IlliniDave wrote: ↑Thu May 13, 2021 6:11 pm
There actually is a private unpaved road to it (one of the potential downsides is shared maintenance, haven't ascertained the specifics about that) to get to it from the highway and connect to an adjacent tract that for sale by the same owner. It dead ends more/less at the property line.
Again, some cautions based on personal scar tissue on these topics. Does the perceived road access include a formal easement? When undeveloped land is chopped up, which appears to be the case here, the mere existence of a road doesn’t mean you can legally use it. And it doesn’t matter what the seller says, thinks, or may remember about that road. And it doesn’t matter what you see on satellite imagery. What matters is what the deeds say at the county courthouse (and for adjoining lots, you need to look at both deeds, not just the deed for the one you are purchasing — you actually need to look at all the deeds for all of the properties that the road(s) crosses). So I would hire a local lawyer to do some due diligence. Lots without legal access are not uncommon; local zoning should prevent that, but it doesn’t always work.
In our case, it turns out a railroad used to traverse the land in the early 1900’s. A title search showed that the RR, long since defunct, still owned it. And that meant there were potential descendants of the RR out there somewhere who could claim a strip across our acreage, or that the county could somehow claim it and put a highway across the land. So we had to go through a public process to condemn that strip to eliminate any such claims from being brought against us.
And I would never buy anything, let alone real estate, sight unseen. You need to see the land and walk it. Maybe there is a junk yard in a corner — one never knows. Or a squatter who is poised to claim adverse possession.
Lots with water are potentially problematic (wetlands that are under some amount of environmental jurisdiction).
Taxes also matter. Is the land zoned residential? Agricultural? Would you want to change the zoning status to reduce taxes or enable some amount of improvements, no matter how minor?