For anyone buying or selling an acreage in AlbertaAcreages: a checklist for buyers and sellers
Buying: before you offer
- Check the land use district: outbuildings, animals, suites and home businesses it allows.
- Look the well up in the Alberta Water Wells database.
- Check the AER abandoned well map and the provincial flood maps.
- Ask who maintains and plows the road in, and how far it is to the nearest fire hall.
- Get pre-approved with a lender who finances acreages.
Buying: conditions to include
- Water flow test and water quality test (bacteria and chemistry).
- Septic inspection, plus the permit records and pumping history.
- Home inspection that includes the outbuildings.
- Real Property Report and permits for every building and any suite.
- Title review with your lawyer: rights-of-way, easements, caveats, surface leases.
Selling: before you list
- Gather the well drilling report and get a recent water test.
- Find the septic permits and pumping records; consider an inspection.
- Real Property Report and permits for the house, outbuildings and any suite.
- A year of power, gas or propane, internet and property tax costs.
- Copies of any surface lease, right-of-way or water co-op agreements.
- Control weeds and tidy the yard and outbuildings; plan aerial photos and a boundary map.
