LAND THAT MOVES YOU!
ACCESS
Question number one about access is “Can you get to the land……legally? This is an extremely important question to ask, especially in rural areas, and the answer may not be immediately obvious. The last thing you want to do is buy a piece of land, only to find out afterwards that you do not have legal access to it.
A tract that is situated along a main public road should not be a problem, but what if it is not? What if the land is down a smaller paved, gravel, or dirt road, maybe even just an old woods road or logging road? What if there is no road leading to it at all? These are the situations where you really need to be careful. Most of the time, paved roads, even small ones, will be public, but not necessarily. It is always safer to check with your local authorities such as the local police jury to make sure the road is public and not private. Being a public road means the public, including you, can use it and that the government is responsible for maintenance, which is handy when it comes time for repairs.
Land that is surrounded by other people’s land and has no good, legal access is said to be “landlocked”. Technically, by law, adjacent landowners must provide access to such property, but the legal issues involved in obtaining an “easement by prescription” will require an attorney and can be a hassle. You really want to find some land that already has solid access.
Land can have three main types of access: actual legal, deeded legal, or historic. Actual legal access is a case where the land butts up to a public road. You turn off of the public road straight onto your property without having to cross over anyone else’s land. This is the most ideal situation for obvious reasons. Deeded legal access is a situation where you must cross someone else’s land to get to yours, but you have legal, deeded access to the property; you have it in writing. This type of easement, called a “right of way”, is the second most desirable scenario. Historic access is where you must cross someone else’s land to get to yours, and even though you do not have legal access, the adjacent landowner has historically allowed your prospective property to be accessed from across his land. This is not ideal, and, although it may be better than nothing, it can be very risky. Just because a landowner always has allowed access doesn’t mean he always will.
I recently was online and noticed several rural lots for sale in Missouri. The sellers had carved a larger tract into several smaller tracts that were 4-5 acres in size. I noticed on the satellite image there appeared to be no road, not even a path, leading to the lots far away from the main road. Just out of curiosity I contacted the agent and asked about access to the lots in the back. The agent stated that the sellers were “planning” on building an access road from the highway and across the other lots but that the road had not been started and no legal arrangements had been made. I was amazed they were expecting people to purchase those landlocked lots with no assurance of legal access. What if the owners just decided to sell all the lots and never follow through with their promise? The buyers would be stuck with a piece of property they couldn't even get to. This evidently is a common practice and problem, so be careful! Look at maps, ask questions, go out and look, check the survey (if one exists), or consult an attorney; It’s too important not to!
Question number two about access is “How good is the road leading to the land?” Are you willing to drive down a bumpy gravel road to go back and forth to your house every day? How does the road hold up after a rain? Does it get muddy and sloshy or does it stay solid even when wet? Gray rock tends to hold up well compared to regular gravel, but all gravel roads will leave your vehicle dusty and/or muddy, depending on its condition. Vehicle maintenance can become problematic if you must drive down a rough road every single day.
I considered buying a piece of property several months ago and was a good way along into the process. I knew the paved road turned to gravel right at the property and that most of the property had gravel road frontage, but the gravel road seemed to be smooth and in good shape. One day, after a big rain, I drove out to the land and the condition of the gravel road had changed dramatically from my previous visits. It was sloshy and muddy, and I was glad a had a four-wheel drive vehicle. I ended up not buying the property, and that was one of the reasons why.
Here in central Louisiana, pea-gravel-paved roads are very common. These are smaller parish (county) roads that were once gravel, but the police jury has laid down a mixture of tar and pea gravel over the old gravel roadbed. These are typically better than gravel roads but, depending on their age and how well they were constructed, they can get rough!
About three years ago, I started a brand-new job on the opposite end of town from where I live. I had been involved in a very stressful job, and my new job…., well, it was much less stressful, and I enjoyed taking a particular backroad to get to my workplace. It was one of those rough, pea-gravel-paved roads, but I initially enjoyed the peacefulness of it as it allowed me to bypass a busy part of town and a very long stop light. That lasted about a year and a half! The new wore off, and the road was beating me and my truck to death. Now I just travel through town on the main highway, and, if my timing is bad, I sit and wait at the red light. I decided the backroad just wasn’t worth taking a beating. When choosing your land, always consider the type and condition of the road leading to it; you will be traveling it nearly every day.
DISTANCE
Another great question to ask when choosing land to build your house on is, “How far is it from the key places in your life?” Consider these:
Distance from your workplace: If you travel back and forth to work several days a week, this can play a vital role in your choice of land. With the price of fuel these days, miles mean money, and you could consume a considerable portion of your paycheck just traveling to and from work. Also, the more time you spend on the road to and from work the less time you have to spend at home. For example, if you live an hour from your workplace and you work an eight-hour shift, by the time you get home you’ve had essentially a 10-hour workday. I’ve heard some say that a long drive to and from work gives them time to think and clear their heads, but even that can get old at times. Yesterday I was talking to a man that drives nearly an hour and a half to work every weekday. I asked him if he ever gets tired of that and he said the drive to work in the mornings isn’t bad; it’s the drive home that’s so challenging because when he gets finished with a hard day’s work, he’s ready to be home. If this is important to you, maybe you will choose a tract of land that’s 5 or 10 miles from work instead of 30 or 40 miles.
Distance from conveniences: If you are like us, your vehicle could nearly find its own way to Walmart; that’s how often we go! Many years ago, country folks made very few trips to town and when they did, they really stocked up because they wouldn’t be coming back to town for a while. Those days are pretty much past and gone! Nowadays we run back and forth to town for all kinds of reasons; to grab something from the store last minute, fill the vehicle up with gas, pay a bill, make a bank deposit, pick up pizza…. you get the idea! If you live too far away from town, those conveniences become somewhat inconvenient. Now I also understand this is not an issue with some people; to them, the peace and serenity of living far out is worth the inconvenience. Each person or family is different in that regard, but for many people this is a significant consideration. Keep in mind though that distance from town and its conveniences is a strong factor in the price of land. Typically, all other factors being equal, the closer to town a property is, the more expensive it will be.
Distance from school, church, and close kin: Whether you take your child to school or whether they ride the bus, the distance you live from the school can make a big difference. The earlier you must leave in the mornings, the earlier you must get up and get ready. Longer rides mean less time at home with the family. As far as the bus riding time goes, our family has always felt like the less time our children must spend on the bus the better. But…. there is another factor besides distance from the school that could determine how much time your child spends on the bus: the bus route. You may live relatively close to the school but, depending on the bus route, your child could be one of the first to be picked up and/or one of the last to be dropped off. It may be a good idea to talk to the school or school board to find out how the buses run in the area where you are considering buying land. Also, keep in mind, in the public school system, children often must attend different schools throughout their K-12 career. They may attend an elementary school close to home and then in later years have to travel a greater distance to attend junior high or high school.
If you go to church or visit the homes of close kin often, your distance to those places my come into play as well. You may have family members who don’t live with you but need frequent care and attention. Just a few days ago I spoke to a young man who was thinking about buying a certain tract of land to build a new house on. He talked it over with his wife, and they decided not to purchase that tract because it was on the opposite end of town from their family and their church. These things may influence your decision as well.
Distance from emergency services: How far is the land from the hospital and fire station? I pray you never need EMS to rush to your home and provide medical attention to you or anyone else, but the fact is, you never know! Depending on how serious the physical condition of the person is, the distance the ambulance must travel could be the difference between life and death. This may become more important to you with age as health problems tend to increase. Similarly, the distance firefighters must travel to get to your burning home can affect the survival of your family, your house, and all the precious items in the house. In rural areas, the distance from the nearest fire station can significantly impact the cost of your home insurance policy as well, so please keep all these things in mind.
UTILITIES
Before purchasing a property for your homebuilding project, you will want to inquire about the utilities. There are four important questions that come to mind:
Which utilities are available? The utilities of greatest concern in rural areas are public electricity and public water. The availability of public electricity is most important while public water is a close second. It’s not that the water itself is less important than electricity, rather it’s the fact that, as an alternate source of water, you may be able to drill a water well on your property. The only alternatives to public electricity, however, are to run your own generator or create some type of private wind or solar power system, neither of which are practical for supplying all your electrical needs long-term. As stated, having a public water system supplying your home runs a close second because most people do not want to use well water, especially for washing clothes and drinking. If you have superior ground water or a great filtering system this may not be an issue, but water from a well often has an unpleasant taste and/or odor and can stain clothes and fixtures. It will likely take a professional to drill the water well and install the tank/pump system, which, like everything else, comes with a cost. Some additional concerns about drilling a water well are how deep the driller will have to go to find useable water (if it can be found), the quality of the water once he finds it, and the possibility of the well sanding in or running dry at some point in the future. I spoke with a water well drilling company in central Louisiana in February of 2022, and he said they would drill a residential well up to 100 feet deep and install/connect the pump and tank for around $4,600. Anything deeper than 100 feet would be an additional $10.00 per foot. Prices will vary based on inflation, which water well company you use, which pump/tank system you choose, and where you live.
A public natural gas supply is of less concern. If public gas is not available, you could go all electric on your appliances, including your water heater, or you could install a large propane tank that will need filling only occasionally. A big propane truck will come by and fill it up for you when it gets low. Take it from me, it is nice to have a source of gas heat in the wintertime, especially when the electricity goes out. Plus, my wife loves to cook on a gas stove and in a gas oven, and if momma ain’t happy …….yep, you know the rest!
A public sewer system is of even less concern, at least in our rural area. Once you get out of town, this option is pretty much non-existent anyway. Most people who want to buy land outside of town are already resigned to the fact they will be responsible for providing their own sewer system contained on their property.
Are the utilities on site or readily available? Listings for vacant land will often read either “Utilities on site” or “Utilities available”. Utilities being on site means at least one utility has already been run to some location on the property. This is often the case on vacant land when there was once an old house or mobile home on the property, or someone has fixed it up for a camper. I can think of two examples: The first is an old, five-acre homeplace for sale right now out in the country just a few miles from me. The house has been gone for many years, but the electrical lines that supplied the old house with electricity are still in place. Second, I recently purchased a 46-acre tract down a small, paved road. As I drove onto the property for the first time, I saw is no visible evidence of utilities at all; however, as I continued down the road, I found a beautiful spot where the previous owner had a camper. There, on site, was public electricity, public water, and a sewage treatment system. At some point both electricity and water had been run to the site from the opposite end of the road, and the owner had installed a sewage treatment system to which he directly hooked his camper. I was pleasantly surprised!
Another utilities-on-site situation is when a previous owner purchased the land with the intention of building a house on it. They may have had utilities run to the site and maybe even connected to some shed or other outbuilding but just never got around to completing their housebuilding project. This gives the new owner a nice head start!
Either way, utilities being on site is typically a preferred situation simply because it’s less cost and hassle after your purchase. The question that arises, however, is whether the utilities have been run to the exact location on the property that you plan to build your home. For example, if utilities are on site at the edge of the property, perhaps just off the public road, but you want to build your house in the middle of the property, then you will still have some decisions and costs associated with getting those utilities all the way to your proposed homesite. We will talk more about this in a later topic about choosing your homesite.
Utilities being available means that although utilities may not already be on site, they are relatively nearby, and CAN be run to the property. The term “available” is very broad though, so here you want to be very inquisitive. What if water and electricity are “available” but you must pay to have it run a quarter mile to your property? What you really need is for utilities to be readily available. This leads us to the next question:
How much will it cost to get utilities run all the way to the house? This question applies to both scenarios, utilities on site and utilities available. In general when running utility lines of any kind, distance equals dollars. When a water company must extend their main supply lines or install a meter, there will be a charge, usually a per-foot charge for extending a line and a standard fee for installing a meter. You may have the option to extend the main line yourself or hire a contractor to do it, but it must be designed and built according to code and inspected before the water company will tie into it. Extending electrical service to a new homesite is similar. The power companies will typically charge for planting new poles and stringing new lines. There are situations where utilities cannot be brought down the edge of the road or any existing right of way in which case you may need to bring utilities from and/or across a neighboring property. If so, a right of way will have to be obtained and possibly cleared, and, of course, there are legal and financial obstacles associated with this scenario. Also, even if utilities are on site, you may need to have a path cleared out for the electrical or water line to extend them all the way to your house place. If you decide to build your house out in a wooded area of your property, you will be responsible for having the path for the line cleared by the time the utility company arrives to install it. If you plan to run your utilities down the edge of your new driveway, you will need to make sure your driveway opening is wide enough to accommodate those plans. Always consult the utility companies about these costs when you are considering purchasing your tract of land. They should be able to come out, inspect, and tell you what you are up against, both logistically and financially.
Some of these issues may seem a bit overwhelming, but please understand that people successfully deal with these situations all the time. You just need to be aware of what you may have to do in certain situations. If it means having your dream home in your dream location, it could very well be worth every cost and trouble involved.
What about the quality of water and electrical service? Just because public water is on site or available does not necessarily mean it is of good quality and pressure. The water quality for various rural water companies can vary widely. In my childhood home, we were blessed with having outstanding water from a rural water system. The water was nearly always clean, clear, smooth, and tasteless, and we always had good pressure. In later years, however, my parents moved and found themselves living with well water which was less than ideal. In the last few years, town water was extended out to their house, but the water quality is still far inferior to what they enjoyed for many years at their previous home.
Sometimes you may have water, maybe even good water, but have low pressure and/or flow rate. This can be caused by the house being toward the end of the mainline or uphill from the source. There are potential solutions to these problems, including installing a booster pump or a capacity/pressure pump system. Check with the nearest neighbors and the local water system company about water quality and pressure when deciding on a tract of land.
The reliability of your electrical service is a point of concern as well. Some systems tend to go down only in the severest of weather, while others seem to shut down with the slightest puff of wind. How quickly electricity is restored after an outage is a point of concern as well. Of course, the location of the property can strongly affect how often and how long you lose service. Living far out in rural areas where the power lines run through miles of wooded areas and narrow rights-of-ways can cause consistent problems, regardless of who the provider is. Once again, the best idea is to ask the nearest neighbors about the quality and reliability of their service.
FLOOD ZONE
Real estate agents are often asked by potential buyers, “Is this property in a flood zone?” or “Does it ever flood?” or “When was the last time it flooded?” These are all legitimate inquiries that should be made when you are thinking about buying vacant land for residential purposes. Considering flood potential is important, first and foremost, because your family and your personal property could be at risk if your home floods. Second, insurance rates can be greatly influenced by your home being in a flood zone, and third, there could be certain added construction costs if it is.
Flood zones hinge on the term, base flood elevation (BFE). BFE is the level to which there is an estimated 1% chance of it flooding each year. This is also called the 100-year flood line, meaning that it is estimated that water will reach that level once every 100 years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated several flood zones based on site elevation relative to the BFE. Which flood zone your building site is in will determine your risk of flooding and your insurance rate. There are at least two federal websites that can give you an idea if your proposed site is in a flood zone or where your build site MAY be in relation to the BFE. The first is the FEMA website that displays the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). The second, and the one I use most often, is FEMA’s Estimated BFE Viewer. On FEMA maps, all the land that is at or below BFE is referred to as Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) where mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies. Some state maps are available as well, but I have been told that federal estimations will trump state estimations whenever there is a discrepancy between the two. For Louisiana, click HERE to view the LSU Ag Center's online flood maps searchable by address or parish.
Keep in mind that state and federal flood maps are not always accurate for your specific building site. Perhaps, for example, you are planning on building on a small, natural knoll that is not recognized on the map, or maybe someone recently (since the map was last updated) hauled in materials and built up the site. Regardless, it is best to order an elevation certificate issued by a licensed surveyor to determine the actual BFE for the spot you have picked out for your house. Elevation certificates are a routine requirement for loans and building permits/inspections in flood zones anyway. If your actual elevation ends up being far enough above what the map shows, your certificate may allow you to obtain a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA), removing your building site from the SFHA and saving you some money and trouble. In addition to the above websites, your local surveyor and police jury office may be good resources for additional information regarding the current determination of flood zones in your area.
If your building site is determined to be below par, there is still good news; things may be done, construction-wise, to get your home far enough above BFE to avoid the hyper-expensive insurance rates. For instance, a contractor might haul in extra pit run to build the house pad up to an acceptable level, or he may construct a dirt knoll or hill and put your house pad on top of that. Depending on the style house you prefer, you may even decide to build the house on piers or pilings to get it high enough. The point is, if you find the property of your dreams but your chosen homesite has a lower-than-desirable elevation, that’s not necessarily a deal breaker; you still have options.
One last piece of advice concerning flood zones: don’t automatically assume because of a property’s location that it’s not in a flood zone. Based on floods that have occurred over the last several years in some areas, flood zones have been expanded significantly. Probably the most noticeable difference, at least in central Louisiana, is creek channels and bottoms in the hill country. You may be way up in the hills and think to yourself, “There’s no way there could be a flood zone up in here!” Always check anyway! I have been amazed recently by the type places that are now considered flood zones. Keep in mind that if you are purchasing vacant land, an elevation certificate probably won’t be required if no house is involved yet. Take the initiative yourself to have the elevation of your preferred homesite checked so you will know what you’re dealing with ahead of time.
schools
If you have school-age children, you will probably want to find out some things about the schools your child would attend if you were to end up building a house and living on your prospective property. Of course, the first thing to determine is which schools they would attend, not only immediately, but also throughout their entire K-12 career. Depending on your location and how your county or parish is divided, your child could have to attend three or more different public schools in different locations throughout their career. The best idea is to call your local school board office, tell them the exact location of the property you are considering buying and ask them what series of schools your child would be attending. It is not uncommon in our area, especially if a family lives way out in the country, for the children to attend a small community elementary school early on, then move to a separate junior high school for a few years and then on to the separate, main high school to complete their K-12 career. So, I advise calling and finding out what your child’s school progression will be. You could also find a nearby neighbor who has school-age children and ask them which schools their children have attended. There may be some private school options in your area as well, but, as you may expect, there will be costly tuition involved.
Once you have determined which schools your child would attend, it’s time then to find out about the quality of those schools. For this, I offer these suggestions: First, call and request a visit and tour of the school. During that visit, speak to the administrators, including the principal and vice principal, as well as any teachers who would be teaching your child. If possible, it would be a good idea to take your child with you so they can begin to get a feel for things. You may want to inquire about their curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and their state school performance ratings that show how they stack up against other schools in the state.
Second, do online research. The website, https://www.greatschools.org/ is a great resource that allows you to search by address and find useful information about various schools in your area, both public and private. Most, but not all, schools are given a rating that takes into account test scores, student progress, and equity. It also provides the number of students and contact information for each school. If the prospective school is a Louisiana public school, you can find state-generated school performance information HERE.
Finally, remember that word of mouth can be golden! See if you can find several people whose children have attended the school and ask them what they think. I say “several” because some opinions could be biased in one direction or the other. Just like in scientific tests or experiments, a greater number of samples will provide a truer picture.
