Buying Hunting Land — Part 1 of 3

A Beginners Guide

4 min readJan 15, 2016

One of my favorite things in life is walking through a piece of property for the first time. So I can relate when many of my new clients are eager to begin visiting properties right out of the gate, without much research up front. In my experience though, it will save much headache and frustration down the road if you follow these simple guidelines when beginning your property search.

Know the Process

A real estate transaction isn’t like buying a new car. It won’t happen in a matter of hours. Aside from the time it can take to locate the right property, it is a legal proceeding with many moving parts. Each state is different, so contact a local land sales consultant or Real Estate attorney to get an explanation of the process where you will be purchasing. This will help ensure there aren’t any surprises or unexpected costs later on. Too, when you know the steps, it will allow you to create a checklist and remove the stress of the process. Also, use this opportunity as a time to interview prospective professionals that you might end up working with during the transaction.

Talk to your Lender

Before spending hours on end searching every corner of the internet for properties to visit, it’s important to set parameters. One major hurdle that most buyers aren’t aware of is the financing stipulations tied to undeveloped land. Defining your budget and understanding the requirements is really important.

Unlike buying a home, banks typically require a much higher down payment on raw land. Generally it is anywhere from 25% to 40% of the purchase price down. Your credit score, debt to income ratio, the current state of the economy and other factors will determine where you fall within this range. First time land buyers aren’t usually prepared for this, so I always recommend my clients speak to several banks well versed in land financing to understand their down payment, interest rates, and get an estimate of their maximum spending limit.

In some cases, a small change in a credit score can have a significant impact on the financing terms (namely mortgage insurance penalties). Be sure to ask the lender if you’re close to a break point and for recommendations on how you might improve your credit score.

Ultimately, you’re goal from the lender will be to obtain a financing approval letter that states how much your approved to borrow. This letter will also serve to ensure sellers that you’re qualified to make the purchase. This is especially critical if you get into a competing offer situation and the other buyer isn’t yet approved for funding. Too, some sellers of intensely managed hunting land will not even consider letting a potential buyer on their property without a financing approval letter.

Define your Goals

It’s real easy to talk yourself into buying a hunting property 3 hours away from home when you see huge bucks on trail camera and only make the drive one time. I know people who have done it and lived to regret it. If you can define your goals for the property up front, it will help give focus to your search criteria.

Are you the only one making decisions about this purchase? Is it for family use, or are you investing with outside partners? I recommend every deciding spouse/partner write down their top 5 “must have’s” on a note card separately from one another. Items to discuss could include: location, primary/secondary uses, total size, whether a cabin/home will ever be built, utility requirements, income goals, terrain and cover, water features, and the list goes on. If this is a partnership, there should be an extensive amount of time planning the utilization that will spark a discussion around many of these topics.

After the initial lists are compiled by all members, convene to discuss. From this meeting, build a consolidated and prioritized list of the group’s Top 5 must have features. This list will help shape the property search criteria and bring some logical thinking to possibly the largest and most emotional purchase of ones life.

Identifying your Hunting Property

Once you understand the high level processes that need to occur during a land transaction, have your budget determined and a financing approval letter from your lender, and have a prioritized list of property features, you are ready to begin your property search. Part 2 of this series outlines how to identify your Hunting Property when you find it (read it here). Topics include how to get started, evaluating a property against your “Top 5” feature list, and practical methods to ensuring the land will meet your goals. Part 3 focuses on Structuring the Purchase, which you can read here.

Chuck Johnson is a Certified Land Specialist with Mossy Oak Properties, Licensed to sell Real Estate in Iowa.

For questions contact Chuck at: CJohnson@MossyOakProperties.com

If you have a request for an article on any subject relating to Whitetail Land Acquisition, Management, or Hunting, please submit it to: WhitetailFactory@gmail.com

To receive notifications of new videos and articles, sign up for our newsletter.