People often ask about buying vacant land in Pierce County. Whether you dream of raising chickens, you love the peace and quiet, you want to create an incredible garden, or embark on a life of homesteading, communities in Pierce County offer more opportunity to try your hand at all of this and more!
It’s one of those things that seems simple, but it extremely complex. It’s the reason you’ll see an acre of land for $25,000 and another acre of land for $1,000,000. There have been 883 vacant land properties that sold in Pierce County in the last year. The highest priced piece of property sold for over 2 million dollars. The most affordable sold for $40,000. The average piece of land to sell in Pierce County was 2.22 acres and sold for $362,000. About 75% of those properties were purchased with cash. You can learn more about what’s happening in the real estate market here.
Why buy is buying a home on land in Pierce County easier than vacant land?
Many people who move to Pierce County do so because they’re in search of greener pastures (literally), homes with more square footage to enjoy, and of course, more land. Living on land means different things to different people—to some this means 1 acre and to others this means 20+ acres. For the purpose of this list, we’re thinking about homes on 1+ acre of land.
Buying land that does not have a house on it is more challenging for folks who are not paying cash. As we said above, the majority of the land sold in Pierce County was purchased by someone with cash. The reason is there is very little financing for land, and it usually requires a large down payment for a bank or credit union to be willing to finance it. For this reason a lot of folks prefer to buy land that has a home on it because it can be financed, meaning they don’t have to save up as much.
We talked with land specialist Bobby about his experiences buying and selling vacant land here:
According to Bobby, these are some questions to ask with your agent when considering a piece of property to buy:
Septic – Is it a traditional septic system or is it going to require a mound system? (This depends on the kind of soil.)
Water- Does it have water service or do you need to dig a well? Does the well already exist- if not it needs to be drilled. If a well does exist you will need to check to see if it has been tested recently.
Electric service – Is the electric service in the street or has it been brought out to a building site on the property?
Wetlands – Where on the property are you allowed to build? Sometimes properties have one specific place where building is allowed (because of setbacks, wetlands, drain fields, and all kinds of things!) Find out where you can build and how much it will cost to develop the property in that area.
When it comes to successfully buying land, the most important thing is to find your real estate agent (who is a land specialist) and securing your financing (from someone who is happy to loan on land) is your first step. Contact Marguerite if you’d like an introduction to a specialist.
More resources for buying a home on land in Pierce County:
Everything You Need to Know About Moving to Pierce County
How to Buy a House on Land in Pierce County
Best Cities for Buying a Home on Land in Pierce County
Most Affordable Neighborhoods in Pierce County
Most Expensive Neighborhoods in Pierce County
Neighborhoods and Cities Near JBLM
Resources for buying a house in Pierce County:
Marguerite Martin, Founder of MoveToTacoma.com is a real estate agent in Tacoma, WA . As a real estate “Matchmaker,” she specializes in connecting real estate clients to the perfect agent in Tacoma and across the country. Learn more at Meet Your Guide.
