What decides what your land is worth.

In your favour It fronts directly onto a public road

Road frontage is the strongest access position there is. Every category of buyer stays in the market.

In your favour There is a recorded easement across other land

A recorded easement is legal access and runs with the land, so it survives the sale. Worth confirming it is in the deed record rather than only in a neighbor’s memory.

What to do: Ask the county recorder for the easement document by book and page.

Needs resolving first There is a track or driveway, but nothing recorded

This is the landlocked case, and it is the single most common reason a land sale collapses late. Use over many years is not a recorded right, and permission from a neighbor defeats a prescriptive claim entirely.

What to do: A title search will confirm it either way. If there is genuinely nothing recorded, an easement can often be negotiated and recorded before a sale — that work is usually worth more than any other improvement.

Needs resolving first There is no way in at all

A parcel with neither legal nor physical access sells to a narrow set of buyers — usually an adjoining owner, for whom it is worth considerably more than it is to anyone else.

What to do: The neighbors are the market. That is not a consolation prize; it is often the highest price available.

Neutral I am not sure

Worth resolving before anything else, because every other question is downstream of this one.

What to do: The recorded plat and a title search answer it. Both are obtainable from the county.

In your favour Mine, and it was properly recorded

The straightforward case. A title search should confirm it quickly.

In your favour I inherited it and probate was completed

If a deed was recorded to you at the close of probate, you can convey. The transfer being finished on the record is the part that matters.

What to do: Check that the deed out of the estate was actually recorded, not merely signed.

Needs resolving first I inherited it but nothing was ever filed

The land is still legally in the deceased owner’s name, so it cannot be conveyed until the transfer is completed. This is very common and entirely fixable.

What to do: A probate or, for a small estate, a simplified procedure. The requirement and the threshold vary by state — the state page for where the land sits sets out which applies.

Works against you Several relatives own it together

Heirs’ property. Every co-owner with an interest has to sign, and after two or three generations that can be dozens of people scattered across states. No single co-owner can convey clear title alone.

What to do: An heirship determination establishes who actually holds an interest. Many states have adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which changes the options considerably.

Neutral I am not certain

A title search resolves it and costs far less than discovering the answer at closing.

In your favour Paid and current

Nothing to resolve. Taxes are prorated to the closing date in the ordinary way.

Neutral A year or two behind

Normal, and settled out of the sale proceeds rather than out of pocket. It does not reduce what the land is worth.

Works against you Several years behind

Still saleable, but the timeline now matters. Counties can begin a tax sale process after a period that varies from two to five years in most states.

What to do: Find out from the county treasurer whether a sale date has been set. That single fact determines how much time there is.

Needs resolving first A tax sale or tax lien sale has already happened

Whether anything can still be done depends on the redemption period, which differs enormously between states and in some states does not exist at all.

What to do: This is time-critical. The state page for where the land sits gives the redemption position, and the county treasurer gives the exact date.

Neutral I do not know

The county treasurer will tell you the balance and the status over the phone, usually in a few minutes.

In your favour Residential building is permitted

The broadest buyer pool, and the one willing to pay most per acre on small parcels.

In your favour Commercial or industrial

A narrower pool of buyers but a more motivated one, and value follows the specific permitted use rather than the acreage.

Neutral Agricultural or forestry only

Priced on productive use rather than development potential. Watch for a rollback tax if the assessment is a use-based one and the use changes.

Neutral The county has no zoning

Common in rural counties and generally a positive for flexibility — but it is not the same as being free of restrictions, since recorded covenants still bind.

Works against you There are deed restrictions or a covenant

A private restriction binds even where zoning would allow the use, and it is enforced by the other owners rather than by the county.

What to do: The restriction will be recorded against the parcel. A title search surfaces it.

Neutral I am not sure

The county planning or zoning office will tell you the designation from the parcel number.

In your favour Most of it is dry, level and clear

The whole acreage counts, which is the case where price per acre behaves the way owners expect.

Neutral Part of it is wet, steep or wooded

Normal for rural land, and priced accordingly. Buyers discount the unusable portion rather than the parcel.

Works against you Much of it is in a floodplain or wetland

A wetland finding can remove the buildable area entirely, and it is a federal question rather than a local one.

What to do: The FEMA flood map is free to check by address. A wetland delineation is not, and is worth commissioning only if a buyer requires it.

Neutral I have not looked into it

The FEMA flood map costs nothing and answers half of this in about a minute.

In your favour Power, water and sewer are at the line

Effectively a finished lot. This is the top of the range for a parcel of its size.

Neutral Power is close; septic and a well would be needed

The ordinary rural case, and buyers price it routinely. Whether the ground will pass a percolation test is the open question.

Works against you Nothing is nearby

Off-grid land sells to a real and growing market, but a different one — recreational and self-sufficiency buyers rather than builders.

What to do: Ask the utility for a distance-based estimate. A specific figure reassures a buyer far more than "power is a way off".

Neutral I do not know

The utility will quote a connection distance from the parcel number.

Neutral There is a deadline I am working against

A direct cash sale is usually the only route that closes inside a few weeks, and that certainty is what you are paying for in the price.

Neutral Within a few months

Both routes are open. Worth getting a direct offer as a floor before deciding whether to list.

Neutral No particular hurry

If the parcel has good access and a clean title, listing it will usually net more even after commission. We would tell you that rather than make an offer you should refuse.