History of Land---Paranormal & Historical
This is important on several counts to know the land that you are wanting to purchase.
First, to find out about any historical significance. Find out about the people who were once on the land, travelled across it or camped or fought upon the land. This is important for many reasons. Was the land once a creek bed? Or did a river run through it and is it now dammed and you are below the dam?
That brings to mind it would be good to find out not only of your own land but the surrounding land as well just for that reason alone, would be important to know if you are below a dam and if that dam should burst, would your home then get swept away?
Has there been earthquakes or tornados in the past that have come thru there?
Just why is the land for sale? Why are the current owners selling it? Recently looking to buy property, I asked that all important question. After talking with the owners myself, face to face, it gave me a very good feel for things. In this situation, the owners, an elderly couple are selling their property to be closer to their kids as they had sadly lost two sons and want to be closer so they can spend time with them. I could also see that it was starting to get to be too much for them. The house is too big than needed and the land is a lot to take care of.
And of course, these days with the heightened awareness to it, you should also try to find out about any paranormal activity. I tend not to ask the owners of this unless they are younger. Otherwise, we discretely used a K2 to see if there were any high EMFs in the house. Funny enough, we got nothing until out in the garage in the storage space above, as we passed by these tribal African masks, that's when the K2 went off.
Yes, it is important to know if people died on that spot. Were there any traumatic incidences that might have occurred there? Battles fought, skirmishes, prisoners of wars, rapes, torture...the list goes on!
The area I am looking at currently, I researched the history and it land that was given to the revolutionary war soldiers when they retired after the war. The land itself was given to Maine from Massachusetts. I also looked up the local Native American tribe that had inhabited the area before, the Abenaki who sadly were part of the Native Americans who died from diseases no doubt brought in from the Europeans who settled there. Those Abenaki that survived retreated to Canada or they merged with other villages and the lines blur into other tribes.
For this property we are looking at, we also did find out the current owners had buried a goat out in the sandpit, so although not paranormal unless you get rammed in the butt by something that isn't there while bending over, we at least knew that if we dug into the sandpit, to be careful of the goat that is buried out there.
Research the land's history and find out as much as you can about it. It can sound anal but it could come in handy to know as much as you can upfront before you make a purchase.
Knowledge is power.
Other items of interest:
Appraisal
Knowing how much the property is really worth is key. The bank will not lend you money for more than what it is worth. When selling, this is a good thing to know beforehand so you know what your top price could be.
Mineral/Gas rights--land rights to the State
This was the case in Texas in the community, believe it or not. The state of Texas had full rights to the mineral and gas that might be found on the land and they had permission to come onto the land and drill or dig as they wished. This always bugged me for I didn't really own that land.
Flood zones
Always good to know. Best times to see the property you are thinking of buying is early spring when the snows melt or during the rainy season so you can see just how wet the land can be.
Right of Ways
For this property, it's more of a long private road-right of way, but that will come in handy during the winter with the plowing that is included in the Road Association fee.
Community Planning
Is there anything that the town (if you have one) is planning on the neighboring land? Noise factor, ruining your views?
Land next to this land
Again, knowing what is to happen with the neighboring land or if it is privately owned is really important. This property I am looking at is bordered by a stream and private land owned all around. I'd rather state game land or forest, but as it is so much land and so remote, I should be fine.
Utilities, Electric, Water, sewage, cable, phone, gas, trash
Do you have access to all those things? Are they important to you? Do you need to take your trash elsewhere to dump or is there a pick up service? How good is the connection for your phone? Is it cable or dish? Is water from a well or spring?
Is your sewage to be septic and if so, is it sand mound or the traditional type of tank or do you have sewer?
Buildable--Got Permits? Can you build on the land? Are there any restrictions?
Taxes--Property & School
Finding out what the taxes are is very important in buying property. After the mortgage payment is done, you will still have taxes and yes, most likely they will increase as time goes by. Even with the mortgage payment, you have to include the taxes into it so you know what you are getting into for monthly payments. It can be quite expensive. In Texas we were paying $700 a month for property taxes on top of the mortgage. So it was very high.
Height Restrictions on Homes
Important to know if you are building a home on land or improving the home you are purchasing. This was the case in the community where you couldn't build anything too high. They tried to keep most of the houses pretty uniform.
Number of building restrictions
Just in case you wanted to build some outbuildings, chicken coop, barn, shed.
Who are your neighbors?
Important to know if you have a junk yard next to you for example.
Nearest child abusers or sex offenders
http://www.familywatchdog.us/
That is just one of the many sites you can check to see if you have any sex offenders in the area you are looking to purchase. Forewarned is forearmed.
And just don't look at one site for your area, I tried that one and didn't get anything and then tried this one:
http://www.criminalwatchdog.com/neighborhood-watch/ and I got a hit not too far from where I am looking to buy. It is really good to know what you are getting into, especially if you have little kids.
Making sure there is a survey done
This is if you can afford to. If you have a lot of land it could cost several hundreds if not thousands to have your land properly surveyed. It's important to know your boundaries and have it marked if possible. Smaller land mass is cheaper to have it surveyed.
Types of trees
This is important to know if they are deciduous (lose their leaves) or if you have evergreens. It will mean what can be seen through them, your place or others or if surrounded by trees that lose their leaves, all those leaves you might have to clean up.
Has land been scraped or any of it removed (for foundation/house settling)
See one of my blog posts here about that. http://weirdnwonderfulnwackytips.blogspot.com/2013/08/adding-or-taking-dirt-away.html
When land has been cut away, before you build on it, it should be left to rest and settle. You've created air pockets and loosened up the soil so it needs time to settle it back down again, otherwise if laying a foundation, you run the risk of the foundation cracking when the land does settle and having to redo the whole thing. It's a mess and a big concern.
Miscellaneous laws on the property and also state laws--water/lake restrictions?
There are always some type of odd ball law you may need to be aware of.
No dumping, or burning of certain things.
The more you research, the better informed you will be. I've ticked off several items that can help you in this post and I hope they do and get you to thinking before you buy your land or property!
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