Here's one other suggestion that may or may not be obvious to all.

When you are searching for the "dream" land, you may come accross things that look real good, or maybe even marginal. However, there's usually not a lot of time to make 100% decisions.

In order to buy yourself some time to digest & learn about a specific plot of land, I suggest being prepared to give a few hundred bucks to the seller to take the property off the market for some period of time, like a week to 10 days.

This really is not an Option Agreement that I'm talking about as there may be no final sales price determined.

All it means is an agreement between the seller and you to hold the property for a few days. During that time, no one else can buy the property. If you don't end up taking the property, the seller keeps the money. If you do end up buying the property, the money can go towards the sales price.

Always remember, there's a ton of folks out there looking for the same thing, and when these diamonds or "diamonds in the rough" come available, you have to act quick.

In the memo line of the check, you should write "Hold property until _______." Date the check the same date as when written, although a future dated check is still valid consideration.

Just my two cents.

Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."