Check a land listing

What gets checked, and where it comes from

• Flood zone from the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer.
• Soils from the USDA soil survey: the map unit at the point, depth to bedrock and to the water table, drainage, slope, and the survey's own ratings for septic absorption fields and dwellings. Useful screening for the conditions a site-specific septic evaluation or perc test will investigate directly; the parcel can still differ from the mapped unit.
• Wetlands mapped by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within about 150 m of the point.
• Slope and aspect from USGS elevation data, sampled around the pin.
• Roads from OpenStreetMap: the nearest mapped roads, their class and surface, and how far away they are.
• Parcel from the state's open parcel service where one exists (parcel ID, GIS acreage, town, land-use class, sometimes zoning). Where the state publishes none, the checks are for the point and the page says so.
• Our off-grid laws verdict for the county or state, with whether a local has verified it.
• Climate from 30-year normals for the ZIP, and distances to town, hospital, fire, and supplies.
• Where to look next: the state's well-log database and parcel viewer, linked.

What it does not do

It does not read title, easements, liens, covenants, mineral rights, or survey corners; it cannot know whether the seller owns the land or whether the road is plowed. Zoning is set by the town or county, and our verdict is county-level, so the sheet always sends you to the town with specific questions. It gives no opinion of value and no verdict on buildability. The listing's claims are quoted, never restated as fact. If you want the half of due diligence that a computer can do in three minutes, this is it; the other half is a phone call, a drive, and a professional or two.

Companion tools: the site report for any address, the off-grid laws by state and county, the land-walk checklist and questions for the county printables.