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Land buyers are still active, but more demanding on the legal side
The 2026 Land Market Report from American Farmland Trust states that buyers are focusing more on land-use regulations, access rights, and utility verification before making offers.
This shift causes sellers lacking clear legal groundwork to see properties linger or deals fall through.
A 50-acre recreational parcel sat on the market for 120 days because the access easement was not recorded
Once we reviewed the legal documents and verified the access on paper, not just on a map, it was finalized in ten days. That’s the mistake. Sellers treat legal details like optional footnotes. Buyers treat them like the foundation of the price.
You can have a beautiful piece of land, but if the buyer doesn't know exactly how they can use it on paper, that’s what they will base their price on, not the acreage.
Why zoning and land use verification matter
Zoning and land use rules are more than just bureaucratic language. They determine what a buyer can build, cultivate, or develop on a property.
One of the key questions before any purchase is understanding how the land is zoned and whether the buyer’s intended use is allowed. The article explicitly warns that neglecting to check zoning can lead to major surprises later in the closing process and may even impact financing.
Clear zoning details in a listing help buyers proceed confidently and lessen negotiation friction.
Legal access matters more than physical access
Having a physical path to a parcel does not guarantee legal access. A listing may show a trail or road on an aerial image, but without the proper paperwork in the deed records, a buyer or lender might not accept it as valid.
A HelloNation article outlining steps for first‑time land buyers emphasizes the importance of reviewing rules about land use, soil access, water rights, and easements so buyers do not get caught off guard after closing. This demonstrates that legal access and enforceable rights are now essential elements of serious offers, not optional details.
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County GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
Before listing a tract with potential for development, use the county’s GIS map to verify zoning, access roads, utilities, and recorded easements.
Most counties provide free GIS portals where you can search for a parcel by address or APN. Zoom in and layer zoning classification, road rights‑of‑way, floodplain, utility lines, and easement strips. This provides a visual first pass at how the county perceives the property and which legal elements you should document before listing.
Buyers should verify access, legal descriptions, zoning, utilities, restrictions, and intended use with the county, title company, surveyor, and their own counsel before closing.
Hardwood (Gladwin County), Michigan — 40 acres — $184,900 — Recreational / Timberland / Hunting
This 40-acre Michigan tract features trail-cam and harvest photos showcasing its wildlife potential, timber cover, accessible trails, and a pole barn that could serve as a hunting camp or storage space.
The listing is located at the end of a private dead-end road, offering one of the biggest draws for recreational buyers: privacy combined with legal access.
What We’d Change:
The listing has good photos, but the legal packet is sparse: it lacks documentation of the shared easement for the dead-end road and details on utility access along the trail system. Including a marked access map and a brief note on how the road is recorded and maintained could help move this property into contract more quickly.
“Hi Wade — we had a 60-acre tract with killer photos but no deeded access mentioned. As soon as we added that to the packet, the calls spiked.”
My take: Buyers don't care if your land is attractive. They want to see that you've already done the research; otherwise, they'll have to do it themselves. When you address the tough questions up front, the property stops appearing to be a guess and starts to seem like a valuable asset.
Spent part of this week on ground that looked expensive from the ridge but seemed ordinary in the county records. That land continues to influence many deals this year.
See you on the ground. — Wade
I’m Wade Calloway. Eleven years in agricultural lending taught me how land deals look on paper. Buying them myself showed me what holds up in the field. Since 2015, I’ve closed more than 420 land transactions across 19 states, mostly rural residential lots, recreational parcels, and small farm tracts. I started The Parcel to share the frameworks, tactics, and real comps I wish I had when I began. Based in Cookeville, Tennessee, I still walk every parcel before I bid on it.