A house has a roof you can look at. Land does not tell you much by standing on it, which is why buying it well is a different skill from buying a house — and why so many people who love a piece of ground find out too late what it will cost to build on.
In the south of the county — Snow Camp, out toward Saxapahaw, the country between them — land comes up regularly. Here is the order we ask questions in.
Can it take a septic system? This is the first question, not the fourth. There is no public sewer in most of southern Alamance, so the house you want will need a septic system, and that means a soil evaluation and a permit from the county's environmental health office. Soil that will not perc is the single most expensive surprise in a land purchase. A tract can be beautiful, have road frontage, be priced fairly, and still not be buildable for the house you have in mind.
Where is the water? Usually a private well. Ask what the neighbours had to drill, what it cost, and what the water is like when it comes up. If there is an existing well, it needs testing and a look at its age and casing.
How do you legally get in? Road frontage on a state-maintained road is simple. An easement across somebody else's land is not necessarily a problem, but it is a document you want to read before you own it, not after — who maintains it, how wide it is, and whether it runs with the land.
What is recorded against it? Easements for power lines, rights of way, restrictive covenants from an old subdivision, mineral or timber rights. The survey and the title search are where these surface.
And how is it taxed? A lot of land in this county is enrolled in present-use value, which taxes it as farm or forest land rather than at market value. That is a real saving — but if you take it out of that use, deferred taxes for the prior years can come due. Find out the status before you plan a change of use.
None of this is a reason not to buy land. It is simply the work. Rose Realty Group handles land and development as well as houses, which means these questions get asked before you are committed rather than during a permit application.