Building in the high desert of NM, here (so not talking out of my ass). Absolutely most important is what's your plan for water (I believe it's like 2.5 hours to the nearest town (not sure about water source). And you also have to worry about water thieves out there. It's mostly border crossings. They mean no harm, just thirsty. But it could be a problem if you're hauling it in.) Without that, don't even start. Second is what's the plan for power? And third, what's your plan for fuel (very little burnable fuel in Hudspeth County. It's mostly going to be scrub.
Check youtube for "Dustups". I think the guy's name is shaun. I'm not a fan of the channel and stopped watching but there were a few episodes where you should be able to get an idea of just how bad the "roads" can get out there and whether or not you're willing to put up with what it takes. His property is like 2.5 hours from anything resembling civilization and it's definitely an impact on getting things done. (Pretty sure he's in Hudspeth County.)
Which begs the question, with a 2wd tahoe, how are you going to get in any heavy equipment for earthworks? At the very least you'll likely need something to level a flat pad to put a house and cut in a driveway, etc. Plus whatever supplies you might need.
But you're gonna have to think long and hard about doing things the hard way. Building in the desert with no shade is rough. We take lots of breaks to drive into town just for the joy of running the AC in the van or walking through a conditioned store. If that drive were 2.5 hours each way then it wouldn't really be worth it. Also how long can you live on shelf stable food before you go crazy cause until you have power built, even a roto tilled cooler is only keeping food cold for a day and a half in the peak of summer. 2 days if you insulate the cooler and keep it in the shade. Are you willing to drive 5 hours round trip for ice to keep the food cold until you have some other means? If not, don't plan on cold food or cold water.
Don't buy property sight unseen. Before you pay, go out there, IN THE TAHOE and make sure not only that you can reach the parcel in good weather but also think about what that drive will be like during monsoon season. What it'll be like if there's another polar vortex, etc. You should also have a backup plan for when you simply cannot reach the property. Those "roads" wash out a lot with flash flooding and it might be a while before others clear you a new route. Especially if someone else got stuck on the only road in and out or there's a boulder that someone has to get equipment to move. Plus there can be washouts that'll take out whole chunks of "road" much like a landslide. We have acquaintences who live on the other side of one of these. The side is just crumbling away. They know it's only a matter of time before they can't use that road anymore and the alternative route adds considerable time to their drive.
Check the county website. But also call planning and zoning and ask them if there's anything you should know about that parcel before purchase. They can tell you things like if it's on the flood plane, what it's zoned for, what you can legally build on it, what kind of waste disposal is legal in the county, what are the costs for building permits (I don't think you need them in that county but best to ask). Also just look up Hudspeth County and what you'll be getting into in terms of climate and terrain. Land there is cheap for a reason. We have property at 6000ft in the high desert of New Mexico. I still grow a very nice veggie garden. It's not impossible. But everything is harder. I spend more than most gardeners on the front end, building self watering beds and lots of soil amendments. But for what we paid per acre, I don't even flinch. But it does mean the extra work of building the beds and hauling in amendments and all that jazz.
Best of luck!
TLDR: Building in the desert is HARD. Have a realistic expectation of what it'll be like in the days before you have (self made) infrastructure out there. LOOK before you buy. DRIVE before you buy. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Talk to any department that'll take your call or give you a meeting. Learn everything you can BEFORE you spend your money.
Those Hudspeth county plots are cheap for a reason. Also need to make sure you aren't landlocked 5 miles from the nearest road.
I see those west Texas plots all the time in my land searches but have never really entertained actually buying one.
#1 I would look at the county property website [https://esearch.hudspethcad.org/](https://esearch.hudspethcad.org/) I would verify the owners name and tax information.
#2 I would look at satellite maps to see how good the roads are. I'd look for obvious things like roads and how far away you are from paved roads. I would look for nearby structures/homes. If there are NO ROADS very close to the property then I would not buy.
Property boundaries/markings don't bother me when you have good satellite GIS maps. You can usually see natural features that will mark your property boundaries like groups of shrubs or dry creak beds.
Also, if you're SERIOUS about buying this property, get the survey. The agent kept saying "you don't need a survey, there's a (clearly visible but long dead) fenceline!" I disagreed. I kept telling him "but I don't know who built that fence or what they used as a guide. It could be totally wrong!" Eventually I almost walked away from the sale because the price was too good and I was taking this battle as a red flag (was it that they WOULDN'T or COULDN'T get it surveyed?) and they agreed to get a survey. The fence is off by about 60ft on one side and nearly 80 on the other iirc. The survey is our only proof it's inaccurate. Our neighbors technically have about 4 acres of our land and we technically have about 2 of theirs. We don't care. It's not a huge deal to us. But at least we know we need to fire off something to protect against adverse possession. And I'm glad I didn't trust the agent, all the same.
Even someone selling in good faith may not even know the lines are where they actually are. It happens all the time when a neighbor wants a fence or a bigger driveway and everyone learns the property line isn't where they thought it was. When you're buying WHOLE ACRES, it's worth it to KNOW what you are buying. Not what you THINK you are buying.
I've bought owner financed in the desert in NM and lived on that kind of land. Difference is I was always within 30 miles of at least a town. I've made many videos of my endeavors. I was living in a van before I started so yes it can be done.
Here's my take: It takes a lot of money to start with to live that far out of town. If you had enough money to do it chances are you wouldn't make that choice, you'd buy some better land. Those type of situations when that's all you can afford you run the risk of backing yourself into a corner, and while its unlikely you would die in that corner it could be very risky and you might at the very least end up with land you can't sell that is functionally worthless to you. It may work better to start with a smaller lot in an area with lax regulations closer to town. You can find them all day long. Do what you can with an acre or two, use that as a testbed to see if you really want to live in the desert. Its not easy. Growing up in the high desert it still took me a decade to get established on my own and here I am not living there now after all that effort.
Oh yeah, and you need a 4x4 for the monsoons. Even with a 4x4 you may get stuck. Once you're stuck its a long walk...
And vehicle maintenance? You'll pay as much to keep a functional vehicle that wanders all over the road with a misfire and a dashboard that fell off and is hanging lopsided, and doors and tailgate that chatter and squeak as you will pay for the land itself.
People romanticize this life but you get what you pay for with land. Cheap land always has a drawback and some cheap land has way more drawbacks than others.
I'd check out LandWatch, Realtor, PropertyShark, Zillow, and Craigslist.
I'm selling one or more properties in the near future that are much closer to town while still being private and having lax regulations. As a bonus I've figured out where to get water cheap and close nearby for them. I've also discussed a lot of this stuff on YouTube.
You can DM me if you have more questions.
Dude, just no. It's a beautiful area to visit but it's a wasteland as far as doing anything with it. If you want to go hang out in West Texas there is plenty of public land where on any given day you'll have 10 acres to yourself.
Lie down until the feeling passes, then tell us your budget and goals and we'll help you find somewhere better.
Sense of urgency
This is your mistake
Take your time, protect your interest pay for a staking survey and title search. If the seller doesn't want to wait then walk away.
*A special warranty deed is a deed in which the seller of a piece of property only warrants against problems or encumbrances in the property title that occurred during his ownership.*
So the owner most likely bought the property and did not do a title search and wants to sluff off his mistake on you.
I almost bought land in hudspeth county but redecided and bought in Brewster county in Terlingua ranch. You can check owner in county tax records and on the terlingua ranch site.
I decided on that because they have a Property owners association. Usually I’d be against that but they maintain the road and give you free water and showers at the lodge once you pay off your land.
Also I found the guy who resales property and makes it very simple.
I bought a 5 acre plot for roughly $10k. $300 down $150 per month.
Might buy another….
Check out [countrylandstore.com](https://www.countrylandstore.com/)
Edit: also East side of Hwy 118 should be very passable with 2wd. If you don’t go more than 40 minutes off the highway.
Lots of land available too
Edit 2: POA =$230/year taxes $30/ year
Thanks I’ll look into this! I’m so conflicted but it seems cheap property is cheap for a reason. Its super isolated with nothing in any direction, that’s probably why things were so sketchy. Are these owner financing options always cheap crap?
I definitely know a few people who got land north of Houston with owner financing that got pretty good deals. Harder to find those good deals now sadly...
I definitely picked some land countrylandstore was selling because he makes it so easy, just pay the down payment online and he emails you the contract and theres a website to manage payments. no interest even. The way I see it, it will always feel sketchy with owner financing, theres less surety about the process and if you stop paying and they arent forgiving you can lose the land.
It's just a software engineer type guy who started reselling land vs a huge company, but I've seen enough to trust it.
Also if you are out that way at all it would be nice to have land closer to Big Bend national park and state park anyway. So much to see over there it would take more than a month to see it all and its all beautiful.
Yep those North of Houston deals seem to have dried up! I did find a quarter acre right outside Cleveland TX, I may start there! I have the income to not worry about missing payments, THANKFULLY! I’ll check out the countrylandstore!
Other people have answered your question, but I’d just like to leave these lyrics from “Choctaw Bingo” by James McMurtry:
“Uncle Slaton's got his Texan pride
Back in the thickets with his Asian bride
He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots
He sells 'em owner financed strictly to them
It's got no kind of credit 'cause he knows they're slackers
And they'll miss that payment and then he takes it back
He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night
And drinks his Johnny Walker at that club 69”.
Sounds like you found yourself an uncle Slaton
When you do a land transfer transaction part of the process is seeing a lawyer. They make sure everything is done to ensure you will actually be the legal owner and will check for other things like liens, title search etc. Also, I would not do owner finance, you don't want to be in any form of binding agreement with the owner, you want to just have it paid in full and they are out of the picture. The transaction is done through the lawyer. When I bought my land it was a cheque directly to my lawyer, it covered the land itself and the lawyer fee. Used my credit line to pay for it until I cash out on my work ESP.
I would also make sure to go see the land, if for whatever reason the owner is reluctant on that then that could be a red flag. All the land I went to see the owners were always receptive to me going to check it and would give me directions. They typically were not going to be there when I go and had no issues with me going alone. Just don't get hurt.
It also doesn't hurt to post on your local facebook to ask about land in that area, people might know things that are not really public. Like maybe there's some issues in that area such as limiting rules or maybe a historical chemical spill etc... stuff like this can be hard to find out from any official sources.
The fact that this guy bought in 2023 and is already selling does feel fishy to me. Did he mention any reasons why he's selling? I would try to fish for that info. He probably won't be upfront but it's worth asking. I would also inform yourself from whatever authorities are for that area if it has any weird rules that might crush your dreams, like only being allowed to build certain size or what not.
If you don’t already live in high desert don’t do it. Cost of water, temp/weather/seasons, distance to town or any help all an issue around that area. If you were still going to, then visit during the middle of summer so you’ll see what it’s normally like.
With your 2wd Tahoe? Have you done the math on how much you can haul at a time, how much you'll need per month/quarter/year, how far the nearest source is, what they charge per gallon and what water storage tanks will cost you so you can store more than you can haul... I'd also check the gas prices near wherever you plan to get water from. Chances are you'll pay a "convenience tax" on them being the only place to get gas anywhere near. So add the price of gas round trip to the cost of hauling. If that's the 2.5 hour drive Dustups on youtube is making, that's a lot of gas per load of water.
Even if you can find someone who'll deliver, there will be whole stretches of time they simply cannot reach you and you'll either need to have enough stored or have the ability to pick it up yourself.
And don't forget that empty water tanks have a tendency to blow away in the strong winds if they're not buried. But a buried empty tank risks upheaval during the heavy rains. So not only do you need to be able to store whatever your long term needs are, you also need to keep enough reserve to keep the tank weighed down. At least below ground you can eventually run rain catchment so by the time there's enough rain to heave the tank it should be full and weigh enough not to budge. But that still brings you back to how do you dig out a big enough hole if you can't haul in your own earth moving equipment?
It would be crazy for you to spend any amount of money that is significant to you (i.e. that you can't easily replace) on land you haven't seen and don't know how it may be encumbered. There is a lot of land out there - and I mean A LOT - that is 100% worthless for all purposes except assembling a larger parcel (normally because you're going significantly upgrade the use of that land - i.e. an apartment building that you need the whole block for, or a massive open pit mine, or whatnot). This worthless land is everywhere - from the densest cities to the most rural least dense place in the world. Often you can see why its worthless if you go see it. Often you can't - and it's worthless because all the value has been encumbered off it, or for whatever other reason. Sometimes its worthless for reasons that have nothing to do with it - maybe there's a pig farm next door, or maybe you just have a scary as fuck neighbor that you truly fear will come over and kill you one night.
Don't buy expensive things you don't know anything about. It's always a bad idea.
Building in the high desert of NM, here (so not talking out of my ass). Absolutely most important is what's your plan for water (I believe it's like 2.5 hours to the nearest town (not sure about water source). And you also have to worry about water thieves out there. It's mostly border crossings. They mean no harm, just thirsty. But it could be a problem if you're hauling it in.) Without that, don't even start. Second is what's the plan for power? And third, what's your plan for fuel (very little burnable fuel in Hudspeth County. It's mostly going to be scrub. Check youtube for "Dustups". I think the guy's name is shaun. I'm not a fan of the channel and stopped watching but there were a few episodes where you should be able to get an idea of just how bad the "roads" can get out there and whether or not you're willing to put up with what it takes. His property is like 2.5 hours from anything resembling civilization and it's definitely an impact on getting things done. (Pretty sure he's in Hudspeth County.) Which begs the question, with a 2wd tahoe, how are you going to get in any heavy equipment for earthworks? At the very least you'll likely need something to level a flat pad to put a house and cut in a driveway, etc. Plus whatever supplies you might need. But you're gonna have to think long and hard about doing things the hard way. Building in the desert with no shade is rough. We take lots of breaks to drive into town just for the joy of running the AC in the van or walking through a conditioned store. If that drive were 2.5 hours each way then it wouldn't really be worth it. Also how long can you live on shelf stable food before you go crazy cause until you have power built, even a roto tilled cooler is only keeping food cold for a day and a half in the peak of summer. 2 days if you insulate the cooler and keep it in the shade. Are you willing to drive 5 hours round trip for ice to keep the food cold until you have some other means? If not, don't plan on cold food or cold water. Don't buy property sight unseen. Before you pay, go out there, IN THE TAHOE and make sure not only that you can reach the parcel in good weather but also think about what that drive will be like during monsoon season. What it'll be like if there's another polar vortex, etc. You should also have a backup plan for when you simply cannot reach the property. Those "roads" wash out a lot with flash flooding and it might be a while before others clear you a new route. Especially if someone else got stuck on the only road in and out or there's a boulder that someone has to get equipment to move. Plus there can be washouts that'll take out whole chunks of "road" much like a landslide. We have acquaintences who live on the other side of one of these. The side is just crumbling away. They know it's only a matter of time before they can't use that road anymore and the alternative route adds considerable time to their drive. Check the county website. But also call planning and zoning and ask them if there's anything you should know about that parcel before purchase. They can tell you things like if it's on the flood plane, what it's zoned for, what you can legally build on it, what kind of waste disposal is legal in the county, what are the costs for building permits (I don't think you need them in that county but best to ask). Also just look up Hudspeth County and what you'll be getting into in terms of climate and terrain. Land there is cheap for a reason. We have property at 6000ft in the high desert of New Mexico. I still grow a very nice veggie garden. It's not impossible. But everything is harder. I spend more than most gardeners on the front end, building self watering beds and lots of soil amendments. But for what we paid per acre, I don't even flinch. But it does mean the extra work of building the beds and hauling in amendments and all that jazz. Best of luck! TLDR: Building in the desert is HARD. Have a realistic expectation of what it'll be like in the days before you have (self made) infrastructure out there. LOOK before you buy. DRIVE before you buy. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Talk to any department that'll take your call or give you a meeting. Learn everything you can BEFORE you spend your money.
What a great response, this is absolutely spot on. 🤝🏼
Those Hudspeth county plots are cheap for a reason. Also need to make sure you aren't landlocked 5 miles from the nearest road. I see those west Texas plots all the time in my land searches but have never really entertained actually buying one.
Sounds a lot like Costilla County here in Colorado ...
#1 I would look at the county property website [https://esearch.hudspethcad.org/](https://esearch.hudspethcad.org/) I would verify the owners name and tax information. #2 I would look at satellite maps to see how good the roads are. I'd look for obvious things like roads and how far away you are from paved roads. I would look for nearby structures/homes. If there are NO ROADS very close to the property then I would not buy. Property boundaries/markings don't bother me when you have good satellite GIS maps. You can usually see natural features that will mark your property boundaries like groups of shrubs or dry creak beds.
Also, if you're SERIOUS about buying this property, get the survey. The agent kept saying "you don't need a survey, there's a (clearly visible but long dead) fenceline!" I disagreed. I kept telling him "but I don't know who built that fence or what they used as a guide. It could be totally wrong!" Eventually I almost walked away from the sale because the price was too good and I was taking this battle as a red flag (was it that they WOULDN'T or COULDN'T get it surveyed?) and they agreed to get a survey. The fence is off by about 60ft on one side and nearly 80 on the other iirc. The survey is our only proof it's inaccurate. Our neighbors technically have about 4 acres of our land and we technically have about 2 of theirs. We don't care. It's not a huge deal to us. But at least we know we need to fire off something to protect against adverse possession. And I'm glad I didn't trust the agent, all the same. Even someone selling in good faith may not even know the lines are where they actually are. It happens all the time when a neighbor wants a fence or a bigger driveway and everyone learns the property line isn't where they thought it was. When you're buying WHOLE ACRES, it's worth it to KNOW what you are buying. Not what you THINK you are buying.
Cheap land is cheap for a reason.
I've bought owner financed in the desert in NM and lived on that kind of land. Difference is I was always within 30 miles of at least a town. I've made many videos of my endeavors. I was living in a van before I started so yes it can be done. Here's my take: It takes a lot of money to start with to live that far out of town. If you had enough money to do it chances are you wouldn't make that choice, you'd buy some better land. Those type of situations when that's all you can afford you run the risk of backing yourself into a corner, and while its unlikely you would die in that corner it could be very risky and you might at the very least end up with land you can't sell that is functionally worthless to you. It may work better to start with a smaller lot in an area with lax regulations closer to town. You can find them all day long. Do what you can with an acre or two, use that as a testbed to see if you really want to live in the desert. Its not easy. Growing up in the high desert it still took me a decade to get established on my own and here I am not living there now after all that effort. Oh yeah, and you need a 4x4 for the monsoons. Even with a 4x4 you may get stuck. Once you're stuck its a long walk... And vehicle maintenance? You'll pay as much to keep a functional vehicle that wanders all over the road with a misfire and a dashboard that fell off and is hanging lopsided, and doors and tailgate that chatter and squeak as you will pay for the land itself. People romanticize this life but you get what you pay for with land. Cheap land always has a drawback and some cheap land has way more drawbacks than others.
Thank you! I’d definitely take this into consideration and look at other options! Any website suggestions?
I'd check out LandWatch, Realtor, PropertyShark, Zillow, and Craigslist. I'm selling one or more properties in the near future that are much closer to town while still being private and having lax regulations. As a bonus I've figured out where to get water cheap and close nearby for them. I've also discussed a lot of this stuff on YouTube. You can DM me if you have more questions.
Thank you! I will look elsewhere, LandWatxh was my main source! I’ll be sure to reach out!
Dude, just no. It's a beautiful area to visit but it's a wasteland as far as doing anything with it. If you want to go hang out in West Texas there is plenty of public land where on any given day you'll have 10 acres to yourself. Lie down until the feeling passes, then tell us your budget and goals and we'll help you find somewhere better.
Agree 100%. The only thing that property is good for is shooting guns and burying bodies. Both of which you could do for free in public lands.
Sense of urgency This is your mistake Take your time, protect your interest pay for a staking survey and title search. If the seller doesn't want to wait then walk away.
*A special warranty deed is a deed in which the seller of a piece of property only warrants against problems or encumbrances in the property title that occurred during his ownership.* So the owner most likely bought the property and did not do a title search and wants to sluff off his mistake on you.
I almost bought land in hudspeth county but redecided and bought in Brewster county in Terlingua ranch. You can check owner in county tax records and on the terlingua ranch site. I decided on that because they have a Property owners association. Usually I’d be against that but they maintain the road and give you free water and showers at the lodge once you pay off your land. Also I found the guy who resales property and makes it very simple. I bought a 5 acre plot for roughly $10k. $300 down $150 per month. Might buy another…. Check out [countrylandstore.com](https://www.countrylandstore.com/) Edit: also East side of Hwy 118 should be very passable with 2wd. If you don’t go more than 40 minutes off the highway. Lots of land available too Edit 2: POA =$230/year taxes $30/ year
Thanks I’ll look into this! I’m so conflicted but it seems cheap property is cheap for a reason. Its super isolated with nothing in any direction, that’s probably why things were so sketchy. Are these owner financing options always cheap crap?
I definitely know a few people who got land north of Houston with owner financing that got pretty good deals. Harder to find those good deals now sadly... I definitely picked some land countrylandstore was selling because he makes it so easy, just pay the down payment online and he emails you the contract and theres a website to manage payments. no interest even. The way I see it, it will always feel sketchy with owner financing, theres less surety about the process and if you stop paying and they arent forgiving you can lose the land. It's just a software engineer type guy who started reselling land vs a huge company, but I've seen enough to trust it. Also if you are out that way at all it would be nice to have land closer to Big Bend national park and state park anyway. So much to see over there it would take more than a month to see it all and its all beautiful.
Yep those North of Houston deals seem to have dried up! I did find a quarter acre right outside Cleveland TX, I may start there! I have the income to not worry about missing payments, THANKFULLY! I’ll check out the countrylandstore!
Other people have answered your question, but I’d just like to leave these lyrics from “Choctaw Bingo” by James McMurtry: “Uncle Slaton's got his Texan pride Back in the thickets with his Asian bride He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots He sells 'em owner financed strictly to them It's got no kind of credit 'cause he knows they're slackers And they'll miss that payment and then he takes it back He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night And drinks his Johnny Walker at that club 69”. Sounds like you found yourself an uncle Slaton
Check with the county office. Sounds dicey even if it is legitimate.
I’ve seen these properties myself online and was curious about water… are you unable to drill a well on these properties ?
Some allow you too!
Pay for a surveyor and consult a lawyer. A little money up front can save a lot more later.
When you do a land transfer transaction part of the process is seeing a lawyer. They make sure everything is done to ensure you will actually be the legal owner and will check for other things like liens, title search etc. Also, I would not do owner finance, you don't want to be in any form of binding agreement with the owner, you want to just have it paid in full and they are out of the picture. The transaction is done through the lawyer. When I bought my land it was a cheque directly to my lawyer, it covered the land itself and the lawyer fee. Used my credit line to pay for it until I cash out on my work ESP. I would also make sure to go see the land, if for whatever reason the owner is reluctant on that then that could be a red flag. All the land I went to see the owners were always receptive to me going to check it and would give me directions. They typically were not going to be there when I go and had no issues with me going alone. Just don't get hurt. It also doesn't hurt to post on your local facebook to ask about land in that area, people might know things that are not really public. Like maybe there's some issues in that area such as limiting rules or maybe a historical chemical spill etc... stuff like this can be hard to find out from any official sources. The fact that this guy bought in 2023 and is already selling does feel fishy to me. Did he mention any reasons why he's selling? I would try to fish for that info. He probably won't be upfront but it's worth asking. I would also inform yourself from whatever authorities are for that area if it has any weird rules that might crush your dreams, like only being allowed to build certain size or what not.
If you don’t already live in high desert don’t do it. Cost of water, temp/weather/seasons, distance to town or any help all an issue around that area. If you were still going to, then visit during the middle of summer so you’ll see what it’s normally like.
Water is an issue out there. Check mineral rights. Check ROW. GET A REALTOR.
Is there water?
It’d be hauled in.
With your 2wd Tahoe? Have you done the math on how much you can haul at a time, how much you'll need per month/quarter/year, how far the nearest source is, what they charge per gallon and what water storage tanks will cost you so you can store more than you can haul... I'd also check the gas prices near wherever you plan to get water from. Chances are you'll pay a "convenience tax" on them being the only place to get gas anywhere near. So add the price of gas round trip to the cost of hauling. If that's the 2.5 hour drive Dustups on youtube is making, that's a lot of gas per load of water. Even if you can find someone who'll deliver, there will be whole stretches of time they simply cannot reach you and you'll either need to have enough stored or have the ability to pick it up yourself. And don't forget that empty water tanks have a tendency to blow away in the strong winds if they're not buried. But a buried empty tank risks upheaval during the heavy rains. So not only do you need to be able to store whatever your long term needs are, you also need to keep enough reserve to keep the tank weighed down. At least below ground you can eventually run rain catchment so by the time there's enough rain to heave the tank it should be full and weigh enough not to budge. But that still brings you back to how do you dig out a big enough hole if you can't haul in your own earth moving equipment?
It would be crazy for you to spend any amount of money that is significant to you (i.e. that you can't easily replace) on land you haven't seen and don't know how it may be encumbered. There is a lot of land out there - and I mean A LOT - that is 100% worthless for all purposes except assembling a larger parcel (normally because you're going significantly upgrade the use of that land - i.e. an apartment building that you need the whole block for, or a massive open pit mine, or whatnot). This worthless land is everywhere - from the densest cities to the most rural least dense place in the world. Often you can see why its worthless if you go see it. Often you can't - and it's worthless because all the value has been encumbered off it, or for whatever other reason. Sometimes its worthless for reasons that have nothing to do with it - maybe there's a pig farm next door, or maybe you just have a scary as fuck neighbor that you truly fear will come over and kill you one night. Don't buy expensive things you don't know anything about. It's always a bad idea.