Every property is good in October. The one that is also good in March, after three days of rain, is the one to buy.
Rural land has a season in which it shows beautifully and a season in which it tells the truth, and almost every viewing happens in the first one. Standing water, an impassable drive, the spring the sellers describe as seasonal, the noise from the quarry, the smell when the wind turns, how dark it is, how long the plough takes to reach the road -- none of it is visible on a dry afternoon in autumn.
And walk the whole boundary, on foot, with the plat in your hand. Fences in the country are where it was convenient to put a fence, not where the line is. Discovering after closing that the barn and a third of the pasture belong to the neighbour is common enough to have its own body of case law.
What to actually do
- Go back after heavy rain. If you cannot, ask the neighbours what the drive does in spring, and ask the county road department how far up they plough and maintain.
- Walk the boundary with the plat and a GPS. Note every fence, drive, pile of rubbish and outbuilding that is on the wrong side of a line.
- Stand on it at night. Check whether there is a phone signal, where the light comes from, and how far away the nearest dog is.
- Find out the fire response time and whether there is a hydrant or a draft point. It sets your insurance, and occasionally it is the reason insurance is not available.
- Look up. Then look up the parcel either side, and the one behind. You are buying the neighbours as much as the land.