Get a new survey? We've seen the survey that the owner offered, should we pay to have the property staked?

If it's been surveyed it should already have stakes in place. You might have to get a rake and go around the edge to find them if they are there. They might only be several inches in height, not in feet. Find out who surveyed it, they probably(should) used metal stakes. Then it would be allot easier to find with a metal detector, if you don't have, rent/borrow one.

There is (or should be) a lot of due diligence to do before buying any property. A perk (percolation) test for septic should be passed before buying the property. Other things to consider are topography, especially for potential flooding, HOA and/or zoning regulations. Certain soil types and/or bedrock can greatly impact the cost of building.There are no guarantees, but you should try to get an idea of costs for getting a good well. You might want to cast a wider net, and find out what is going on in the surrounding area. We once nearly bought a house across from a sewage treatment plant! The important thing is to not take anyone's word- you have to find out for yourself.

How? Many areas will have a GIS site, which I think stands for Geographic Information System. In our area, you can see flood zones, topography, soil type, flood zones, crime statistics, and you can zoom out to see what is in neighboring areas. You can get some information from Google Earth, and of course, you can go down to City Hall to try to get information.

You don't want to buy a 'lemon'. We had heavy rain recently, and one house in a subdivision had water 4' deep in the house. Such a property would be very hard to sell now.

Thanks so much Robin and MushCreek. Our offer is contingent on a perc, and everything else we've answered. We're just nervous wrecks!

Congratulations! I agree with what's already been said - perc and survey would be critical. Not sure how big a lot you're looking at, or how level it is - I can tell you that we had some back-and-forth with the local environmental agency regarding a bit of wetland that had been created when the town put a new road in next to our property several decades ago. This town requires a significant buffer between any wetland and the building footprint, which would have severely restricted our options on one side of our house. We hired a lawyer and had a second environmental study done to prove that the wetland was not indigenous and harbored nothing vital to the ecosystem, and as of our last interaction with the town, they've agreed to scale back the buffer. In fact, it's probably a good idea to take a little trip to the town hall (or their website) to look at the building code and see if there's anything odd or surprising going on there.

If you're planning to dig a basement foundation, it might also be a good idea to have an excavator drop by to assess the site for potential issues.

We had to have an ecological study before getting permits. I had called our county office before we purchased and was told we needed it then too so I was aware. That took 3 months which would be a deal breaker for some. Try calling your local building office and see if they can rattle off anything they routinely ask for.

I second making sure you know what's underground; we found solid bedrock when we excavated for our basement. Also, soil analysis since we came up 100% silt in some areas which is not buildable. Perc test isn't used here for septic fields, instead they just want a soil analysis and that is used to determine the size of the field (to give you a better idea of cost and style).

Well you can normally call the local guys and find out how deep folks are drilling and the quality and L/min. They are supposed to log this if I'm not mistaken.

We cared about topsoil, so we investigated how deep the topsoil was on the land just with a shovel. I had an old farmer friend that subdivided to make a new development and stripped 3" of topsoil off the whole place before he sold. Topsoil brings in good $$ around here, so he scored a couple thousand extra by selling it off separate. Sucked for the people who bought in the development and couldn't get the grass to grow on the 1/2" of topsoil he left behind. Most had the added cost of hauling back in what he sold to the local soil guy :P

Check for easements and rights of ways. My parents bought in a development and then found out there was a natural drain running through the yard. Now the place 1/2 floods every spring :P