Buying land in Southwest VirginiaThree moments the law fixes put every check in order.

Before a signed writing exists, the checks that fit are the ones that need no contract: permission, public records, a federal map and a lender's answer.

Walking the tract

Va. Code 18.2-119 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to go on or remain on another's land "without authority of law" once the owner or someone lawfully in charge has forbidden it, by word, in writing or by posted signs, and hunting, fishing or trapping on posted land falls under its own section, 18.2-134. Neither says an unposted field is open, so permission to walk land gets a separate answer.

The owner of record and the parcel number

Va. Code 58.1-3344 makes the owner's name on a tax assessment a collection convenience, and Carroll County's GIS site names recorded plats and deeds as the authoritative source for ownership, which is where finding who owns a piece of land starts. Carroll County's clerk page uses the term Tax Map/Parcel ID number, and in localities with a unique parcel identification system, Va. Code 17.1-252 has the clerk require that kind of number on a deed's first page or its cover sheet; see parcel identification number.

Legal access and the road

Nelson v. Davis (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2001) lists easements by express grant or reservation, implication, estoppel or prescription, and VDOT says state-maintained secondary roads carry route numbers of 600 and above. Which easement, if any, reaches a tract is taken up under legal access to land; whether its road is state-maintained is the VDOT residency's to confirm.

The flood map

FEMA's Flood Map Service Center is the official public source for NFIP flood hazard information, and 44 CFR 59.1 defines the area of special flood hazard as "the land in the flood plain within a community subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year." Reading a floodplain map is a guide of its own.

Who represents the buyer

Va. Code 54.1-2132 has a licensee engaged by a buyer enter into a brokerage agreement with that buyer before showing the buyer property. Whether a purchase needs a buyer's agent to buy land is answered on its own page.

Which loan the ground can carry

Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (B2-3-01, 09/03/2025) excludes mortgages on "vacant land or land development properties" and on properties "not readily accessible by roads that meet local standards"; for a working farm, USDA's Farm Service Agency offers Farm Ownership Loans on conditions its local office applies. Which lender will write a mortgage on land is the lender's answer, and the offer's financing terms follow from it.

Several settlement rules were written for one to four dwelling units, so each below carries its scope.

Choosing the settlement agent

Va. Code 55.1-1006 lets a purchaser select the settlement agent, but Va. Code 55.1-1002 limits that chapter, except as its subsection B provides, to real estate of not more than four residential dwelling units, so its reach to a bare tract is an attorney's question. The Code's settlement services, from ordering title insurance to preparing settlement statements, are set out under settlement in Virginia.

The loan clock

On a covered consumer loan the creditor must ensure the borrower receives the Closing Disclosure no later than three business days before consummation (12 CFR 1026.19), but Regulation Z excludes credit primarily for a business, commercial or agricultural purpose (12 CFR 1026.3). The lender says which applies; the other clocks are under how long closing takes on land.

Owner's and lender's title policies

The SCC's guide says a buyer may purchase an owner's policy while the lender will require a loan policy, and "Local practice, not the law, determines who pays the premium." The owner's-coverage notice in Va. Code 38.2-4616 is written for residential real property; title insurance on land covers each policy.

Flood insurance and a building

Under 42 U.S.C. 4012a, regulated lenders are directed not to lend on improved real estate or a mobile home in a special flood hazard area where flood insurance is available unless the building is insured. The mandate follows a building, and the lender applies it.

The deed at the clerk's office

Until it is recorded, Va. Code 55.1-407 leaves a deed "void as to all purchasers for valuable consideration without notice not parties thereto and lien creditors", and Va. Code 17.1-223 has a writing recorded on payment of its fees and any tax. In Carroll County the recording office is the circuit court clerk's, and the Carroll County deed answer lists the steps to record a deed in Carroll County.

A house, a farm or commercial ground starts from a different record, sorted on the hub for buying land, homes and farms.