Neighbors

How to get access to a landlocked parcel: the basics

April 5, 2019 by Tammy Tengs

You notice a landlocked parcel for sale, and you think “Gee, that’s a nice parcel at an amazing price”. But after reading the fine print you realize there’s no road to it and it doesn’t have an easement. The parcel is “landlocked”. “How will I ever get access” you wonder?

This is an important question, because access is needed to build. Here I describe the steps you can go through to obtain legal access.

This is an “Intro 101” examination of the basics, not an advanced discussion. My goal is to describe the process in a super simple manner to those buyers who have no idea how to get access to a parcel that is landlocked. If you have more advanced questions, you will want to consult a real estate attorney.

Key Things to Be Aware of First

A “landlocked” parcel is one that does not have access to a road because it is surrounded by property owned by other people.
The existence of a physical “road” that you can see with your eyeballs does not necessarily mean you have legal access.
Your goal is to obtain an “easement for ingress and egress” (access to go in and out). Once you have an easement, you will have the right to cross your neighbor’s private property to get to your property.
An easement is basically the right to use the real property of another for a specific purpose. Legal title to the underlying land is retained by the original owner.
Easements “run with the land”. That means when you sell your property or your neighbor sells his property, the easement stays in place. Humans come and go. Land and easements stay where they are. So any future owner of your land would also have access via the easement and any future owner of your neighbor’s parcel would still have to provide access.

Step 1: Verify That the Parcel is Truly Landlocked

It does not make sense to go to the trouble of trying to create an easement if you already have access. So, the first step is to verify that the parcel in question is really truly landlocked.

If the land is on an official paved or dirt road, then you probably have legal access and you do not need an easement. If the land is on a road or path that is unofficial, then you may or may not need an easement. You cannot tell with your eyes whether the existing road is official or whether there is a legally recorded easement. The road you see with your eyes could be unofficial and not an easement.

To get some information about whether you already have access, order a title report. Title companies make decisions about whether or not to insure for “marketable access” when deciding whether or not to insure title. In my experience, “marketable access” corresponds to what I will call “legal access” about 99% of the time. If the title company says that they will insure title and will also insure for access, you can be pretty sure you have legal access. If the title company says they will insure for title but will not insure for access, you can usually assume you have no legal access and your parcel is landlocked. So, the easiest way to determine whether or not a parcel is landlocked is to order a title report.

When the title company agrees to insure for title, but declines to insure for access, a phrase like “The lack of right of access to and from the land” will appear in the exceptions section of the title report. When this phrase does not appear, the title company is basically saying they will insure for both title and access.

Step 2: Gather Information on the History of Access

If the owner of a parcel for sale has already tried to get access from a neighbor, and failed, it’s important for you to know this. Maybe the seller has been feuding with his neighbor over access for years. This scenario would suggest that you, the buyer and future owner, are also likely to find the neighbor difficult to work with.

On the other hand, maybe the history offers good news. Suppose that the seller subdivided his 10 acres and sold 5 acres to his best friend from high school, kept the other 5 acres for himself, and just forgot to create an easement across his friend’s land in front to his land in back. That’s a totally different situation. Creating an easement in a case like this may be easy.

Understanding the history will help you, as a buyer, to get a sense of the likelihood that your efforts to negotiate an easement will be successful.

About 90% of the time you will discover that there is no history at all and the seller has never attempted to arrange an easement. This is because many people buy land as an investment, not to build. They have no reason to visit the land so never tried to create access. They bought it “as is” and they are selling it “as is”.

Ask about the seller’s history on trying to establish access. You never know when you might learn something helpful.

Step 3: Consider Who Will Create the Easement and When

Will the easement be created by the City? No. The County? No. The transportation authority? No. The Broker? No. The title company? No. The neighbor? No. The seller? Usually no.

So, who will create the easement? You, the buyer, that’s who. About 97% of the time, buyers of landlocked parcels must purchase the land the way it is, close escrow, own it, and then start working to create an easement after closing.

I find that about 2% of the time, the seller will entertain an offer with a contingency on the easement. This means that the buyer can try to arrange the easement during their contingency period (part of the escrow period). If the buyer is unsuccessful, the buyer can cancel escrow, get their deposit back, and walk away. If the buyer is successful, the buyer will close escrow. I say this happens 2% of the time because it is a rare seller who will entertain such a contingency. It can take months or a year or more to go through all the steps to create an easement and sellers typically want to close escrow in 21-45 days.

In unusual instances, like 1% of the time, the seller will actually agree to create the easement for the buyer prior to closing. Sellers may entertain this option when creating the easement is super-duper easy for them. An example of this situation is when the seller happens to own the adjacent parcel where the easement is needed. In that case, the seller of parcel A is also the neighbor and owner of parcel B, and can easily create an easement across parcel B, his own land. Another example is when the neighbor is a family member or close friend of the seller. A final example is when the seller has already negotiated access with the neighbor and just needs to put it in writing, get it signed, and record the easement with the county.

In my experience, buyers commonly want an easement before closing and sellers almost never agree to this. It’s just wishful thinking on the part of buyers. Generally, buyers will have to purchase the land and then roll up their sleeves, in that order.

Sometimes buyers who have not even submitted an offer on a parcel ask me for contact information for the neighbor. They think I can just give them the neighbor’s phone number or email and they will just contact the neighbor and say, “hey man, can I have an easement?” They’re hoping the neighbor will say “yeah, sure, no problem” and it will be easy. Dear buyers, that almost never works. First, I don’t have the neighbor’s phone number or email and the seller rarely has their contact information either. I do have access to title records but those show only the neighbor’s name and mailing address, not their phone number or email. Second, negotiating an easement takes more effort than a simple phone call. It can take months. So, a “hey man…” conversation is unlikely to be fruitful. Third, you don’t own the parcel yet and you’re not even in escrow, so you don’t really have authority to negotiate an easement. Fourth, generally more than one buyer will have this same idea and it’s not good for multiple buyers to be calling the same neighbor. So, buyers, I suggest that you put this idea out of your mind. Please understand that if you want to buy a landlocked parcel at a low price, you will have buy the land “as is” and work through the steps in this blog post to seek an easement after closing. Or don’t buy it. That’s the other option.

Step 4: Figure Out Where You Want the Easement

After buying the land, if you decide to move forward with seeking an easement from the neighbor(s), you will need to figure out which parcel(s) you want to cross. Get a map that shows your parcel and the neighbor’s parcel(s). This map might be a plat map or an aerial map.

Say you are surrounded by neighbors B, C and D. If you cross B you will reach the road. Alternatively, if you cross C you must also cross D, then you will reach the road. In the first case, you will need one easement. In the second case you will need two easements. So, figure out which direction it makes the most sense to go.

Also assess approximately where on the neighbor’s parcel(s) you want the easement. For example, is there a well-worn dirt path that you will try to follow? Do you want to travel along the boundary of a property? Is your desired easement straight or curved? How wide will it be? Ask the City/County what width they require in order to grant a building permit as that will dictate the width of the easement you will try to arrange.

Step 5: Get Contact Information for the Neighbor(s)

In order to request an easement from a neighbor, you will need the neighbor’s name and contact information. Their mailing address might not be the same as their physical address.

Vacant land sellers rarely have contact information for their neighbors. Remember, they’re selling land, not a house, so they don’t live there. However, your Realtor can look up the neighbor’s contact information in title records. In order for your Realtor to help you, you must give her the address or Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN), for the neighbor’s parcel(s) that you want to cross.

You can use the official plat map (not a Google map) to figure out the APNs. For example, if you are purchasing APN 1234-567-89 then the plat map will have an 89 in a circle corresponding to the parcel you want to buy. If you are planning to seek an easement across a parcel that has a 90 in a circle, the APN for that parcel will be 1234-567-90. Give your Realtor that APN and she can look up the name and mailing address for the owner of that parcel. In California and some parts of Oregon, agents have access to title records in Realist through the MLS.

Another way to find the neighbor’s contact information is to use a Geographic Information System (GIS). GIS systems are available free online. To find a GIS system for your area, Google “GIS <city name>” if the parcel is in the City. Google “GIS <county name>” if the parcel is in the County. Enter the neighbor’s APN into the GIS and see if their contact information pops up. Note that not all GIS systems have contact information for property owners – some do, some don’t. Also, if there is contact information it will be limited to names and addresses. There will be no phone number or email.

I have had some success finding phone numbers and emails just by using Google. This works best if the neighbor has a somewhat unusual name. Try it.

Step 6: Ask the Neighbor(s) for an Easement

Armed with the neighbor’s contact information, the next step is to get in touch with them. You can send the neighbor a letter, call, email, or try going in person. Or, if you prefer, you can have your attorney do any of these things.

Explain to the neighbor that you are seeking an easement. Be prepared to explain to them what an easement is. Reassure the neighbor that they will still own the land where the easement is located. You just want to cross it. Let them know that the easement “runs with the land” so it remains there in perpetuity and does not disappear if you sell or if your neighbor sells. Describe where you want the easement to be located. State how wide it will be. Discuss who will improve and maintain the easement.

If the neighbor objects, offer to pay them for it. How much should you offer? It depends on the value of the land…$500, $5000, $50,000. I don’t know. It’s negotiable.

When considering what you are willing to pay for an easement, you might factor these things in to your thought process:

An easement will greatly improve the value of your land. This is because parcels with recorded legal access sell for much more than parcels with no access. I would estimate that easements improve the value of land by 10-1000%. Ask your Realtor to estimate how much an easement might increase the value of your specific parcel.
The alternative to paying the neighbor for the easement is probably going to court to resolve the conflict. Attorney fees are expensive, $200-$500/hour. In comparison to paying attorney fees, paying the neighbor for the easement might feel like a bargain.
By burdening your neighbor’s parcel with an easement, you might be reducing the value of their parcel. It’s only fair to pay him enough to compensate him for any loss in value that he might incur.

If the neighbor agrees to offer an easement, go to step 7 and consider skipping step 8. If the neighbor doesn’t agree to offer an easement, go to step 8.

Step 7: Hire a Surveyor

Easements should be recorded with the county. In order to record an easement, you and the neighbor must sign an agreement. That agreement must specify the precise location of the easement.

The description of the location of the easement cannot be casual like “along the existing path on the west side of John’s land at 1234 Main St”. A proper legal description is often complicated and looks more like this:

An easement and right of way for road, sewer, water, gas, power and telephone lines and appurtenances thereto under, along and across a 60.00 foot strip of land lying within Section 10 and 11 all in Township 9 South, Range 2 West, San Bernardino Meridian, in the County of San Diego. State of California, according to United States Government Survey, the centerline of said 60.00 foot strip being described as follows: Beginning at the Northwest corner of the Northeast Quarter of said Section 11; thence along the Northerly line of said Northeast Quarter, South 86° 05’ 24” East 577.98 feet to the True Point of Beginning; leaving said Northerly line, South 5° 37’ 14” East 310.00 feet; thence South 04° 36’32’ East 164.03 feet to the beginning of a tangent 300.00 foot radius curve, concave Westerly; thence Southerly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 27° 07’ 51” a distance of 142.06 feet thence South 22° 31‘19” West 133.34 feet to the beginning of a tangent 100.00 foot radius curve, concave Northwesterly; thence Southwesterly along the arc of said curve through a central angle of 60° 02’ 43” a distance of 104.80 feet thence South 82° 34’ 02” West 174.36 feet to the beginning of a tangent 400.00 foot radius curve concave Southerly; thence Westerly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 13° 33’ 30” a distance of 94.66 feet; thence South 69° 00’ 32” West 115.77 feet to an intersection with the Westerly line of the Northeast Quarter of Section 11, Township 9 South, Range 2 West, distant thereon South 05°54’22” East 926.55 feet from the Northwest corner of the Northeast Quarter of said Section 11; thence along the Westerly line of said Northeast Quarter, South 05° 54’ 22” East 397.68 feet to the Southeast corner of the Northeast Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 11 South 05° 22’ 54” East 13.10 feet; thence South 30° 35’ 51” West 281.12 feet to the beginning of a tangent 180.00 foot radius curve, concave Easterly; thence Southerly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 29° 17’ 17” a distance of 92.01 feet thence South 01° 18’ 34” West 264.21 feet; thence North 88°41’26” West 30.00 feet; thence South 13°19’28” West 66.15 feet of the beginning of a tangent 100.00 foot radius curve, concave Northwesterly; thence Southwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 70°31’28” a distance of 123.09 feet; thence South 83°50’56” West 43.41 feet to the beginning of a tangent 200.00 foot radius curve, concave Northeasterly, thence Northwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 47° 02’ 06” a distance of 164.18 feet thence North 49° 06’ 58” West 117.28 feet to the beginning of a tangent 50.00 foot radius curve, concave Southerly thence Westerly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 77° 08’ 23” a distance of 67.32 feet; thence South 53° 44’39” West 59.15 feet to the beginning of a tangent 150.00 foot radius curve, concave Southeasterly; thence Southwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 28°58’14” a distance of 75.85 feet; thence South 24° 46’ 25” West 609.78 feet to an intersection with the Southerly line of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 11; thence along said Southerly line, North 87° 41‘ 25” West 61.94 feet to the Southeast corner of the Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 11; thence along the Southerly line of said Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter, North 87° 41’ 25” West 193.45 feet to the beginning of a tangent 50.00 foot radius curve, concave Southeasterly, thence Southwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 57° 08’ l0” a distance of 49.86 feet; thence South 35° 10’ 25” West 169.73 feet to the beginning of a tangent 100.00 foot radius curve, concave Northwesterly; thence Southwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 36° 19’ 10” a distance of 98.30 feet thence North 88° 30’ 25” West 31.23 feet to the beginning of a tangent 150.00 foot radius curve, concave Northeasterly; thence Northwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 42°51 ‘10” a distance of 112.19 feet; thence North 45° 39’ l5” West 138.04 feet to the beginning of a tangent 189.53 foot radius curve, concave Northeasterly; thence Northwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 29° 27’ 20” a distance of 97.44 feet to an intersection with the Southerly line of the Southwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 11; thence North 16° 11‘ 55” West 482.67 feet to the beginning of a tangent 500.00 foot radius curve, concave Southwesterly; thence Northwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 12° 50’ 50” a distance of 112.11 feet; thence North 29°02’45” West 376.18 feet to the beginning of a tangent 300.00 foot radius curve, concave Southwesterly; thence Northwesterly along the arc of said curve, through a central angle of 22° 07’ 00” a distance of 115.80 feet; thence North 51° 09’ 45” West 168.16 feet to an intersection with the Westerly line of said Section 11 distant thereon South 03° 25’ 35” East 194.19 feet from the Southwest corner of the Northwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of said Section 11; thence continuing along the last described course North 51° 09’ 45” West 122.20 feet; thence North 14° 09’ 45” West to an intersection with the Southerly line of the Northeast Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of Section 10, Township 9 South, Range 2 West.

As you can see, you will need to hire a surveyor to write a proper legal description of the location of the easement. The surveyor will also prepare documents for you and your neighbor to sign. After you sign, go to the county and record the easement.

Step 8: Hire an Attorney

If the neighbor refuses to allow an easement, hire an attorney. You might also consider hiring an attorney long before this stage to help you with steps 1-7.

Choose an attorney who specializes in real estate. To find one, Google the American Bar Association for the county where the land is located. Call and ask for a referral to a local real estate attorney.

Your attorney will help you negotiate with the neighbor. They can also draft your agreement with the neighbor regarding things like who is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the easement.

If the neighbor is uncooperative, your lawyer can advise you on whether the specific circumstances of your situation mean that you have a legal right to an easement. Then your attorney can make this case in court, if necessary.

Alternative Approaches

You might be wondering if there are things you can do to address the lack of access without seeking an easement and without the expense of hiring an attorney. Here are some possibilities:

Offer to buy the neighbor’s property outright. Once you own it you will have the control and can create an easement on your own land!
Offer to buy a portion of the neighbor’s property, enough to get you to a road. This would require subdividing the parcel or a lot-line adjustment. Sometimes the city/county will allow this and sometimes they won’t. Before suggesting this to the neighbor, check with the Planning office to see if it’s allowed.
Ask the neighbor’s family member to convince the neighbor to give you an easement. This has worked for me.
If you’re not vibing with the neighbor for personality reasons, ask your spouse, significant other, family member, friend, or attorney to negotiate on your behalf. They may have better luck.
Offer something of value to the neighbor. Examples include: a) more money than you originally offered, b) “first right of refusal” so that he can be first in line if you ever sell your land in the future, c) a gate/road that you will install at your expense, d) fencing between your properties that you will install at your expense, or e) that chain saw he keeps borrowing, etc. You get the idea. This is the “carrot” approach.
Explain to the neighbor what your next steps will be if he declines the easement, e.g., you will hire an attorney so he will probably have to hire an attorney. This will cost him money and there will be a long drawn out court fight, etc. This is the “stick” approach and not recommended unless you’re ready to burn all other bridges.
Offer to pay for a professional mediator to assist both parties in negotiating the easement.
Offer to sell your property to the neighbor. This will not achieve your goal of getting an easement, but it will get you out of the situation.
Wait for the neighbor to sell their property or pass their property on to their heirs. Statistically, houses turn over on average every 7 years. Maybe the next owner will be more accommodating.
Wait for the neighbor to put their property on the market for sale. List your land at the same time, possibly with the same Realtor. If the buyer purchases both properties, they’re not going to be too concerned about your lack of access because they will own the neighboring land.
Ask the neighbor for a “personal permission” to cross. This is different from an “easement”. It applies only to you personally (and possible your family, guests etc.) and does not “run with the land”. This means that when you transfer the property, or the neighbor transfers his property, the permission will disappear. It will not allow you to build and will not increase the value of your property when you sell it, but it will allow you to put your feet on your land for now.
Sell your land on the open market in its current landlocked state for whatever price you can get for it. Be sure to disclose the lack of access to the next buyer.
Try getting an easement in a different direction, across a different neighbor’s land, if possible.

Conclusion

Buyers purchase landlocked parcels every day. It is very common because parcels that lack access are offered at a bargain price. By studying this basic outline of the steps that would have to be followed to create an easement, buyers who are unfamiliar with the process can assess whether or not buying a landlocked parcel is something that makes sense for them.

Due diligence when purchasing vacant land: buyer’s frequently asked questions

October 29, 2018 by Tammy Tengs

What is Due Diligence?

Due diligence means taking precautions and doing your homework on property before you make the purchase. If you find too many issues with the property — too much potential risk or cost — then you can look for a better parcel of land.

Who is Responsible for Due Diligence?

Vacant land buyers are responsible for conducting their own independent due diligence on any parcel they are considering purchasing.

Won’t the Seller or Agent Just Tell Me Everything I Need to Know About Land?

The answer is no. The seller and agent do not know everything about the land that might interest you.

Further, while sellers and agents have the legal responsibility is to disclose material facts that they are aware of it is not possible for them to disclose facts that they are not aware of.

The seller will complete disclosure forms where they write down everything that they know about the land that they consider a “material fact”. The agent will provide a copy to you. If the seller has relevant documents in their file such as a well report or survey, they will provide those too. In California, but not in other states, the seller will also provide a natural hazard report. This is a report produced by a company such as Property ID or PDQ who charge a small fee, under $100. The report discloses things such as whether the land is in an earthquake fault zone, a flood area, or a location prone to wildfires. The agent will tell you what they know about the land. The title company will provide a report so that you will know if title is clear. Upon request, the title company can also provide a map of plotted easements.

That’s it! That’s all you get!

The information provided by the seller, agents and title company will usually not address everything that you might want to know about the land and may not be sufficient for you to decide whether or not you want to buy the land. The agent and seller will tell you what they already know, but beyond that it is your responsibility to do whatever additional research is needed.

For example, if the corners are unmarked, it is not the seller’s responsibility to mark the corners of the land unless you explicitly wrote a survey into your offer and the seller agreed to do it. It is not your Realtor’s responsibility to perform detailed research on building requirements. It is not the title company’s responsibility to plot easements on adjacent land unless you explicitly ask them to do that.

Dear buyer, you must do your own independent due diligence.

Won’t My Agent Do All This Research For Me?

You agent’s role is to help you by advising you on where to get the information you need as you move down the path of doing your own independent due diligence.

A key point here is that your agent, who has your back, knows that it is in your best interest for you to do your own due diligence. The information you will receive will be more accurate and helpful if you get it straight from the information-provider, not filtered through a Realtor as an intermediary.

Did you ever play the telephone game as a child? Here’s how the game goes: One child whispers a word or phrase to another child. That kid whispers it to the next kid, and so on. At the end of the chain, the last child says the word aloud. It’s funny to see how convoluted the word or phrase becomes.

Don’t play the “telephone game” with your Realtor in the middle. Eliminate the middle-man. Go straight to the electric company, water company, planning office, etc. and let them put the information directly in your ear!

Another benefit of talking to information-providers directly is that you can have an entire conversation with that person. You can ask additional follow-up questions if you need to. You may even learn things “you didn’t know you didn’t know”. For example, when you’re talking to the water company, they may say that yes, district water is available, but sewer is not. Wow, you might think. That was something that didn’t even occur to you to ask because you were assuming that water and sewer always go together! Or, when you’re meeting with the county Planner to discuss the allowability of a mother-in-law apartment next to the house you are planning on 5 acres, you might discover that the zoning allows you to subdivide and build two houses on two separate 2.5-acre parcels. Wow, that’s awesome, you didn’t know that and it would be a better fit for your family! One question will lead to other questions which will lead to more answers and more insight and the entire conversation will be very helpful to you.

Your Realtor knows that it is in your best interest for you to get information “straight from the horse’s mouth”. That’s why they are telling you to “go direct” to each information-provider get your questions answered.

What if I Don’t Want to Do My Own Due Diligence?

Um, then maybe now is not the right time to be buying land?

Of course, you do have the option of buying land without conducting a thorough evaluation. In rare instances this can make sense. For example, if the land is a $5000, one-acre parcel, in the middle of the desert, and you can see in aerial maps that there are no houses nearby and you’re pretty sure there are no utilities there, and you’re just buying it for investment, not to build, then doing extensive research may not be essential.

When Should I Do My Due Diligence?

Do as much research as you can before even submitting an offer. That way, if you get bad news, you can avoid the time and effort it takes to submit an offer and negotiate with the seller. Plus, you can avoid sending a deposit to escrow.

Another advantage of doing your research before submitting an offer is that if you find something negative, and you want the land anyway, you can use it to negotiate a good price. For example, you can say “Hey seller, I see that your land is priced at $100,000, but I found out that it is in a flood zone and will be more expensive to build, so will you take $80,000?” That kind of thing.

With houses it is common to go into escrow, get an inspection, and then negotiate the price down or get the seller to make repairs. That tactic is exceedingly rare with vacant land and will not be well-received by the seller or listing agent, so I recommend that you not try it, or you might get kicked to the curb. However, it is common and acceptable to negotiate price at the time your offer is submitted so feel free to any use negative information that you find to your advantage up front.

Also, include a contingency period in your offer so that you can continue your research during the escrow period. The clock on your contingency period starts ticking “upon acceptance” which means the date that the last signature appears on the contract. So, for example, if your offer was accepted by the seller on January 1 and you have a 17-day contingency period inside a 30-day escrow period, that means that you will want to complete all due diligence by January 18^th.

At the end of the contingency period the Realtor will ask you to “remove your contingencies”. After you remove your contingencies, your deposit is non-refundable. So, for this reason, you will want to be sure to finish all research prior to the end of your due diligence period. This period usually ends well in advance of the escrow closing date, so don’t get those two dates confused.

In What Situations Would It Be Especially Dumb to Skip My Due Diligence?

It’s especially unwise to skip due diligence when: 1) The parcel is expensive, 2) the price is so low it seems “too good to be true”, 3) you want to build on the land, 4) you have a particular use in mind for the land and don’t know if that use is allowed, or 5) you’re not familiar with the area.

What Due Diligence Can I Do at Home in My Pajamas?

Fortunately, a lot of research can be done from the comfort of your sofa!

You can review zoning descriptions on the city/county Planning Department website. You can also get tons of interesting information from the city/county Geographic Information System (GIS). You can email the city/county Planner to ask questions (this works best when the county is small). You can study Google or Bing aerial maps to get a sense of boundaries. You can review the title report, seller’s disclosures, and the natural hazard report that your agent or escrow officer will give you during the escrow period. You can search Google to learn about crime statistics in the area.

You can phone the electric company, water district, local well drillers, and septic providers. You can also try phoning the City or County Planning department to ask questions.

What Due Diligence Would Require Me to Drive Somewhere?

Make sure you go see the land in person. If you can’t do that, e.g., because you’re in another state, hire a service like We Go Look to take additional photos or video.

If the land is in a big city or county, it may be hard to reach someone in the Planning Department by phone or email. In that case, you will have to get in your car and go speak to the Planner in person. Just walk in. Usually no appointment is needed.

What Due Diligence Will Cost Me Money?

Most of it is free. However, if you want to do any of the following, you will have to pay for it:

Order a perc test for septic
Hire a well driller to inspect the well
Have a surveyor mark the corners so that you can understand boundaries
Order a phase I environmental review (needed only in rare instances, e.g., when buying an abandoned gas station);
Hire an engineer to investigate developing the land
Ask a contractor to advise you on whether a parcel is buildable

What Information Do I Need to Have at My Fingertips Before Starting My Research?

Get out a piece of paper. Write down the assessor’s parcel number (APN), also called the tax id number. If there is an actual address, write that down as well. If there is no address (common for vacant land) write down the street the parcel is on plus the nearest cross street. Find out if the parcel is inside city limits or outside city limits so in the county. If it’s in the city, write down the name of the city. If not in an incorporated city, write down the name of the county. If there is a Homeowners Association (HOA), write down the name of the HOA. If you know the name(s) of the current legal owners, write those down as well.

Now you have all the information you will need at your fingertips to identify the parcel to the information-providers that you will speak to. You can start making those calls!

How Do I Even Know If There are Building Restrictions on the Land?

If it’s dirt, there are building restrictions! In other words, every parcel of land has building restrictions:

Restrictions may be imposed by the City
Restrictions may be imposed by the County
Restrictions may be imposed by the Homeowner’s Association
Restrictions may be imposed by other entities such as the Coastal Commission or Historic District

Who Governs Building Restrictions on the Land?

I answered that in a previous blog post here.

How Can I find Out if Electric or Water Meters Are Already Installed?

The chance that there are meters already installed on vacant land is virtually zero.

The only situation in which I have ever seen an electric meter was in a rural area on land used to park a recreational vehicle (RV) or trailer that someone was staying in.

On vacant, land, I find water meters less than 1% of the time. If there is a water meter, it could be installed, or it could be paid for but not yet installed and “on the shelf” at the water company. To find out, you can call the water company and ask if there is a paid meter.

Your question should really be about how close utilities are to the land and what the cost of getting utilities might be. Read on.

How Can I Research the Availability of Electricity?

Get in your car and drive to the land. Look for the nearest electric wires and poles. Plot their location on a map.

Find out the name of the electric company that covers that area. To do that, Google this: Electric Company <city or county name>.

Phone the electric company and give them the parcel number (APN), address, or whatever they ask for. Inquire about the availability and cost of electricity.

How Can I Research Water?

To find out if district water is available, look around the neighborhood for water meter covers. Also look for fire hydrants. These offer evidence that district water may be available in the street.

If you don’t see evidence of district water, then start looking for evidence of wells. Walk around the land and look for a large round pipe poking up out of the ground. It could be a capped well. From the street, look at the neighbor’s properties to see if you see tiny buildings that could be well houses. Or just ask a neighbor if they have a well.

Based on your preliminary in-person research, if you think there’s district water you will want to phone the water company to ask more questions.

To find out the name of the water company, Google this: Water Company <city or county name>. Phone the water company and give them the parcel number (APN) and/or address, or whatever they ask for. Inquire about the availability of water and the cost of a water meter.

If the neighbors seem to be using wells and there is no well on the land, phone a local well driller to learn more. To find a local well driller Google this: Well driller <city or county name>. When you talk to the driller, or his staff, describe the general location of the land and ask questions about the viability of wells in that area, depth that may be needed, cost, etc. Well drillers are reluctant to offer estimates of depth and cost over the phone because every parcel is different. If they express reluctance, ask for a range or a general sense.

How Can I Research Sewer/Septic?

Just because water is available, this does not mean that sewer is also available. So, when talking to the water company, be sure to ask if sewer is also available in that area.

If sewer is not available, a septic system will be needed for waste. It is very very rare for a septic system to already be installed on vacant land. The only time I have seen that is when there was a house there previously that was demolished or burned down.

You will want to figure out if the land can support a septic system because not all land can do that. To find out if a septic system is viable on your land, a percolation test or “perc test” is needed. Sometimes you will see “perc” spelled “perk”.

To get a rough sense of septic viability without performing an expensive perc test, you can ask neighbors if they had any trouble perc’ing for septic. You can contact a local septic installer to ask if he has ever had a home in this area not perc. Finally, you can visit the county and find out if there is an historic perc test already on file. If a successful perc test has been recorded, ask the County if the test would have to be updated due to age. Also check to see if a failed perc test might have been recorded.

You might want to arrange your own perc test. If you plan to do this, be sure to write your intent into your offer to get the seller’s approval. This is because it involves digging big holes in the ground and you need seller permission to do that. Before submitting an offer to the seller, ask a septic professional how long the perc test will take and what their schedule is. Include the amount of time you need for the perc test in your offer and make your offer contingent on a successful perc test. For example, if the septic professional says it will take 4 weeks to do a perc test then include a 30 day contingency period in your offer.

How Can I Research Zoning?

The first step in researching zoning is to figure out whether a parcel is in the city or the county. This will dictate which Planning Office you go to for zoning information.

Start your zoning research online. Instead of going to the city or county website and poking around there to find the right department, it is faster to just search Google like this: Zoning <city or county name>. The zoning section of the official city or county website should pop up.

If it’s a common city or county name, be sure to also specify the state in your Google search. This is because you don’t want to end up spending an hour looking at a zoning website for Portland Maine when you thought you were looking at the site for Portland Oregon.

To find a zoning map fast, go to Google and type: Zoning map <city or county name>. Sometimes, searching Google Images rather than just basic Google is a more direct way to find a map. This is because a map, after all, is an image.

Another really good way to research zoning is to use one of the free Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provided by most counties and cities. You can enter the parcel number or address into those systems and uncover a wealth of information, including helpful maps and zoning. To find a GIS system for your land search Google like this: GIS <city or county name>. When searching a GIS system using the assessor’s parcel number (APN), a helpful tip is to omit the dashes. For example, do not enter APN 1234-567-89. Instead, enter 123456789. If that doesn’t work try adding zeros at the end, e.g., 1234567890000.

A final way to figure out the zoning is to just to ask the Planning office. Email, call or go in person. Give them the APN. I find that if it’s a small office they will usually be happy to respond to my email requests for information. If they are a large busy office, it will be almost impossible to get an answer by email or phone. In that case, you will have to go in person.

One last tip is to be sure to research both “zoning” and “land use”. They might conflict.

How Can I Research Building Requirements?

If you’re interested in building, the first step is to research zoning to see what kind of structure is allowed, if any. For example, if the zoning allows only single-family homes, then you cannot build a commercial office. Then, get in your car and drive to the City or County offices to learn what you can about building restrictions. If you still have questions, pay a licensed contractor a consulting fee to assist you. Remember, your Realtor is an expert in real estate sales, not building.

How Can I Research Property Boundaries?

Walk around the land near where you think the corners might be. Look in the dirt for markers. Markers might be anything. They could be vertical white PVC pipe, wood sticks poking up out of the ground, unusual piles of rocks, florescent pink tape hanging from a tree, or the remnants of fence or old wood post. Just look for something unusual that looks like it was put there by a human and not by mother nature. Note, however, that humans make mistakes so any corner markers you find may not be accurate.

If you really want the corners marked accurately, hire a surveyor. To find one, go to Google and type in: Surveyor <city or county name>.

How Can I Research Easements on the Land?

Any easements recorded on the land that you are buying will restrict the ways you can use it. One example is a utility easement (no you can’t build your garage under those tall utility wires). Another example is a conservation easement which often blankets the whole parcel, restricting building everywhere on the land (yikes!). If there are easements, they will almost always be mentioned in the title report that will be provided during the escrow period. However, in the title report their location will be described in some gobbledygook way, so if you see easements mentioned, ask the title company for a map of plotted easements so that you can see just where they are.

How Can I Research Access?

Remember, there’s physical access and legal access and they’re not necessarily the same thing.

To research physical access, study aerial maps or get in your car and see if you can drive to the land.

To research legal access, the easiest way is to just order a title report. If the title company says they will insure for title and access, there’s a good chance that there is legal access. If the title company says they will insure title, but will not insure specifically for access, that’s usually because there is no legal access.

Note that easements on the land are different than easements used to access the land. The former will be recorded on the land you are buying while the latter will be recorded on the neighbor’s parcel. Easements recorded on the neighbor’s parcel for ingress/egress to your parcel will not appear in the title report for the parcel you are buying. So, you will want to explicitly ask the title company to research those easements on the neighboring parcel. If the title company discovers an easement to reach the land, ask the title company for a map of plotted easements showing the ingress/egress route.

How Can I Research Environmental Problems or Endangered Species?

If you have concerns about possible environmental pollution you can pay an environmental firm to do a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. Generally, this is only needed if you are purchasing something like an abandoned gas station, junk yard, auto repair site, or if you see evidence of pollution such as leaking oil drums:

To find a local firm that does environmental assessments, Google: Phase I Environmental <city or county name>.

How Can I Research Neighbors?

Get a crime statistics report for the City or County. To do this, Google: Crime Statistics <city or county name>. You can also research predators living near the land at the Sex Offender Registry.

However, don’t get freaked out thinking that the land is in a bad area because you find a certain number of burglaries and pedophiles. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but virtually every neighborhood has crime. The best way to realize that is to research the neighborhood you are living in now and you will see what I mean. Evil-doers are everywhere! Bleh!

Another way to research neighbors is to stop and talk to them. Say “hi” to the guy bringing in his groceries or the lady working on her car in the driveway. See if they’re the kind of people you want to have as neighbors.

How Can I Research Local Amenities?

In Google Maps locate the property you are buying. Then click on “nearby”. Several options will pop up such as Restaurants nearby, Hotels nearby, Bars and pubs nearby, etc. Choose one of those or type in what you’re interested in, e.g., grocery stores, hospitals, schools, etc. Google will map them for you.

How Can I Research Climate?

One of my favorite places to research climate is BestPlaces. I like to compare two cities.

What pops up is helpful information for two cities on climate, crime, economy, housing, health, education, people, transportation, religion, voting, jobs, etc.

How Can I Research Real Estate or Rental Prices?

Search Zillow or ApartmentList.

How Can I Research Whether Title is Clean?

During the escrow period, the escrow officer will order a title report. You can review that. The title company will not insure the title unless it is “clean”. So, if they say they will insure, that’s your best indicator of clean title.

If there are blemishes on the title report, the seller will often be able to correct those during the escrow period. So if the preliminary title report is not clear, don’t assume that’s the end of it. Wait to see what the final title report shows after the seller and escrow officer have worked to address any questionable items. As one example, if there is a judgment or lien in the report, the seller can pay that off making it disappear from the title report.

How Can I Avoid Making A Mistake on My Due Diligence?

One way to avoid error is to sit down with your Realtor and develop a list of all the issues that you as a buyer will need to research. That way you won’t forget anything. Another way to minimize error is to get all critical information directly from various information-providers, not second hand from Realtors or sellers. A final way to reduce error is by practicing redundancy: Get the same question answered in multiple different ways, or by several different people. For example, if you are trying to figure out if the land is likely to perc for septic you can: 1) ask a neighbor if they had any trouble with their perc test, 2) check with the county to see if an historic perc test is already a matter of public record, 3) call a local septic installer to ask about the viability of septic in that area, and/or, 4) pay for an actual perc test. That is, do several of these things, not just one.

Story time: One time I phoned a county planning office to ask about the zoning for a parcel I was selling. The planner I spoke to said it was zoned commercial. A few days later I called again to get some clarification on what commercial uses were allowed. I spoke to a different planner. That planner said it was actually zoned residential. So, I went to the planning office in person. The third planner walked me over to a large zoning map hanging on the wall. That map showed that it was zoned commercial along the street and residential in the back. That made sense and I could see from the map that it was the correct answer. Finally! Making several phone calls AND going in person AND looking at maps was the key to getting the right information at the end of the day. Redundancy rules!

What if I Mess Up on My Due Diligence?

One time I was selling a piece of land and the buyer didn’t do any due diligence prior to purchase. He then asked to “rescind” a sale after closing escrow.

Um, that’s a “no”.

There is no way to rescind a sale after escrow has closed and a change of ownership has been recorded with the county. Buying real estate is not like shopping in a retail store. You can’t just walk up the return counter with a copy of your receipt and get your money back.

With that said, if, after purchasing land, you decide that you don’t want to own it for any reason, you can always resell it. Just be sure to disclose to the next buyer all material facts, especially negative facts that you may have discovered, as required by law.

It’s All Very Overwhelming. What Strategies Will Make it Easier?

Well, remember all you’re trying to do now is decide if you want to buy the land or not. You’re not going to be building a house next week – that’s in the future. So, focus in on just the mission-critical items, i.e., the things that really affect whether or not you even want to buy the land to begin with.

If you ponder it, you will realize that some things are not mission-critical. For example, do you really need to hire a surveyor to market the exact-exact-exact corners on that 40-acre piece or will studying an aerial map do for now? I mean, if you were to discover that the property line is 10 feet from where you thought it was, would that really affect your decision to purchase? If so, hire a surveyor. If not, it can wait until after you buy the land.

Or if you’re buying an infill lot in a densely populated neighborhood, and you observe a fire hydrant at the nearest intersection, and the neighbor on the left has water, and the neighbor on the right has water, do you really need to research the cost of a water meter right now? After verifying that there is no moratorium on issuing new water meters in that area, you might just put that item on the back burner until you’re ready to build. All you’re trying to do right now is figure out if there are any bad-news-deal-breakers when it comes to purchasing the land. The rest can be put off ‘till later.

If you will think along these lines you might be able to temporarily cross some things off your To Do list and tackle them after you buy the land. For now, focus on the things that affect your decision to buy or not buy.

Summary

When buying land, yes, you truly do have to do your own independent due diligence. Further, there is no “one stop shopping” for all of the information that you might need. No single person will provide all of the answers for you: not the seller, not the Realtor, not the escrow officer, and not the title company. Savvy land buyers will want to make a list, roll up their sleeves, and gather separate pieces of information directly from various information-providers before purchasing a parcel of land.

Selling land? Write to the neighbors!

December 5, 2016 by Tammy Tengs

People who already own real estate in your neighborhood don’t need as much convincing about the fabulosity of the area. After all, they already bought real estate in the same area, right? When selling land, your neighbors may be your best prospects!

How can you make them aware that your land is for sale? Maybe you have a sign on your land. The neighbors surely see the sign, don’t they? That’s what you’re assuming anyway. Plus it’s in the MLS and advertised all over the Internet. So why write letters to the neighbors too?

Six Reasons to Write to the Neighbors

Your vacant land parcel probably has other vacant land parcels near it. By definition, the owners of those vacant parcels don’t live on their land and might even live in another state. They will not see your sign. So write to them!
The neighbors who do live nearby may have glanced at your sign when it went up. But now your faded sign doesn’t even register with them anymore. To them, it’s become more debris stuck in the weeds as they rush off to take the kids to soccer practice. But if they receive personalized invitation to buy your land in the mail – now that will have impact!
Mailing a letter sends a message that you are serious about selling your land. Why? Because not every seller does it. Your neighbor will likely realize that you are sending letters to all the neighbors. That’s a good thing. It will start to dawn on them that if they don’t buy your land someone else will (!) and then they may have a McMansion blocking their view. Or they may wake up one morning and find a single-wide mobile home and bunch of barking dogs on the parcel that they’ve been thinking of as their informal side-yard all these years, yikes.
Even if the neighbor isn’t interested in purchasing your land, they may know someone who is. If they have a paper brochure they can easily hand it to a friend or relative.
A letter gives your neighbors a kind of “heads up” that they should expect to see strangers (potential buyers and their agents) out walking on your land. This way they are less likely to fret about unusual people in the neighborhood. Warning the neighbors reduces the chance that they will disturb buyers, causing buyers to feel unwelcome.
A mailing gives your broker the opportunity to indirectly market their services to the neighbor in the event the neighbor wants to sell their property too. Now wait a minute, you wonder, why the heck is this good for you, the seller? There are many reasons: a) If your parcel is landlocked (i.e., does not have road access or a legal easement) and the neighbor owns the parcel between your land and the road, it would benefit you to have your Realtor list the neighbor’s land for sale at the same time. b) Buyers might want larger acreage. By offering two parcels for sale, buyers can purchase both, increasing the odds of selling your land. c) Your neighbor may have a well while you do not. Buyers might purchase their parcel for the well and yours for the additional acreage. d) The neighbor may have a structure or fence encroaching on your land or visa versa. Sell both parcels together to the same buyer and the problem is basically solved. e) With two listings, there will be twice as much marketing for land in your neighborhood. Buyers could see an ad for the neighbor’s parcel but submit an offer on your parcel….I could go on and on with examples on how this could be in your enlightened best interest.

My Letter to the Neighbors

Dear Mary Jones,

I am writing to let you know about the availability of a parcel of land near property that you own in SomeCity, California. The parcel for sale (parcel number 1234-567-89 at 987 Main St and your property (parcel number 1234-567-90 are shown on the map in the enclosed brochure.

I find that neighboring property owners are sometimes interested in acquiring nearby land. With that in mind, I am writing to ask whether you might be interested in purchasing my client’s parcel? The asking price is only $200,000.

More information is available at www.land22.com.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you for considering this opportunity.

Sincerely,

Tammy Tengs, Sc.D.

Principal Broker

Land22 Real Estate

Important Features of the Letter

Keep it short. Include a longer brochure with the letter that has all the details on your land. Don’t repeat those details in the letter.
Direct the letter to each neighbor by name, not to “Dear Neighbor”.
Your neighbor may own more than one parcel of land so orient them right off the bat to which of their parcels you’re writing to them about. Include the city and state. If it’s in a well-known area or neighborhood within a larger metropolitan area, mention the local area in addition to the the city. For example, you might say that it’s in “Silver Lake, Los Angeles” instead of just “Los Angeles” in case the seller owns other parcels in the greater Los Angeles area.
It’s critical to include not only the parcel number (APN) of the property you’re selling but also the APN of the neighbor’s parcel. This way the neighbor can easily see that the APNs are very similar. This allows them to gain insight that the two parcels are near one another. For example, if you’re selling APN 1234-567-89 and the neighbor’s APN is 1234-567-90 you want the neighbor to say to herself “hey, those numbers are almost the same so that lot for sale has to be right near my land!” People are more likely to buy land that is close to the land they already own.
If the land you’re selling has a street address, include that too. If an address is unavailable, include just the street name. If the parcel is not on a legal street but it is near a legal street say “off <street name>” instead of “on <street name>”. Again, your goal is for the neighbor to immediately realize “gee, that’s (just around the corner from) the street my property is on.”
The letter must be well written with no typos. Use the spell- and grammar-check features in your word processing software.
Use the mail merge feature in your word processing software so that you don’t have to draft a separate original letter for each neighbor. Create a little data file of the names, addresses, and parcel numbers and merge them into a single form letter so that the letter appears customized for each recipient. I enter my neighbor-addresses into my Filemaker Pro database and then I export them into a file that I use for mail merge into a Microsoft Word letter.

Important Features of the Envelope

Envelopes that appear to be junk mail will end up in the garbage. Direct marketing researchers actually study the features of envelopes that increase response rates. Based on what I have read about direct mail research, and my own experience, here are my tips for your envelope:

Use colorful stamps. Do not use the standard flag stamps and never meter the envelopes. Any crazy stamp will do. The less staid it is the more likely your letter will look personal and the more likely the recipient will open it. Remember, you’re not trying to look professional here – you’re trying to get your letter opened.
The return address should be the Realtor’s first and last name and mailing address. Do not include the real estate company name or the neighbor might toss it without even opening it thinking that it is just another general solicitation from a Realtor. (The letter inside should be on company letterhead however.)
Do not use address labels or see-through window envelopes. There is research showing that if you hand write the address on the envelope the recipient is more likely to open it and not discard it as junk mail. If the mailing is small, and if you have time, consider handwriting addresses on each envelope. (I don’t hand-write because I don’t have time – I feed envelopes through the printer for addressing but if you do you might improve your response rate.) The goal is clear though: it to should look like personal correspondence not a mass mailing. This way the neighbor is more likely to open the letter.
Use the neighbor’s actual name whenever possible. Try not to use impersonal entity names. For example if the property is officially owned by the “Mary Jones Separate Property Trust 1998”, address the envelope (and direct the letter) to just “Mary Jones”. If it is owned by “Bob Anderson Construction Inc.”, address the envelope to “Bob Anderson”.
Omit Mr., Ms. or Mrs. The reason for this advice is that title records do not include gender and you don’t want to get it wrong. A Mr. named Leslie will almost certainly be offended if you mess up and call him Ms. Also a Ms. might be unhappy to be called Mrs. and a Mrs. might be miffed to be called Ms. So just omit this stuff entirely. Start your letter with “Dear Leslie Thompson” not “Dear Mr. Leslie Thompson” or “Dear Mary Jones” not “Dear Ms. Mary Jones.“

Single Most Important Feature of the Brochure

The brochure should include things like the price, size of the parcel, zoning, availability of utilities, photos, contact information for the Realtor, etc. Here I will mention only the single most critical feature of the brochure for the purpose of writing to the neighbors: You should add to the brochure a map where both the property for sale and the neighbor’s property are highlighted.

I usually do this in color on a black and white plat map but you could do it on another type of map such as an aerial map. The purpose of this is to show the neighbor where their property is located relative to the land for sale. For example, if their property is adjacent to the one you’re selling it’s especially important that they see clearly that the borders of the two properties touch. Use colored highlighting to accomplish this.

In theory you could do the highlighting neatly on the computer but I do it by hand with a colored highlighter pen. The rest of the brochure is computer generated so this hand-drawn touch draws attention. I highlight the parcel for sale as well as the neighbor’s parcel in two different colors. Be sure to write a note such as “your adjacent property” or “your land across the street” and draw an arrow pointing to the neighbor’s real estate. It is important to include this note because you don’t want the neighbor to get alarmed thinking that you’re mistakenly trying to sell their parcel.

Here is an example. The property for sale is highlighted in orange and the neighbor’s property is highlighted in blue:

You might wonder: Why am I showing the neighbors where their own land is located? Don’t the neighbors already know? No, many do not! And even if they do, most could not locate it on a plat map. They still need to be shown where their land is relative to the land you’re selling. Plus you’re trying to get them to think visually “hey, the acreage our house sits on could be twice as big if we only bought that land!” Or “Gosh, that would be a sweet spot for Grandma’s doublewide, I can see it’s right near our house!” The parcel number (APN) is helpful but not sufficient. So pull out that colored highlighter!

Where Do You Get The Mailing Addresses?

If your land is listed for sale with a Realtor, your agent can easily access the names and addresses of your neighbors from an online title records database. One such database is Realist. Realist is integrated into California MLS systems so available to most California Realtors. Since sellers cannot log into the full MLS, Realist is not available directly to sellers. Realtors in other states may also have access to Realist or something similar or can get addresses from title companies or other online sources.

One way an agent can locate the names and addresses in Realist is to use the parcel number (APN). For example, if your parcel number is APN 1234-567-89 and the Realtor wants to locate a number of parcels near by, she can search on just APN 1234-567 (omitting the -89 at the end). This will generate a list of owners with APNs 1234-567-01, 1234-567-02, etc.

If the parcel you’re selling is located at the corner of a plat map you may wish to search for neighbors on adjacent plat map(s) too. The way I do that is to poke around using the aerial map feature in Realist. I locate the parcel I’m selling on the Realist map and then click on the map depiction of adjacent and nearby parcels to see who owns them, one by one.

Then I enter each address into a database manually: Name, mailing address, parcel number (APN). This takes about 30 minutes. For all of you computer aficionados or millennials, wondering why I do this manually, it’s because there is no simple way I could translate my thought process on neighbor selection criteria to create data export rules. It varies by parcel and it’s an art. I could probably automate the process, cast a wide net, and blast out a huge number of letters to everyone within a mile or something. But then I’d be spamming a bunch of people who would have no interest in this parcel and I don’t want to do that. It’s not nice. Better to be more selective.

Which Neighbors Should You Write To?

The number of neighbors that your broker should write to depends on the circumstances. Here are some rules of thumb:

Always send a mailing to every adjacent property owner.
Send a mailing to the property owner(s) across the street.
Mail to any property owner who would be disadvantaged for any reason by someone building on this parcel, e.g., because their view would be obstructed. These neighbors may be motivated to purchase.
Send a mailing to “like” property owners on the same or adjacent plat map. For example, I am currently listing a commercial-zoned parcel that is near other commercial lots but also near residential and multi-family property. I reasoned that the commercial property neighbors may be investors interested in expanding their commercial holdings (they are “like” neighbors) but the single-family homeowners may not be so interested so I skipped them.
Don’t hesitate to write to neighbors some distance away if you think they may be buyers. After all, it’s only costing you a postage stamp and the time to enter one more name into your data file. For example, if you’re selling agricultural acreage, it doesn’t hurt to write to other farm owners a mile away.
Skip owners who are not going to buy your land. An example would be a bank. The reason a bank owns a parcel of land in your neighborhood is because they foreclosed on the previous owner. They do not want more land. They want less land.
I often send mailings to 50-100% the property owners on the same plat map and several who are on the adjacent plat map. I write to 2-25 neighbors per property, depending on the circumstances. Sometimes I will do this in two stages: I will write to a small handful of the closest neighbors and then, if I don’t get any response from them, I will do a second mailing, enlarge the pool, and write to those farther away.
After the first mailing, if the seller later drops the price, I will send another mailing to the same neighbors. This time I only send the brochure with the new price clearly shown. I do not include a letter and do not repeat the highlighting of the two parcels. The purpose of this second mailing just to get the new lower price in front of the neighbor.

Examples of Success in Writing to Neighbors

Example 1: A couple years ago I was listing a Gold Country parcel in Northern California. I wrote to nine neighbors. The seller lived in the state of Nevada and was not in communication with his California neighbors. Two neighbors who received my letter called me to express interest. One neighbor submitted a full price cash offer. The seller accepted it. Afterwards, the second neighbor’s daughter asked to submit an offer but the parcel was already in escrow.

Example 2: Title records revealed that only two landowners dominated ownership of all the lots in the immediate area of a Central California lot that I was listing. Since there were only two neighbors I sent only two letters. Of the two neighbors, it was the landowner who owned the fewest parcels who called to submit an offer. The seller accepted it. The buyer lived several hundred miles away. I had advertised the land widely all over the Internet. However, in the end it was the money I spent money on two postage stamps the caused the land to sell.

Example 3: When I told the seller of this Riverside County parcel that one of my common sales practices was to write letters to neighbors inviting them to buy the land, my client seemed a little alarmed. She agreed that I could write to the neighbors but instructed me NOT to write to a particular neighbor. I didn’t ask why but I said OK. I sent out the first mailing. Unfortunately, none of the neighbors responded. Later the seller lowered the price. As I was preparing a second mailing, the seller told me I could now write to the excluded neighbor, so I did. The originally excluded neighbor contacted me and asked to buy the land. It turns out she was the seller’s estranged sister! The sister wanted to fold the acreage back to the “family farm” that she had inherited so that her parent’s farm would be intact once more. I assisted the sister with a full price cash offer. By close of escrow, the two sisters were on cordial speaking terms.

Example 4: I was listing a parcel in a fancy gated community in Southern California. I wrote to 9 neighbors. Some of the neighbors called me to let me know that they did not like “strangers” (buyers and agents) coming through their community gate to view the land for sale. (Sigh, oh well…) The owner who lived adjacent to the land I was selling had a cool log home in a private location at the end of a road. He was tired of all the people coming down “his” road to look at the land for sale. So when he received my letter, my e-mail address was conveniently at his fingertips. He immediately sat down at his computer, negotiated a price by e-mail, submitted an offer via electronic signature in DocuSign, and closed escrow 30 days later. The seller was happy and the buyer was pleased to have no more “strangers” coming down “his” road.

Conclusion

As you can see, writing to the neighbors works! Try it. When selling land, encourage your Realtor to write to the neighbors!