Property Evaluation: Determining the Price of Land

By Les Scher
Published on September 1, 1974
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PHOTO: FINDING AND BUYING YOUR PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
To get the best deal, learn the ins and outs of property evaluation yourself.

Les Scher is a California back-to-the-lander who also just happens to be a practicing attorney and an expert on property deals. MOTHER EARTH NEWS is proud to present this third excerpt from his book, Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country, a first-rate, comprehensive layman’s guide to what is probably the most important purchase you’ll ever make. Excerpted by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Copyright © 1974.


When you find some land that is right for you, that meets all your requirements, and feels like home, you will want to evaluate what that land is worth and compare your results with the seller’s asking price. Then you can begin the bargaining process.

To evaluate the price of the land you want to buy, regardless of where it is located, you can do a number of things without employing a professional appraiser. This chapter will tell you how to conduct your own property evaluation and how to hire a professional if you decide you need one. Finally, I explain how the seller establishes his asking price.

What Determines the Value of a Piece of Property?

Determining the value of a piece of land is a complex and ambiguous process. If there is any such thing as a formula for finding land value, it would have to be: Value is determined by the law of supply and demand. Although the supply of land is ultimately finite, its availability is constantly fluctuating as large ranches, farms, and other land parcels are split up for sale to the public.

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