Shopping for Land on the Internet

A Tucson Land Specialist Shares His Tips

By Rick Sack, Long Realty Company

Arizona REALTOR® Magazine — August 2011

Two recent land buyers initially contacted me through my website with very specific and well-defined criteria of the type of land parcels they were looking for.  They detailed their desired price, location, preferred views, proximity to neighbors, topographical preference, utility preferences, amenities, “build-ability,” etc.  I experienced a difficulty with each that I had not noticed before.

Both tech savvy, the clients identified various parcels that had been found on the Tucson Association of REALTORS® website.  They requested my feedback.  I found it curious that many of the parcels didn’t seem to match their desired criteria, and in some cases, seemed quite opposite to what they had said was important.  For example, one client put great importance on building in close proximity to a wash or riparian area to increase the prospect of viewing wildlife drawn to the areas. However, many of the parcels she chose had no wash or drainage areas anywhere in sight.  She also wanted to enjoy evening views of Tucson’s city lights, but she chose parcels where views to the city were completely blocked by surrounding peaks or hills.

At the same time, my other client who had said visual privacy from neighboring homes was his top priority was rejecting several of the lots I sent him.  I knew they would provide complete privacy.  He said that neighbors would be too close.

In both cases, we just didn’t seem to be in sync. At first, I thought it was a communication problem or perhaps I wasn’t being a good listener.  Had I misinterpreted the information they provided?  After several conversations analyzing both their lot selections and my recommendations, I realized that the land data that we were sharing was confusing the process, because we were interpreting the information very differently.  Indeed, shopping for land over the Internet has inherent difficulties and limitations.  Understanding the data requires training that most people don’t have.

Looking at home listings (not land listings) on the Internet offers a very good sense of a house by featuring myriad pictures of every room, appliances, out buildings, garage, patios, front and back yards, and views of neighboring homes.  In contrast, when looking for land sites, we rely heavily on aerial pictures generated by satellites of the parcel and surrounding parcels.  The pictures actually taken on-site are of limited value.  Look at enough pictures of Tucson land listings, and I guarantee that each parcel will start looking exactly like the last.  That is especially so when pictures are taken under a clear sky with the sun directly overhead because those conditions obscure nearly all of the topographic profile, and topography is the key.

Short of walking a parcel, the only way to get a feel for land is to understand how to read and interpret topographical maps.  The three sources of aerial maps available in our market are from Pima County, Google Earth and Bing Maps.  All provide layers of information which can be superimposed on the maps.  For topographic information, Pima County’s site is by far the most useful.  Unfortunately, there are many areas of the country for which topographical information isn’t available.

When information is available, it takes detailed training to interpret it correctly.  Without that training, the lines or contours with their associated shapes and numbers or elevations have little meaning.  Worse, the maps can be misinterpreted.

And here lies the real problem.  To the untrained eye looking at an aerial topographical map, a dirt walking trail or jeep path can easily be mistaken for a wash or vice versa.  Hills, peaks, rolling land and ridges all affect surrounding views and will be impossible to spot.  From an aerial view alone, one can see the relative distance to surrounding homes and structures but can’t interpret the visual elements or obstacles that lie in each direction from that parcel.  Without understanding topographic information, viewers will not “see” the riparian areas, the flat build-able areas or the degree of rise (“steepness”) on a particular home site.  They won’t know the extent or boundaries of a depression or ridgetop.

All of which is to say that my clients suffered from simple misinterpretation of the data.  To read the maps accurately really does require training.  In essence, we were trying to communicate using two different languages.  As you can imagine, that didn’t work well.  Once we figured this out, we were able to sit down and review the topographical maps together.  Eventually terrific parcels for each client were found.

The Internet can obviously be a wonderful resource and time saver when shopping for vacant land, but without knowing its limitations and requirements, it can derail the process. 

Rick Sack is an associate broker and Homesite and Land Specialist with Long Realty Company in Tucson, exclusively selling lots and land since 1994.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona chapter of the REALTORS® Land Institute and on AAR’s Professional Standards Committee.  His land blog and newsletter can be viewed at www.BuyTucsonLots.com.  Rick can be reached at 800-843-4291 or 520-918-5477.