What are you Planning to do with your Vacant Land?

Now that you have started to research some of the benefits of owning and developing your own land, we are going to review the next step of the process, planning what to do with your land. And the best place to start is with the end in mind. The options are endless, but this is where you get a chance to really have some fun and explore what your options are and what will work best for you.

Are you looking to buy land as an investment and wait for the value to appreciate? Are you looking to build a house or a cabin and live on the property full time, or rent it out? Or are you looking to develop the property and flip it for profit? These are just a couple of options among many, and you could deploy multiple strategies for the same property over an extended period of time, but the important point here is that you need to have the endgame in mind from the beginning to help guide you in your search for the perfect property.

Develop your Dream Property Checklist

Now that you have identified your end goal(s), let’s work from there. Does your strategy require that you be within a certain proximity to a major city? Or is it dependent on the geography and climate? Mountains or desert? Waterfront or in the foothills? A common saying in real estate is that it is all about “Location, Location, Location.” If you are looking to build a yurt on your property and rent it out on Airbnb to people that will use it for backcountry skiing or snowboarding, your location and climate are going to be really important. If you are looking to invest as a more speculative play and flip the land at a later date, ensuring that you are in a location that is in the projected path of growth will be paramount. The more clarity you can get around the location, the easier it will be to find the right property for you.

Next, what are some of the more important characteristics or attributes you need to be able to accomplish your goal? Does the property need to have paved access? Does the property need to have public utilities like water and sewer? Or are you ok with a well and septic system or being off grid? Or do you need utilities at all? Each strategy will be different depending on what your goal is with the property, and what is most important to you.

You might be asking, what else do I need to factor into my decision? We have developed a checklist with some questions to ask yourself as you go through the process and some blank fields for you to fill in other items that pertain to your strategy and your goal.

LAND ELEVATED PROPERTY REVIEW CHECKLIST

General Section

• Location General: Rural, Suburban, Urban – This is a general field to help clarify later on exactly what your use will be and how the location factors into that.
• Location Specific: City, County, State – If you have a specific city, county, or state in mind that’s great. If you don’t that is OK too…the rest of the list will help you focus in on this later.
• Size: Acreage/SF – Make an educated guess. Does the property need to be over 40 acres? Or are you looking at an infill urban opportunity to build a modest home and you only need a 7,000 SF lot?
• Terrain: Desert, Mountains, Flat, Hills – These are just some of the examples you can fill in here, but this will really help you to narrow down your search.
• Primary Use: Build, Camp/Hike, Hunt/Fish, Investment, Other – This goes back to your end game – what you are really looking to use the land for. It could be all of these options. List them in order of priority if more than one applies.
• Zoning: Residential, Agricultural, Commercial – This is fairly general and there might be some overlap so list all that might apply. This is extremely important to keep in mind as the zoning will dictate what you can and cannot do with the property.

Property Characteristics Section

• Access: Identify if it is important that the property has paved access, dirt road access or any access at all.
• Building Types Allowed: Select each type of building you are considering (if any).
• Camp on the Property: If you intend to camp on the property for any period of time select this option. Certain municipalities have restrictions on camping on your own property.
• Farm on the Property: Designate if you plan to use the property for any agricultural purposes for any crop. Some areas have restrictions on what types of crops you can grow, and certain climates are more conducive to growing specific types of crops over others.
• Horses & Livestock: Note if planning to have any horses or livestock on your property.  The zoning will usually dictate what is allowed and how much land is needed for livestock.
• HOA or POA: If you have strong feelings one way or another about HOAs (Homeowner’s Associations) or POAs (Property Owner’s Associations), make sure you note that here.
• Neighbors: Are looking for an area that is completely secluded with no neighbors in sight, or are you looking for an urban or suburban setting with services and neighbors close by?
• Utilities: Select all that apply in this section. You may be unsure at this point so take your best guess as to what you will need to accomplish your goal.
• Waterfront, Rivers, Streams: If your end goal requires you to have a property that is waterfront or have a river or stream running through it.
• Trees: If you want a property that has trees for logging or timber rights or just for scenery.
• Water Rights: If your end goal requires that you have water rights. This does include a well right if you have identified that a well would be suitable.
• Mineral Rights: If your end goal requires that you have mineral rights like mining or oil extraction.

This checklist was designed to help get you started and by no means does this have everything that you should be considering. Make sure to add any other items specific to your end goal. We recommend using the checklist to help narrow your search and focus on what is most important.

The End Game

Now that you have completed the checklist, you can see why it is so important to start with the End Game and work from there. Whether you are planning to develop the property for your primary use, to rent out, or to flip to another end user or investor, you now have a clearer picture on what you should be searching for. It’s time to get out there and start looking at what’s available…and the best place to start is, of course, www.landelevated.com .