01 Rollback taxes can follow the sale — and they're negotiable.
If your land has been taxed at the agricultural-use rate and it changes to a different use after the sale, South Carolina can bill rollback taxes: the difference between what was paid at the ag rate and what would have been owed at full value, for the current year plus up to three prior years. Who pays it is a contract term, not a law. Ask every buyer, in writing, whether they cover it.
We often cover rollback taxes as the buyer. Confirm the numbers for your parcel with your CPA — rules change.
02 "Development potential" is the whole ballgame.
A comp looks backwards at what nearby tracts sold for. A developer looks forward at what can actually be built on yours: zoning, setbacks, road frontage, topography, wetlands and creeks, and whether water and sewer can reach it. Two 20-acre tracts a mile apart can be worth wildly different amounts because one carries forty lots and the other carries four.
If your land supports more than the last sale down the road assumed, it's worth more than that sale — and a buyer who does the engineering can sometimes pay above fair market value, because they're pricing what the land becomes, not what it looks like today. If nobody has told you what your land can support, you don't know what it's worth yet. Here's how we look at it.
03 A landlocked parcel is not worthless.
No road frontage lowers the value; it doesn't erase it. Access can usually be solved — a deeded easement from a neighbor, an existing farm road that's been used for decades, or in some cases a statutory right-of-way. A buyer who says "landlocked, so it's only worth X" is either uninformed or hoping you are.
04 A survey and a title search find things you didn't know you owned — or didn't.
Fence lines are not property lines. Old deeds describe land by creeks and oak trees. A boundary survey settles what you actually have, and a title search turns up liens, old mortgages that were never released, mineral rights, and heirs who still have a claim. Expect a serious buyer to order both during due diligence, at their cost.
05 If the land came down through the family, get the ownership in order first.
Heirs' property is common in the Upstate. If a parent or grandparent died without a will, or the estate was never probated, the land may be owned by every descendant in fractions — and every one of them has to sign. Sorting that out takes a probate attorney and some patience, and it's far easier to do before there's an offer on the table than during a contract deadline.
We work with inherited and heirs' property regularly and can point you to the right attorney. It doesn't scare us off.
06 What actually happens between the contract and the check.
- ✓Contract and earnest money. Real earnest money, held by a closing attorney, not the buyer.
- ✓Due diligence. Survey, title, soil or perc tests, engineering, sometimes a rezoning application. On raw land, 30 to 120 days; on a development tract, longer.
- ✓Closing. In South Carolina an attorney must handle it. Taxes are prorated, rollback is settled per the contract, and you're paid at the table.
Ask how long each stage will take and what happens if the buyer misses a date. A buyer who won't answer that hasn't thought about it.
07 Know who you're actually dealing with.
Many "we buy land" letters and texts come from wholesalers: they put your land under contract, then try to sell that contract to a real buyer for a fee. Nothing illegal about it — but if they can't find a buyer, your property sits tied up and the deal dies. Before you sign anything, ask three questions:
- ✓Are you the one closing, or are you assigning this contract to someone else?
- ✓Can you show proof of funds, or a track record of closed purchases?
- ✓Can my attorney read this contract before I sign? If the answer is no, the answer is no.
General information for South Carolina landowners, not legal or tax advice. Rollback rules, probate procedure and easement law depend on your county and your facts — talk to your own attorney and CPA before you sign anything.