How to walk a land parcel before you buy it
A parcel that looks workable from the road can still have grading, drainage, access, utility, septic, easement, fire-area, or zoning constraints. A careful walk helps you collect questions, but agency records and qualified site evaluations determine whether the proposed home can proceed.
What you'll learn
- How slope translates to grading cost, and the eyeball test for a pad that needs engineering
- What to check for water, sewer or septic, power, and access before you ever call the county
- How to look up fire hazard severity zones and what they mean for a manufactured home placement
- Which easements and setbacks shrink your buildable area, and where to find them
- The questions a site evaluation answers that a listing never will
Step by step
- Walk the property lines first with the parcel map in hand. Confirm corners, access points, and any visible easements like poles or pipes.
- Stand where the home would sit. If you cannot find a near-level area larger than the home footprint, budget for grading and a retaining solution.
- Locate the nearest power pole and water meter. Every additional foot of trenching and line extension is real money.
- If there is no sewer, look for the flattest open area downslope for a septic field and ask whether a perc test has ever been done.
- Check the parcel's fire hazard severity zone on CAL FIRE's map before you fall in love with a backcountry view.
- Photograph everything, including the access road surface and width. Transport companies care about that road as much as you do.
Price feasibility work before buying the parcel. Ask the responsible agencies and qualified professionals which records, tests, surveys, and preliminary designs are needed, what each can establish, and what can remain uncertain until a formal application.
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