Selling Land and Acreage Around Dallas

What decides what land around Dallas is worth?

Land is worth what a buyer can do with it, so value turns on access, utilities, usable acreage and the rules that apply. Two tracts of the same size on the same road can be worth very different amounts.

• Access: road frontage, whether the road is public or private, and any easement needed to reach the land.
• Utilities: city water, a rural water supply or a well, sewer or a septic system and whether the soil will permit one, and electric service nearby.
• Usable acreage: floodplain, slope, ponds, creeks and tree cover all change how much of the tract a buyer can build on or graze.
• Rules: zoning inside city limits, county subdivision rules and city extraterritorial jurisdiction outside them, and any deed restrictions.
• Location: distance to highways, towns and the next ring of growth.

My sold listings include acreage in Kaufman, Sherman, Weston and Farmersville, alongside homes across Dallas. See the sold list.

How does agricultural valuation affect a land sale?

Many tracts around Dallas are taxed under agricultural or open-space special appraisal, often called an ag exemption or 1-d-1 valuation. It is really a special valuation: the land is appraised on what it produces rather than its market value, which can lower the taxes a great deal.

Two things matter in a sale. First, the valuation does not simply pass to a new owner by itself. A buyer who keeps the agricultural use usually needs to file with the appraisal district and keep meeting its requirements. Second, when qualifying land changes to a non-qualifying use, such as a subdivision or a home site, Texas has imposed an additional tax, often called the rollback tax, covering prior years.

Who pays any rollback tax is negotiable and should be written into the contract. A CPA or real estate attorney can tell you how it affects your situation.

Do I need a new survey to sell acreage?

Often, yes. An old survey may not show the current fences, structures, easements or the exact acreage, and buyers and their lenders usually want to know exactly what they are buying. A current boundary survey answers most of a buyer's first questions in one document.

If you are selling part of a larger tract, a new survey is needed to describe the piece being sold, and county or city subdivision rules may apply. Ask the title company early what it will require for the title policy, and have the surveyor note access, easements and any floodplain.

What should I ask an attorney about mineral rights?

Ask whether you own the minerals at all, and what you intend to keep. In Texas, mineral rights can be separated from the surface and owned by someone else, sometimes from a sale decades ago. Buyers will ask, and the answer belongs in the contract.

1. Do I own all, part or none of the minerals under this land?
2. Are there existing oil, gas or pipeline leases or easements?
3. Should I reserve any minerals or royalty in the sale, and how will that affect buyers?
4. Does a mineral owner have any right to use the surface?
5. Are there groundwater rules or a groundwater district that affect wells on the property?

I am not an attorney and these are questions, not answers. A Texas real estate attorney can review the title history and draft any reservation correctly.

Who buys land around Dallas, and how do you market it?

Land buyers include people looking for a home site with room, builders and developers, investors holding land as the area grows, and buyers who want to keep it in agricultural use. Each group asks different questions, so the listing should answer them up front.

• A current survey and an aerial map with the boundaries drawn.
• Clear facts on road access, water, electric and septic.
• The tax status and what a buyer must do to keep any special valuation.
• Floodplain status from the FEMA flood map.
• Photos of the main building sites, the frontage and any water features.

The GPS Group works with residential and commercial property, including land and acreage across Dallas-Fort Worth. Commercial work focuses on warehouse and industrial and office, plus some retail, with sales and leasing. See luxury and investment property.

What should I sort out before listing land?

Sort out the facts a buyer will need to make an offer, and make the land easy to walk. Land buyers often visit without an agent first, driving the road and looking over the fence, so first impressions start before any showing.

1. Find your deed, any old surveys, the tax statements and any leases for grazing, hay or hunting.
2. Ask the water supplier and the electric provider in writing what service is available at the tract and what it would take to connect.
3. Gather records for any well or septic system: age, permits and recent service.
4. Mark the corners and the main boundary lines, and make sure the gate and the entrance are usable.
5. Mow a path to the main building sites, clear trash and old equipment, and fix fences that are down.
6. Decide what stays: equipment, structures, livestock arrangements or any lease a buyer must honor.

Existing grazing or hunting leases matter twice. They can support the agricultural use, and a buyer will want to know whether they end at closing or carry over. Tell me about them in our first conversation.

How do I price my land?

You price it from recent land sales that match on location, size, access and utilities, adjusted for the differences. Land sales are fewer and more varied than home sales, so the adjustments take judgment, and a tract with water and road frontage can sell very differently from one without.

I look at closed land sales, what is listed and under contract nearby, the tax status and what the rules allow on the tract. You get a range and a plan, with no obligation. Start with a pricing review.