How much does land due diligence actually cost?

Buyers ask what diligence costs and get a shrug. Here are working numbers for 2026. Ranges are wide because counties differ, but the relative sizes hold almost everywhere — and the relative sizes are what should drive the order you spend in.

Records research

Free if you do it yourself and have the time to learn one county's recorder system, GIS portal, health department archive and planning code. Most counties post deeds and parcel maps online; some still require a phone call or an in-person visit. Our reports are quoted flat-fee per parcel, from a records-only search up to a full multi-parcel review.

Survey

$800 to $3,000 for a boundary survey on typical rural acreage; more for heavy timber, steep terrain, or parcels whose deed description is a nineteenth-century metes-and-bounds call. An ALTA survey for commercial use costs considerably more.

Perc test and soil evaluation

$400 to $1,500 depending on the number of test pits and whether the county requires a licensed soil scientist. Check for existing county records first — a prior test may already answer the question for free.

Title search and title insurance

A standalone search runs $150 to $500. An owner's policy is priced off purchase price and commonly lands between 0.5% and 1% of it. On an owner-financed deal where no lender demands it, this is the expense buyers skip most often and regret most sharply.

Spend in this order

• Records research first — cheapest, and it kills the worst deals immediately.
• Title search second, before you commit to physical testing.
• Perc and soil third, once the parcel is legally viable.
• Survey last, when you are confident you are actually buying it.

Total diligence on a parcel you intend to buy typically lands between $1,500 and $5,000. On a parcel you should not buy, it should cost a few hundred dollars and end early. That is the entire point of the sequence.