Do Your Research Before Buying Property

All of the rural land, lots, home sites, recreational properties and foreclosures you see on GovernmentAuction.com have been purchased for resale on a sight-unseen basis. Pictures of government land shown for sale are of the general area in which the land is located. They are not actual pictures of the land, unless otherwise noted on the land profile page.

Most of the land we feature is specified as raw land. This means the land is in its natural state and totally undeveloped. There are no roads; utilities such as water, electricity, gas or communications; drainage; landscaping or structures of any kind.

For these reasons, we encourage every buyer to do your research before any purchase. One of the best ways to perform your research is to call the state or county agency in which the government land is located. You can also find information for state and county agencies below. GovernmentAuction.com is dedicated to helping you complete your due diligence before bidding on government property for sale through our online government land auctions.
Each tract of land is assigned a unique APN, or Assessor Parcel Number, by the tax assessor. The APN can be used to identify land and property details. In the case of raw land, which does not have a traditional address, an APN is used in place of an address.

On GovernmentAuction.com, you will find the APN located on each land profile page. The APN is unique to each parcel of government land for sale. As a prospective buyer, you can call the tax assessor or county clerk’s office in which a particular parcel is located, give them an APN and receive additional information, free of charge, about the property you are interested in bidding on or purchasing.

If possible, you should personally examine the land, even take an inspector with you to ask the right questions and give you an accurate assessment of how much it is really worth. When buying land, some important factors to consider include:

• Zoning requirements (if you’re planning to develop the land)
• Surrounding sounds and smells
• Natural hazards (soil or water problems, history of or potential for fires, floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc.)
• Elevation and stability of the land
• Easements, boundaries and restrictive covenants
• Utilities (water rights and potability, depth of the water table, access to utilities and sewage, etc.)
• Appraisal

Legal Descriptions of Properties

You should also make sure you understand the four types of Property Legal Descriptions.

GovernmentAuction.Com is dedicated to helping you complete your research before bidding on government property for sale on the internet. Use our State and County Resource reference to help you with your research!

Need the definition of a real estate term? Visit Investopedia.com.