Have you ever fantasized about owning your own land? Unlike buying a home, you do not need good credit, tons of cash for a down payment, or even a Realtor. Buying land can be an accessible gateway into leveraging your investment into longer term gains. Initial costs are lower, and improvements can be made over time as you can afford them. In the short term, you’ll have a great place to retreat that you own.
Small parcels of raw, rural land can be cheap because they are far from any municipality, and therefore lack all amenities and utilities like water, sewer, electricity, and paved or plowed roads. Those are all things you might want if you’re living there full time, but by being strategic about your location and making investments toward these improvements over time, you can increase the value of your land for either resale, a desirable vacation spot, or a fulltime home. Because Colorado is so beautiful and desirable, your land can increase in value just because of its locale. Its distance to a local town, a state park, or other conveniences can be good things to consider when you approach a land purchase.
Luckily, purchasing land isn’t difficult if you’ve got some money to invest. Land for sale is listed online on sites like Land.com or Landwatch. Set your search parameters and start to gauge the areas with land for sale, lot sizes, and price range. When you find a parcel that you’d like to check out, call the listing broker to get any important info they have on the parcel including any unique instructions for locating the property. Plan to see a few parcels and make a day of it! You’ll know when a piece of land speaks to you.
Pro tip: Look into the premium version of the “onX Hunt” hunter’s app on your smartphone. OnX Hunt can be used offline when you download the area’s map ahead of time and you will be able to plug in the coordinates of the land, view the property boundaries, as well as view owner/tax info.
The sellers of these parcels are typically land brokers whose business is buying and selling land. Usually, the listing will have a link to their company’s website. Do your due diligence to ensure that the name of the seller matches the tax records. Call the county assessor’s office or use the assessor website’s “property search” to confirm that the parcel number and owner match up with the information you’re seeing on the listing. You can also request the seller do an “O&E” or Owners and Encumbrances report, which will tell you the owner of the property and if there are any liens (unpaid taxes, mortgages, etc.) on the property.
If you’ve got the cash, you can purchase the land in one large payment. Otherwise, on most listings, you can do owner financing, which boils down to a small down payment, and then a set number of monthly payments (with interest) over the course of a number of years.
Once you agree on terms, the seller will send you a contract. Read the contract thoroughly and consult with anyone you may know who is versed in land or real estate purchases or law for a second opinion before signing. Hiring a real estate attorney can be very affordable, quick, and give you the assurances you need.
Next month I will explore developing your land in “Owning land part 2: building.”
Emma Quarterman can be reached at 303-506-5218 or by email at emma@livewestrealty.com. Check out her website at emmaskycolorado.com/.
