Before you buy
Whether water can reach it
A certificated water provider may still be unable or unwilling to add your tap.
Rural water comes from water supply corporations, special utility districts and municipal systems, each with a certificated area. As with electricity, the holder for your parcel is your only option.
Ask directly: are you issuing new taps here right now, what is the total cost to connect including meter and any line extension, and how long from application to a working meter. A system at capacity can defer connections for a long time, and there is no alternative provider to go to.
If no provider can reach it, the alternative is a well — which has its own permitting where a groundwater conservation district has jurisdiction, and its own cost variability with depth.
Free to verify. The phone call. The well feasibility question may need a driller’s opinion.
The rest of the checklist
Which utility can actually serve this parcel
Poles on the road do not mean service. Certificated territory decides who can connect you.
Legal access
A road you can drive on is not the same as access you have a right to use.
Easements and rights-of-way
Lines crossing your land may not be able to serve it, and easements can limit where you build.
Deed restrictions
Restrictions recorded decades ago can prohibit manufactured homes outright.
Floodplain status
Floodplain changes the pad, the height, the steps and the paperwork.
Soil and septic feasibility
The soil decides the system, and the system may not fit.
Driveway and culvert
Access has to be built before almost anything else can happen.
Lot size and setbacks
The buildable area is smaller than the lot, sometimes much smaller.
Have us look before you close
We evaluate parcels for buyers — access, utilities, soil and what the site work will actually take. Cheaper than finding out afterward.