Short, sourced notes on buying undeveloped land in Alabama, written for people who do not yet know what they do not know.
In parts of Alabama, an earlier owner may have kept the coal, oil, and gas under a tract. How to spot a mineral reservation before you sign a contract.
The tax roll gives you a name and a parcel number. The deed at the probate office says what that owner holds. How to pull it in Alabama and what to read first.
Zoning and recorded covenants decide whether a house, a manufactured home, a barn, or a second dwelling fits. Where to look in Shelby County before you buy.
Your deed and the county map say where the land should be. A boundary survey finds it. What Alabama's standards make a survey show, and when you'll want one.
The utility won't run a line anywhere you build for free. How to find who serves a tract, what its extension rules make you pay, and what to ask before closing.
Standing timber is worth what a buyer pays for it on the stump. Species, size, volume, access, and nearby mills set that, and only a forester's cruise measures it.
An Alabama land tax bill is appraised value times a class ratio times local millage. How to run it on a vacant tract before you buy, and what changes when you move in.
A recorded plat shows lot lines, easements, and approvals as they stood the day it was filed. How to read one in Alabama, and what it was never meant to answer.
Alabama current use taxes qualifying timber and farm land on what it grows. It is an application, it does not ride with the deed, and conversion brings back three years.
A back tract priced under everything around it may have no legal way in. What landlocked means in Alabama, and why only a recorded easement binds the next owner.
East for the sunrise, west for the afternoon heat. Then the driveway, the setback lines, and the septic drain field pick the spot before taste ever gets a vote.
AE, A, or X printed across part of a tract is a FEMA hazard rating, not a verdict on the deal. How to pull the map yourself and what each letter costs you.
The sign says Broker, the card says REALTOR, and everybody says agent. What each one means under Alabama license law, and who the person across the table works for.
A water main on the county road does not put water at the house. Where the utility's pipe ends, who pays for the rest, and what to ask before you buy.
A failed perc test means no septic system, and usually no house. What the test measures, how Alabama permits septic, and how to screen a tract for free first.
In Alabama the school line is the city limit as it stands today. How school zoning is set, why annexation is the city council's call, and how to verify before you buy.
The county's $6,000 is a tax appraisal and the seller's $15,000 is an ask. What appraised, assessed, and market value mean in Alabama, and how to use the county number.
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