Land buying - What to look for in Virginia! Real Estate??

[TheCoilist]

The wife and I are considering buying land out of state. We are looking to buy 20+ acres of land if the price is right.

Can anyone tell me what we need to be on the look out for when it comes to buying land. I understand that we need to check the distance from power lines and septic/sewer.

I have never had to deal with septic tanks, I've always been in areas with sewer, but the land we want is going to be country, wooded, with at least a creek or river or two on the property.

Can you guys give us some pointers? How do we find a real estate person for land? And does anyone know of a real estate person who can be trusted in Virginia area?? We will be looking at properties in April while up there.

 

[Franz]

If it's in the country, it's going to be septic waste and artesian well water. So your biggest concern will only be distance from electrical. Septic is basically just a tank that everything goes into, gets broken down by bacteria and then to a drain field where it branches out. There might be code about how far from water/creeks/rivers and elevation and such though.

 

[hawgdawg]

Put in a good solar system , screw the utility dept. Theres some pretty land in VA . I was working in VA a couple yrs back , right off the Blue Ridge Parkway , got to looking in a few local papers there and they had some good deals on raw land, a few had houses on them . I have no real answers for you , but good luck on your search .

 

[TheCoilist]

Does any ole real estate person sell land too? I found some websites, but it seems every website has different listings or same listings at different prices.

There is a bunch of different classifications too when it comes to land. I see undeveloped, residential, recreational, agricultural, etc., and am assuming those classifications may have restrictions as well. We are looking to buy land that we can eventually develop later on down the road, but not immediately.

We did have plans to have possibly a couple of friends maintain the property for us, but they were looking at doing a small barn apartment and a very small scale organic garden, but not sure if we need to look into agricultural land as well. So much to learn!

 

[Franz]

I'd check the local zoning ordinances where you plan to buy. In many cases, if you buy a, say, 40 acre "lot", you cannot subdivide and develop it into smaller lots. If your version of developing it involves something like a business, you need to have that intent when you purchase the land. That way, if you don't get around to doing it for some number of years, and the ordinances change and no longer allow commercial business, you have a record that it was your intent when you bought the land to turn it into a business.

I'm pretty sure any real estate agent can sell/show any property. Some just specialise in certain types. They each get a cut depending on who sells it, even if the one who sells it isn't the one who is listing it.

 

[TheCoilist]

Well, we plan on building a house or retreat on it. Currently, we're just looking to invest in the property. The friends are basically going to put up a small cabin or something of that nature and basically maintain the property in the mean time.

Our main goal is to build a residential.

Thanks

 

[VetStudent]

What part of Virginia are you looking for land?

I have had experience with a couple of realtors- one in SW Virginia and one in rural Northcentral VA. My sister is a realtor in Maryland and gave me references from her database as to who she thought would be the best.

 

[turtlefoot]

Make sure you have in writing all aspects of ownership of mineral rights.

Doug

 

[TheCoilist]

The wife likes the Charolettesville area, so I am assuming between charloettesville and richmond which I guess is central. I like the idea of mountains, but don't like the idea of being so far away from a larger town. I would say central, va is a prime spot, but we also saw a few nice places in the Appottomax, VA areas. I don't have a map on me, but I think that's southwest area as well. LOL

great minds think alike.