Learn to read land before you buy it
Plain-language guides to the public records behind a property — what they say, where they stop, and how to use them.
Guides
- How Terranown works
An address goes in; flood, wetlands, soil, access, terrain and county records are researched at once; one written analysis comes back with every finding sourced.
- The Basic report
A screening report that checks flood, wetlands, soil, access, utilities, water, environmental records and terrain for one parcel in under a minute.
- The Deep Dive report
The full due-diligence report on a parcel: the physical screen plus county records, zoning, imagery, species, minerals and public-record research, written up as one analysis.
- How to read a Terranown report
What the sources, status labels and reported gaps in a Terranown report mean, what a refresh does, and how far a report should be relied on.
Due diligence
- Analyzing a property with Terranown: a walkthroughSeptember 30, 2026
From finding the parcel to a Basic screen, deciding whether a Deep Dive is worth it, and sharing the result — what each step does and what to look at.
- What a land report should tell you — and how to judge oneJuly 28, 2026
The questions a complete property report answers, theme by theme, and three tests for whether any report actually answered them: named sources, disclosed gaps, and stated dates.
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
A practical walk through the free public sources — FEMA flood maps, the Wetlands Mapper, Web Soil Survey, county GIS and records — and what each one can and cannot tell you.
- Why you should analyze land before you buy itMarch 12, 2026
Flood maps, wetlands, soil that will not take a septic system, no legal way in: the problems that sink land deals are usually on public record before you sign.
Flood
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
A practical walk through the free public sources — FEMA flood maps, the Wetlands Mapper, Web Soil Survey, county GIS and records — and what each one can and cannot tell you.
- Why you should analyze land before you buy itMarch 12, 2026
Flood maps, wetlands, soil that will not take a septic system, no legal way in: the problems that sink land deals are usually on public record before you sign.
Wetlands
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
A practical walk through the free public sources — FEMA flood maps, the Wetlands Mapper, Web Soil Survey, county GIS and records — and what each one can and cannot tell you.
- Why you should analyze land before you buy itMarch 12, 2026
Flood maps, wetlands, soil that will not take a septic system, no legal way in: the problems that sink land deals are usually on public record before you sign.
Soils
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
A practical walk through the free public sources — FEMA flood maps, the Wetlands Mapper, Web Soil Survey, county GIS and records — and what each one can and cannot tell you.
- Why you should analyze land before you buy itMarch 12, 2026
Flood maps, wetlands, soil that will not take a septic system, no legal way in: the problems that sink land deals are usually on public record before you sign.
Roads and access
- How to research a property yourself, step by stepMay 20, 2026
A practical walk through the free public sources — FEMA flood maps, the Wetlands Mapper, Web Soil Survey, county GIS and records — and what each one can and cannot tell you.
Buying land by state
- Buying land in Arizona: what to check
- Buying land in California: what to check
- Buying land in Colorado: what to check
- Buying land in Florida: what to check
- Buying land in North Carolina: what to check
- Buying land in Tennessee: what to check
- Buying land in Texas: what to check
- Buying land in Washington: what to check
Glossary
- Base flood elevation (BFE)
The height floodwater is expected to reach in a 1%-annual-chance flood, used to set building heights.
- Critical habitat
Areas formally designated under the Endangered Species Act as essential to conserving a listed species.
- Easement
A recorded right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose.
- Flood zone
The letter code FEMA assigns to an area on a flood map to describe its mapped flood risk.
- Hydric soil
Soil that formed under saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough to become oxygen-poor near the surface.
- Jurisdictional wetland
A wetland a regulator has authority over, so that filling or altering it needs a permit.
- Legal access
A recorded right to get to a parcel from a public road — not merely a track that happens to reach it.
- Parcel number (APN)
The identifier a county assigns to each parcel for tax and mapping purposes.
- Perc test (percolation test)
A site test of how quickly water drains into the soil, used to decide whether and where a septic system can go.
- Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
A records-and-site-visit review of whether a property may be contaminated, done to a published standard.
- Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)
Land FEMA maps as having at least a 1% chance of flooding in any given year — the "100-year floodplain".
- Wetland
Land saturated or covered by water long enough that it supports water-adapted plants and develops wet soils.
- Zoning
Local rules that divide land into districts and set what each may be used for and how it may be built on.
See what the record says about your property
Find the parcel on the map and run a Basic report — no account needed to read the result.
Find a parcel