Affordable Undeveloped Land for Sale in the Western USA
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RESEARCHING PROPERTY
Researching Property
Know what you want to do. Know you can do it.
Getting All the Answers
When researching property, it’s important to not only get the right answers, but to also ask the right questions so that what you are planning can be done.
Below is a simple guide for who to call at the county for a common question. Another great resource of course is calling LandBrand and asking us directly if it is a question concerning a property we own or have an interest in. We are happy to help steer you in the right direction!
County Treasurer’s Office:
This office typically handles all of the tax questions you may have such as “are the taxes paid current?”, or “how much are the taxes next time they are due”?, or “when are the taxes due next?”. In some states such as Calloway County, Kentucky, the county Sheriff’s office handles the taxes.
County Assessor’s Office:
This office can tell you who the owner of record is on a specific property and also gives an assessed value to a property. It is important to understand the different values as well. Assessed value is the amount that the tax is based on. Often times a more valuable property by market value is taxed much less than expected because it is taxed on assessed value. For example, a $40,000 piece of property may be only taxed on $6,000 of assessed value due to being agriculturally zoned at the time even though the land holds a much greater value. Keep in mind also that as you develop the property, all values go up including assessed value which also increases the tax amount. Hope that was clear!
County Clerk’s Office:
This office handles all of the paperwork that is recorded at the county. If you want to verify that a deed was recorded correctly and find out when, you can contact the County Clerk and ask them. They are usually very nice and helpful.
County Planning and Zoning Department:
Have a plan
This office is where you would call to make sure you are able to do what it is you set out when buying your property. Even if your property does not have CCR’s, an association, or additional restrictions, the property owner still must abide by federal, state, and county regulations. A quick phone call can often give you all of the information you need.
Great questions to ask would be “does the county allow RV’s on the property and for how long?”, “Can I get a conditional use permit for RV living while building?”, “Is hunting allowed on my property?”, “Do I need to drill a well for water or can I use a holding tank?”, “What kinds of septic tanks are allowed here?”, “How many homes can I have on this property?”, “Are manufactured, mobile, or modular homes allowed”?
Sometimes a property is zoned one way and you can apply for a change in that zoning. There is usually some sort of precedent they can look up, but a good example is if it is zoned residential and you want the zoning changed for commercial use or perhaps you have a solar or wind project you are interested in and want to know the steps needed.
Another use for this department is to get the information about subdividing larger tracts of land. For example, if you have 640 acres (1 section of land or 1 square mile by 1 square mile), then you can subdivide that land into 16 x 40 acre parcels and sell them individually. Of course you can subdivide them down even more or keep them larger, but you get the idea. Every state and county have different requirements for subdividing so if this is what you want to do then I highly recommend contacting the County planning department.