rules, which dictate how far from each edge you can build.
Zoning and Allowed Use (Items 10 to 12)
Zoning decides what you can legally do with the land, so confirm it with the county rather than the listing.
10. Verify zoning and allowed uses. Zoning is the county or municipal rule set governing what a parcel can be used for. Call or check the planning department directly. Do not rely on the seller, the listing, or the tax record.
11. Confirm your specific intended use is allowed. Whether you plan a house, a mobile home, hunting, farming, a short-term rental, or a business, confirm the zoning and any overlay districts permit that exact use. “Residential” does not automatically mean a mobile home is allowed.
12. Check minimum lot size and building requirements. Some areas set a minimum buildable lot size or require specific permits, which can block your plans on an otherwise fine parcel.
Utilities and Buildability (Items 13 to 16)
If you plan to build, confirm the parcel can support it. This is where rural deals most often fall apart.
13. Check electric availability and hookup cost. Find out whether power is at the road or how far a line must run, because extending service can cost thousands of dollars per pole and that number is rarely in the listing.
14. Confirm water: public or well. Verify whether public water is available or whether you would need a well, and ask the county or neighbors about typical well depth and success rates in the area.
15. Confirm sewer or septic feasibility. Check for public sewer, or whether the soil can support a septic system. This requires a percolation test, and a failed perc test can make a parcel unbuildable for a home.
16. Check internet, cell coverage, and gas. Confirm broadband or cell service and any gas availability. These matter for living there and they matter again for resale.
Environmental and Physical Condition (Items 17 to 20)
Use free federal tools to catch environmental issues before they catch you.
17. Check the FEMA flood zone. Look up the parcel on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center to see its flood zone. A high-risk zone raises insurance costs and limits what you can build.
18. Check for wetlands. Search the National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands Mapper from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Mapped wetlands restrict development and trigger permitting requirements.
19. Review soil quality and drainage. Use the USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey to check soil type, which affects perc tests, foundations, and farming potential. Soil is also the best early predictor of whether a perc test will pass.
20. Assess topography and contamination risk. Note steep slopes, drainage patterns, and any sign of dumping or contamination, especially near former industrial or agricultural sites.
Rights and Financial (Items 21 to 22)
Finally, confirm what rights come with the land and what it costs to own.
21. Check mineral and water rights. Confirm whether mineral and water rights convey with the sale or were severed by a prior owner, because a severed mineral estate changes both value and use.
22. Verify property taxes and true value. Check current and past property taxes, confirm no back taxes are owed, and compare the asking price against what comparable parcels are worth so you are not overpaying for a parcel that just passed every other check.
What Are the 3 Deal-Killers Most Buyers Miss?
Every item matters, but three failures cannot be fixed after closing and they end more land deals than everything else combined. Treat them as pass or fail.
No legal access. A landlocked parcel without a recorded easement can leave you unable to reach or use land you own outright. Negotiating an easement afterward means negotiating with a neighbor who knows you have no alternative.
No septic feasibility. If the soil fails a perc test and there is no public sewer, you may not be able to build a home at all. The parcel is not worthless, but it is worth a different number.
A floodplain or mapped wetland. These limit building, raise insurance costs, and shrink the buyer pool when you eventually resell. That third effect is the one buyers underestimate.
If a parcel fails any of these, walk, unless the price and your actual plans genuinely account for it.
What Should You Do If Due Diligence Finds a Problem?
Finding a problem is a win, not a setback, because you found it while you still had options. You have three moves.
Renegotiate the price to reflect the issue, ask the seller to fix it before closing, or walk away with your earnest money intact because your contingencies held. Honest sellers expect due diligence and will usually work with you, because the next buyer will find the same thing.
The only bad outcome is discovering the problem after you own the land, which is exactly what this checklist prevents. If something surfaces and you are not sure how serious it is, get in touch and we will tell you whether it is a price adjustment or a walk-away.
What Comes After Due Diligence?
Once every item clears, the rest of the purchase is procedural. Financing, if you need it, and then closing.
Raw land financing works differently from a mortgage, because most banks treat unimproved parcels as weak collateral. Our guide on how to finance raw land covers the realistic options including owner financing.
Then it is title work, deed preparation, and recording. Our walkthrough of how to close on vacant land covers what the title company does and what you sign.
If you are earlier in the process than this checklist assumes, start with the full guide to buying vacant land, which covers everything from searching to closing.
And if the parcel is rural specifically, what to look for when buying rural land covers the factors that only apply once you are past the end of the pavement.
The Short Version
Due diligence is what separates confident land buyers from regretful ones, and almost all of it is free. Title and access first, because they cannot be fixed. Then zoning and buildability, because they decide what the land is for. Then the federal tools, because they are free and they take twenty minutes.
Ready to browse parcels with the data upfront? Start free today and work this checklist against a real listing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important thing to check when buying raw land?
Legal access and clear title. A parcel with no recorded road access or easement can be impossible to use or resell, and a clouded title means the seller cannot legally convey the land. Verify both first through a title search and county records, because neither can be fixed after you close.
How long does due diligence take on raw land?
Typically 30 to 60 days, matching the contingency period in your purchase agreement. Simple parcels with clear records go faster, while rural land needing a survey, perc test, or well research takes longer. Always secure enough time in the contract to finish every check before your earnest money becomes non-refundable.
Can I check a parcel’s flood zone and wetlands for free?
Yes. Use the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the flood zone and the National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands Mapper for wetlands, both free. For soil and perc potential, use the NRCS Web Soil Survey. These federal tools screen a parcel’s biggest physical risks before you spend money on a survey or a perc test.
What is a perc test and why does it matter?
A percolation test measures how fast soil absorbs water, which determines whether the land can support a septic system. On rural parcels with no public sewer, a failed perc test can make the land unbuildable for a home. If you plan to build, make your purchase contingent on a passing perc test.
Do mineral rights come with raw land?
Not always. In many areas, particularly the West and energy-producing states, a prior owner may have severed and kept the mineral rights, so surface and minerals are owned separately. Confirm during your title search whether mineral and water rights convey, because it affects both value and use.
Resources and Further Reading
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center lets you look up any parcel’s flood zone by address, for free.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service: National Wetlands Inventory Wetlands Mapper shows mapped wetlands nationwide.
- USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey provides soil data affecting septic feasibility, foundations, and farming.
- ALTA: Title Insurance Protects Property Rights covers deed fraud, seller impersonation, and what a title search catches.
