Guide 03 · 9 min read
Due Diligence Checklist for Sandoval County Land
Cheap land is only cheap if it is buildable. Access, water, utilities, zoning, and soil are what separate a bargain from a parcel you cannot use.
Access first, always
A parcel without recorded legal access is close to unusable and very hard to finance or resell. Driving to it does not prove access — a dirt track across a neighbor's ground is not a right. Confirm a recorded easement or public road frontage in the title work before anything else.
Then check whether the access is maintained, and by whom. A county-maintained road and a private track that washes out each monsoon season are two very different assets.
Water and wastewater
In New Mexico, water is the question that decides whether a rural parcel is a homesite or a view. Determine whether the parcel is inside a water utility service area, whether a domestic well is permitted, and what the drilling depth and cost look like nearby.
For wastewater, find out whether sewer is available at the property line or whether you are on septic. If septic, a percolation test and county approval govern what you can build and how many bedrooms it can serve. Never assume a lot will pass — test it.
Utilities, zoning, and the physical parcel
Get a written distance and cost to bring electric to the parcel. Running power a quarter mile can cost more than the lot did. Confirm current zoning and the permitted uses, plus any overlay district, subdivision covenant, or setback that limits your building envelope.
Physically, check the topography and drainage, the arroyo and floodplain mapping, soil and expansive-clay conditions, and whether the parcel has been used as an unofficial dump. Walk it after rain if you can.
Title, taxes, and holding math
Order title work and read the exceptions: mineral reservations, utility easements, access easements benefiting others, and unpaid assessments all live there. Confirm the current property tax and whether the assessment changes on sale or on improvement.
Finally, write out your holding math: purchase price, closing costs, annual tax, annual insurance if any, and any road-association dues, times the number of years you plan to hold. That number is your real cost basis, and it is what your eventual sale has to beat.
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