What To Look For When Buying Vacant Land
Buying a vacant parcel can be intimidating for some buyers. There is a steep learning curve navigating site and build costs and just finding out if that sweet parcel with the mountain views is even buildable. But it can also be a lot of fun! As a buyer’s agent for land, I try to focus on the fun side and help my buyers not feel intimidated by things like perc tests and driveways and figuring out how to get electric to your future build site.
There is a lot to know, impossible to summarize here, but here are the top 5 things I like to look for when evaluating a vacant parcel.
Look at the slope - if you are building in the Catskills Watershed areas, you will need a large area with a slope of less than 15% to put a septic tank and supporting leach field. Qualified engineers will ultimately determine this for you, but you can use your eyes too - if the entire parcel is mostly at a significant slope, you might need to rule out building a house and consider a glamping site instead.
Access - Is there road frontage or is this a landlocked parcel with a right of way (ROW) through someone else’s property to access? Is there a stream between the road and the parcel? If so, you will need a permit to build a bridge. Is the slope significant from the road? Think about the potential challenges with a driveway, town highway departments requirements vary, but usually the slope on a driveway must be 12% or lower otherwise you are looking at doing switchbacks. You may also need to verify with the local highway department if your desired driveway location is safe - if it’s right before a big curve in the road, they may not approve due to visibility and safety.
Utilities - Where is the nearest electric pole? You can always get service to your build site, but the distance to nearest accessible pole will give you a sense of cost.
Water - Are there water features? Awesome! But there are restrictions on the distance you can build from a water source depending on if it feeds into a reservoir or is in the NYC Watershed. Small, seasonal streams are also a consideration. These regulations are in place to protect our water sources that feed into reservoirs which supply drinking water to NYC. Another consideration is general marshiness, if it’s muddy and wet, that spot might not be a good place to build.
Wells - Buyers often ask me if they can drill a well on the build site. Fortunately in the Catskills we are not prone to droughts. The ability to drill a well is not generally a concern in the Catskills, the considerations are how far you will need to drill and finding a location without 10 feet of bedrock, but it’s almost always doable.
