7 Years of Rural Land Deals: Seth & Bryce Answer Your Biggest Questions

What's the hardest type of land to sell?

The answer is almost always a combination of four things: the property is landlocked, contains wetlands, sits in a flood zone, and has a giant utility easement running through it — those massive electrical pylons that can stand 200 or 300 feet tall. If you hit all four of those at once, you've got a property that's nearly impossible to sell because it's nearly impossible to use.

Any one of those factors is a challenge. All four together? Unless you can get legal access and there's some very creative use for the land, it's going to sit on the market a long time.

What makes you pass on a property immediately when you're looking to buy?

Access is the first thing we look at, every single time. If a property is landlocked — no road frontage, no legal easement — we're likely moving on. Right behind that: wetlands, flood zones, and utility easements that cut across a significant portion of the parcel.

The good news is that doing that initial check is faster than ever. We use a software called Land ID, which aggregates all of that data in one place. Within about five seconds of pulling up a parcel, you can see flood zones, wetlands, road access, and utilities. What used to take hours of detective work is now a quick filter.

What's the single most important thing a buyer should do before purchasing land?

Get the APN — the Assessor's Parcel Number — and call every relevant county department. Not just one. Every department. Building, zoning, tax, health. Tell them exactly what you want to do with the property. If you want to put a mobile home on it, say that. If you want to build a cabin, say that. County staff will tell you what's allowed and what isn't, and you'll save yourself a lot of pain down the road.

This one step catches more deal-killing surprises than anything else. Zoning rules vary wildly between counties, and the only way to know what your parcel allows is to ask the people who enforce it.

Why does legal access matter so much if someone wants to build?

Without legal access — meaning a documented ingress and egress easement — you can't get utilities to the property. Utility companies need an easement to enter. No easement, no power line, no water line. They won't trespass on someone else's land to serve yours.

And the further back from the road your building sits, the more expensive every utility run becomes. Even 100 feet adds up fast when you're extending water, power, and sewer. That cost scales quickly as you go deeper into the parcel.

If a property is truly landlocked and there's no recorded easement from a neighbor, you're looking at either suing for access or hoping to negotiate a written, recorded agreement with whoever owns the surrounding land. Neither is easy. Make sure you have access before you buy — it's the most important box to check.

What do sellers always worry about that actually isn't a deal killer?

Back taxes and liens. Sellers come to us all the time convinced that owing a few years of property taxes is going to blow up the deal. In most cases, it isn't. We price it in. We recently closed on a property in Tate County, Mississippi where the seller hadn't paid taxes in four years. We bought the property, paid off the tax bill, and the seller walked away with cash in hand.

The two things that actually determine whether a deal gets done are simple: is the seller willing to accept the price we can offer, and can they produce the necessary paperwork? Price alignment is the real hurdle. Back taxes, liens, even some title issues — those are usually workable.

What's the difference between cheap land and good land?

Cheap is relative — it depends entirely on the market and what you're trying to do. But as a general rule: the cheaper the land, the farther it tends to be from utilities, paved roads, and services. That's not automatically bad. If you want to be off-grid, that's exactly what you're looking for.

The key is matching the property to your goal. If you want a weekend camping spot with no hookups, cheap land far from civilization can be perfect. If you want to build a home, that same parcel might cost you far more in utility extensions and access work than you saved on the purchase price.

Cheap doesn't mean bad. It means look closely.

If someone only has $5,000, what's your advice for buying land?

Budget roughly $850 to $1,200 of that for closing costs before you spend a dollar on the land itself. In Mississippi it tends to run around $1,200. In Colorado, Arizona, or New Mexico it can be as low as $850 to $900. That money goes toward the title company or real estate attorney and, crucially, title insurance.

Don't skip the title process to save money. Title insurance protects your ownership, and if you ever want to get a bank loan to build on the property, the lender will require it. Going through a qualified third party isn't optional — it's how you actually own the land you're paying for.

With $5,000 net of closing costs, expect less acreage or more remote land. That's the honest reality of the market. But there are good parcels in that range — you just need to know what you're buying and what it will take to use it the way you intend.

What does closing actually look like when buying from Debrosland?

Once you pick a property, we get your legal name, email, phone, and mailing address — whatever you want on the title (that could be you personally, a trust, or an LLC). We generate the contract and send it through Adobe Sign. Once signed, it goes to a title company or real estate attorney.

They collect your earnest money deposit, complete the title work, and prepare closing documents. Depending on the state, signing can happen electronically or via wet signature with a notary. Once the final amount is wired and all documents are received, the deed gets filed in your name and the funds are released to us. You'll receive a mailed copy of the recorded deed and your title insurance policy shortly after closing.

In Colorado we can often close in 7 to 10 days. In Mississippi, where abstractors and attorneys are involved, it's typically two to three weeks. Either way, the day you sign and wire is generally the day the transaction is complete.

What's the strangest request you've ever received from a buyer?

A mortician reached out about a property in Alamosa County, Colorado. He wanted to purchase it on owner financing to open a funeral home and a graveyard — a combined business where the front-of-house handled funerals and the back of the property handled burials.

We told him: if you can get county approval and want to pay cash, more power to you. But we weren't going to finance a graveyard and inherit the dead bodies if he defaulted. That one was a no.

What's the most memorable deal you've been part of?

There are two that stand out. The first is a buyer who purchased a couple of lots from us in Corinth, Mississippi — in the northeast corner of the state. He worked with a custom builder and constructed his retirement home on the land. We almost never see what buyers do with a property after closing, so when our local broker drove by and sent us pictures of the finished home, it was genuinely moving. That's the whole point of what we do.

The other was a family from Connecticut who purchased a parcel in Alamosa County, Colorado — right at the foot of Mount Blanca, which tops 14,000 feet. They drove all the way out to see it in person. Alamosa is remote enough that the trip alone is an endeavor. The fact that they made that journey said everything.

We rarely get to see the next chapter. If you've purchased land from us and you're doing something with it, we'd genuinely love to hear from you.