Checklist Before Buying a Plot

The process of searching for and purchasing land is the first step in building a home and requires special attention, as securing a suitable plot greatly facilitates the design and construction process of an eco-friendly home.

Perhaps this is the most complex section to check and one of the most important among the checks before buying a plot.

This list will be very useful if you search for land on your own, through the internet, or by contacting sellers directly.

If, on the other hand, you opt for a search advised by a professional, creating a checklist before buying a plot will also help you clearly communicate your wishes to the real estate agency or property manager.

Let’s look at the aspects that should not be missing from a good checklist before buying a plot.

Checklist Before Buying a Plot

1. Plot Location

First, it is important to pay attention to a series of factors related to the plot’s location and the elements surrounding and affecting it.

Neighborhood

The urban fabric that makes up each neighborhood varies depending on the building typology and the structuring of open spaces. In this sense, the location and morphology of the neighborhood where the plot is located are closely related to the specific urban planning regulations of each area, as these regulate the parameters of the constructions that can be built.

Therefore, it is important to check the characteristics of the neighborhood you are interested in, such as whether it has gardens or green spaces, if it has quality public spaces and buildings, what type of buildings exist, or its connectivity to the more central areas of the locality.

Social Composition

Among the neighborhood characteristics, it is also interesting to consider its social composition, that is, the profile of the people who live there: their age, whether they are families or rather students, if there are children in the neighborhood, or if the population is rather elderly, etc.

This way, you can assess whether you think you can fit into the neighborhood or if you prefer another area with a different social fabric where you feel comfortable.

Access by Public and Private Transport

As we mentioned in previous sections, in the checklist before buying a plot, it is very important to analyze the area’s connectivity, both by private, public, and bicycle transport.

In this regard, access by public transport will be especially important for families, to facilitate the mobility of young children without creating absolute dependence on private transport.

It is important to assess the walking distance from your future home to the nearest public transport connection, because even if you have a car, public transport is always an alternative in case of emergencies or unforeseen events.

Also, if you have children, their having a certain autonomy in getting around improves the quality of life for the whole family.

Pedestrian Paths

Just as accessibility by road is important, it is also essential to assess pedestrian access to the plot, the possibility of walking to shops, and the condition of the sidewalks, so that it is easy to manage a stroller or shopping cart.

Our clients increasingly value the convenience of reaching strategic places in their daily lives, such as schools, workplaces, supermarkets, or libraries.

Distance to Schools or Workplace

The distance between home and these key locations also becomes very important when choosing the land for our future home.

Although more and more people are working from home, the distance to the workplace remains one of the aspects that most concerns people looking for a new place to live, as it is time that we must add to our daily routine, and as we know, time is one of the most precious values in today’s world.

Who wouldn’t love a couple of extra hours each day that many of us spend commuting from one place to another to get to work?

Of course, if there are children in the family, we must also consider the triple route of home-school-work, and in this sense, we also return to the point of social fabric and the importance of neighbors having children of the same age as ours, who can help us with daily commutes or look after them in case of unforeseen events.

Sun Exposure

Along with accessibility and the urban fabric of the area, it is also important to consider the plot’s sun exposure, that is, the incidence of solar radiation the land receives.

This parameter will vary depending on whether we are on the north or south slope of a mountain, the amount of existing vegetation around the land, or the shade that neighboring buildings may cast.

2. Proximity to Shops and Industries

The next block of factors in the checklist before buying a plot will be the proximity of shops, industries, traffic, and electricity and telecommunications networks.

Noise Pollution and Traffic

First, it is very important to consider the degree of noise pollution in the area, as it will imply a greater or lesser acoustic insulation of the home to achieve appropriate comfort. In addition, noise should be taken into account in the design and comfort of outdoor spaces.

Noise can come from nearby industries, entertainment venues, or transport, among others. Railways, airports, and truck traffic will significantly increase the decibels in the area, as will busy roads or highways.

It is also necessary to consider noise from quarries, which, although usually far from towns, their demolitions are heard in all nearby communities.

Shops and Leisure Facilities

When we talk about shops and leisure facilities, we refer to large shopping centers or venues such as bars, nightclubs, or restaurants that gather a large number of people around them and in their immediate vicinity.

Just as it is desirable to have services close to home, it is essential to consider that if they are too close, they can cause uneasiness and inconvenience, especially if you have young children.

Mobile Phone or Radar Antennas

Another check we recommend is the presence of mobile phone antennas or telecommunications networks.

Overexposure to telecommunications antennas can, for example, produce electrical changes in the cell membrane of the body, thereby altering the cellular flow of some ions.

If you have doubts, it is worth considering an electromagnetic measurement study to check the incidence of waves on your plot.

You can also consult the Spanish antenna map with the exact location of mobile transmission antennas, which have been so controversial in recent years.

Electrical Substations and High-Voltage Lines

Electrical installations can also affect our health. In the case of electrical substations, we must check that the alternating magnetic field has a low flux density, below 20 nanoTeslas (nT).

Between 20 and 100 nT, the magnetic field will be considered not very alarming, and above 100 nT, building a home will be very dangerous.

Along with electrical substations, we cannot forget high-voltage lines. They can be found overhead or underground; in the latter case, they are just as dangerous despite not being visible, especially on the ground floors of buildings.

These lines produce ionization of the surrounding air, increasing humidity, emitting noise, interfering with radio frequencies, or generating tropospheric ozone.

Furthermore, this process also causes the attraction and concentration of polluting aerosols and radon gas.
In the case of 132 kV high-voltage lines, their effect extends up to about 200 m downwind, and for 275 kV lines, up to 500 m.

Again, we can commission a measurement study to verify the level of fields on the land.

3. Land Characteristics

The land characteristics cannot be missing from the checklist before buying a plot. Let’s look at the most prominent aspects:

Topography

Regarding topography, it is essential to know the actual boundaries as well as the slope of the land. If we have doubts or are not clear that the topography may affect construction costs, it is advisable to request a surveyor’s study.

It is necessary to consider that a steeper slope means greater complexity for excavations and retaining walls, which can increase the cost of foundations and the total construction.

Furthermore, the slope of the land is also closely related to the subsoil, as a sloping terrain with resistant subsoil (rock or sufficiently resistant substrate at shallow depth) is not the same as if the subsoil is soft and cannot support weight.

The worst-case scenario would be a very steep plot where the resistant substrate is at a great depth.

In our studio, we have encountered clients who have bought sloping land with resistant substrate more than 15 meters deep. This is a complicated plot as it forces us to carry out expensive foundations such as deep piling, which are also complex to execute due to the slope of the land itself and the difficulty of machinery access.

However, in some cases, the slope can also become an advantage, as it can allow us to build a stepped house adapted to the terrain, attaching a part of the dwelling to the natural ground and thus achieving better thermal performance.

It is also important to be very clear about the boundaries of the plot, that is, where the land begins and ends, as well as the regulations applicable to the boundaries between neighbors and with nearby streets. It is important to know what we are buying, where it begins and where it ends before signing anything.

Presence of Vegetation

Vegetation can play a very important role in the design of a house as it can act as an acoustic, visual barrier or natural shade against excessive solar radiation.

Therefore, it is interesting to know the location and health status of trees and other types of vegetation on the land, such as shrubs.

Sometimes, not only neighboring facades but also trees on neighboring plots or our own can hinder sun access to key areas of our land. In this regard, we must consider that we will not be able to modify neighboring trees, and depending on regulations, perhaps not even our own.

Many municipal regulations establish limits regarding the number of trees that can be cut down on one’s own land.

Vegetation will also give us clues about the presence of water and runoff on the land. When visiting the land, you can detect where there is more vegetation and shrubs and where a water vein probably accumulates or passes underground.

Another clue that vegetation can give us is the presence of rock; in areas with rocky subsoil (a very resistant and good type of subsoil for building), trees do not usually grow.

Presence of Water on the Land

The presence of water on the land also affects and must be considered in the planning of a house, especially in relation to the foundations. Therefore, we must control the existence of water runoff, as well as the degree of humidity of the land or the water table level, data that we will find in the geotechnical study.

If you want to go a little further, you can also commission a geobiological study, which will help us identify phreatic faults with the presence of water currents and where it is not advisable to locate the resting areas of our house.

In this case, the geobiological study is not decisive for deciding whether or not to buy the land, as it only conditions the interior distribution of the dwelling, which can be adapted based on the study’s results.

Subsoil Characteristics

One of the most important checks before buying a plot will be the condition of the subsoil and its composition.

In addition to detecting the water table, the geotechnical study will also consider the characteristics of the subsoil, that is, the composition of the different layers of the land from shallow to deep.

For this, it is necessary for a geologist to carry out boreholes and tests, which will allow us to assess the necessary foundation for our home.

Sometimes, if we have doubts about whether the land will hold, it is advisable to commission the geotechnical study before buying or at least some resistance tests.

4. Regulations and Legal Status of the Land

This may be the most complex section to assess, and one of the most important checks to carry out before buying a plot of land.

Restrictive urban planning regulations or an urbanization not accepted by the city council, or with unurbanized streets, can mean an additional cost later on, or in the worst case, the inability to obtain a building permit.

It is also necessary to check the solvency and debt status of the land seller and ensure that these are settled with the purchase.

Verification of Encumbrances or Debts

First, let’s talk about the encumbrances or debts that a plot of land may entail.

On the one hand, there are the so-called urbanization charges, which could exist if the plot is in an undeveloped area and requires subsequent urbanization by the city council.

It is also important to check that the previous owner of the land has not left outstanding debts with the bank or the city council, as these would be transferred to the new buyer.

To obtain all this information about a plot, you only need to request a simple note (nota simple) in person or online from the property registry.

Easements

Just as with checking for possible encumbrances or debts on a plot, to clarify if the plot has easements, it will be necessary to request a simple note.

The most frequent easements are for drainage from a neighbor, a utility company, or the city council itself. There are plots where this easement was registered at the time by a notary and plots where it is not declared.

Another type of easement is those reserved for the city council, either for the location of a green area or a future path or street, and which are generally located at the boundaries of the land.

In both cases, it will be necessary to control their location, the construction possibilities in relation to the easement, and the availability or lack of documents that prove it.

Municipal Plans

Municipal plans determine future urban development projects proposed by the city council.

It is important to consider them to anticipate future impacts on a plot, as the land’s value may increase or decrease if the plot is going to be near a school, a new high-traffic street, or a green area, for example.

Buildability and Land Occupancy

The buildability and land occupancy are determined by municipal regulations. It is essential to understand both concepts clearly to know in detail the dimensions that the dwelling can occupy.

Boundaries with the Street and Neighbors

The last of the checks before buying a plot will be the boundaries with the street and neighbors. These will also be determined by municipal regulations and will define the height of separations, visual control, and the minimum distance to be respected between buildings.