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Check any land before you buy it

Search an address or stand on the land and tap your location. Get its flood zone, how the soil rates for a septic system, the nearest road and public land, cell coverage, solar, and who owns the parcel, straight from government data.

  • Free for everyone
  • Nothing saved
  • FEMA, USDA, USGS, NOAA, BLM and FCC data

Standing on the land? Use your location. Every check is free and nothing you look up is saved.

What it checks

10 checks, all from public data.

Flood zone

FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer

The flood zone at the exact point, what it means for insurance and permits, and the base flood elevation where FEMA publishes one.

River flooding now

NOAA National Weather Service

The nearest river gauge NWS tracks: whether it is below flood stage right now, its flood stage, any forecast crest, and the highest crest on record.

Septic and soil

USDA NRCS soil survey

How the soil rates for a septic drain field and why, plus drainage, seasonal water table, depth to bedrock, slope and farmland class.

Elevation

USGS 3D Elevation Program

Height above sea level, which sets your growing season and snow load.

Solar

PVWatts, National Laboratory of the Rockies

How much power each kilowatt of panels makes here in a year, and the darkest month you would size an off-grid system for.

Parcel

State parcel records

The owner of record, size and parcel ID, in the 13 states whose parcel data we map.

Public land

USGS Protected Areas Database

Whether the point sits in a protected area, and the national forest, BLM, state or tribal land within a mile.

Road access

USDA Forest Service and BLM

The nearest Forest Service road on a Motor Vehicle Use Map and the nearest BLM route, with the vehicles each is open to and any season.

Cell signal

FCC National Broadband Map

What Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile each report at the exact point, where we hold carrier coverage for the area.

Water and recreation

USGS, Recreation.gov and the Park Service

Named springs within 10 miles, the nearest federal campground and trailhead or ramp, and any national park unit nearby.

FAQ

Flood zones, septic, roads and public land, answered.

Search the address above. The report reads FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at that exact point and tells you the zone in plain English. For the official map panel to show a lender, use the FEMA Flood Map Service Center at msc.fema.gov.

Zone X is outside FEMA’s high-risk area. Shaded Zone X is the 0.2 percent annual chance (500-year) floodplain, and unshaded Zone X is minimal risk. Zones that start with A or V are Special Flood Hazard Areas, where lenders require flood insurance.

Many rural counties have no digital flood map. That means the risk was never studied, not that there is none. Walk the property for creeks, washes and low ground, and ask the county floodplain manager.

Only a perc test answers that, but the USDA soil survey gives a good first read. The report shows the soil’s rating for a septic drain field (not limited, somewhat limited, or very limited) and why, such as a high water table or shallow bedrock. Very limited usually means an engineered system instead of a standard drain field.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has mapped the soils of nearly every county in the country. Each soil comes with tested properties: drainage, depth to the water table and to bedrock, slope, and ratings for uses like septic fields and building sites. This report pulls those for the exact point you search, the same data Web Soil Survey shows.

The report finds the nearest Forest Service road on a Motor Vehicle Use Map and the nearest BLM-designated route, with what vehicles each is open to. A road nearby is not legal access to a parcel: ask the title company to confirm public road frontage or a recorded easement. County, state and private roads are not in these maps.

The report reads the USGS Protected Areas Database at the point and within a mile, and names any national forest, BLM land, state land or tribal land it finds. If the point itself is inside a protected area, that usually means an inholding or an easement, so ask for the deed before you go further.

Where we hold FCC carrier coverage for the area, the report shows what Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile each report at the exact point, from the FCC National Broadband Map. That is carrier-reported coverage, and real signal varies with terrain and trees. Where we hold none, the card does not appear.

Yes, it is free, with no account. Your browser asks each government service directly and nothing you look up is stored. The link in your address bar opens the same report, so you can send it to a partner or a builder.

Found the land? See its property lines, then lay out the cabin, well and septic in the site plan maker.