5 Things I Check Before I Let a Client Buy Acreage

I've walked a lot of parcels, and the beautiful ones are the most dangerous — because beauty makes people skip steps. Here are the five checks I run before any client of mine goes hard on earnest money.

1. Water. No well? I'm pulling every neighboring well log within a half mile before we talk price. Wells nearby at 120 feet producing 20 GPM? Great. Wells at 400 feet producing 2? That changes the number — or the decision.

2. Legal access. I read the title report's easement chain personally. "We've always used that road" is not access — it's a future lawsuit. Recorded easement, county road frontage, or we price the risk properly.

3. Zoning and buildability. I call Douglas County Planning about dwelling eligibility before my buyers get emotionally invested. Farm and forest zones have rules that can permanently prevent a home — and listings don't always volunteer that.

4. Septic feasibility. On bare land, the offer includes a septic contingency, full stop. A parcel that can't pass a site evaluation can't hold a house, and no view fixes that.

5. Boundaries. Fences lie. On parcels where the fence lines and legal lines look like strangers, a survey is cheap insurance. I've seen "the back forty" turn out to be the neighbor's back forty.

None of these checks kill deals — they price them correctly. The parcels that pass all five are the ones worth fighting for, and when my clients buy those, they never call me a year later with a horror story. That's the whole job.