In short, YES! At least that’s the case in Texas and New Mexico where I hold my licenses. It’s always a good idea to check laws in your particular state as this can vary. But I’ll speak from my experiences in Texas.
When preparing to invest in land it’s always important to know what type of land you want to purchase. If you’re looking for a property to build a house, then there’s a certain set of criteria we need to know. Does it have electricity available and if so, how close to the potential build site?
If the land is rural then we need to check for water, whether it means knowing groundwater availability or rural co-op water tap options. Then there’s regulations involving the installation of septic systems based on soil types and size of the home to be built. What about perimeter fencing or is that something you need? If the property was previously grazed, then are the taxes ag exempt? And last, there’s always the issue of access.
The same set of utility questions can be used for many property types but let’s focus on recreational land. Recreational land is a broad term but it’s where many of my clients fall when it comes to land investments. In most cases, the land use is primarily dual purpose. Land is a wonderful investment that has shown to grow in value over time. After all, we aren’t making any more land! Enjoyment is the other side of the coin and that could be anything from hunting to bird watching or riding ATVs. If it’s hunting then we are also going to focus on features like topography, brush cover, perimeter fencing, water, taxes, and access. There’s that access word again!
Access seems simple but it can make or break an investment and ultimately the value and use of the property. If we look at land with road frontage then it’s probably a safe bet that access is going straight in from the road. Maybe you’re fortunate enough to buy land with a large amount of road frontage and can pick your access point. Perhaps the frontage is great, but you only have one gate or maybe the property was subdivided and there’s no gate at all. Putting in a new gate would be an easy fix if that’s our only hurdle. In terms of road frontage, we could be looking at highways, paved county roads, county-maintained dirt roads or hopefully a deeded access road at a minimum. And while frontage is great, not all land buyers prefer it. It’s probably high on the list for most but some would prefer their land to be set off the main roads a bit. This could be to minimize road noise or maybe they have concerns about privacy or poaching. Whatever the case, there’s plenty of properties that offer either option.
Does having a road to a property mean its legal access? Absolutely not and I’ll give some examples. If a landowner takes a 640-acre pasture and decides to divide it into quarter sections, the newly divided properties all need deeded road access. Assuming the land is square and one side fronts a highway, then a road down the middle could be used as access to the back quarter sections. That could be done by platting the property and an access road or by surveying and recording an easement. And although the properties in the back are legally considered the dominant estate, they still need a recorded easement or deeded easement to be legally accessible. Otherwise, the land may be landlocked. Simply driving the road could be trespassing if it’s not legally yours to use. And if there’s no deeded or recorded access to a property, it’s difficult to impossible to get a loan on that land. So, if you’re a landowner wanting to divide land, this could certainly affect your ability to sell the property! Similarly, buying a landlocked property by accident could end up being a terrible investment.
Another example that’s prevalent is when a family property is divided up among family members. In many cases, the family members can’t afford to buy each other out and there ends
up being multiple family members owning individual parcels. With the farm or ranch being one owner in the past and likely a working agricultural business, there’s roads meandering around to different pastures, fences, shops, gates, water, etc. Aside from any roads that lead out to a highway or some type of main road, the rest are just interior roads. Those interior roads can’t be used for legal access to the rest of the ranch if it’s sold off in pieces to different buyers. Each piece of that ranch would need a dedicated easement to legally access it.
Property access is vital and I’ve only touched on a couple of scenarios. In most cases, everything is in place and there’s no issues! But I’ve seen owners force their own family to buy
access through land that was once all in the family. Same road that was always there but now with a different owner and new circumstances. We navigated that successfully, but it took a team of people and some patience to get there. That’s why it’s imperative you have a land professionals take a look at each situation and help you do the research.
If you are looking to buy land or maybe considering a sale and you have questions on how to move forward, please reach out to us at America’s Land Partners. We have decades of experience in navigating the land markets with our clients and have the tools to help you achieve your goals!
Wayne Dunson
