Who owns the land in the US?

Question

Besides the US government, who owns the land and why do they own it? Who they bought it from? I'd be interested in buying a small plot in the US or Canada, say 10 acres, how could i find one?

Answer 1

Depending on what your interests are regarding owning farmland... do you want pasture ground or land to raise crops on.  Much of this can depend on the location in which you wish to buy the land.  

I would suggest that you work with a real estate agent who works with farmland specifically, rather than an agent who mainly sells homes and land on the side.   Real estate agents who specialize in farmland sales can help you with particulars of soil types, drainage issues, government payment from the USDA and a whole host of other issues that residential agents may not be familar with.

You can possibly check in the local area that you have interest in buying land with the counties Farm Bureau office and ask for several references of farm managers who have real estate licenses for the respective state that you are buying in.  Do not buy directly from the listing agent as they cannot truthfully represent their client and you at the same time without being a dual agent.  This is tricky.  Attain a buyer's agent to represent you in the transaction and be clear that your agent is to be compensated by the selling agent.  The selling agent should share approximately one half of the commission with your agent.  So it is to your benefit to attain someone who will represent you through to the closing for the purchase of your land.  You may look in the telephone yellow pages for "farm managers", "farm appraisers" or under "real estate" and be sure they understand farm issues before accepting them as your agent.

Answer 2

SOME land is federally owned and are parklands, gamelands, as with the government offices in Washington, DC or other lands that are called Superfund sites which are polluted land which is slated for or in the process of being remedied....

All the other land is owned by corporations or people..  If you are interested in buying property, there are millions and millions of acres for sale in the USA and Canada.  

To make sure all things legal are paid attention to, I would contact a real estate professional

In the usa: remax.com, century21.com, coldwellbanker.com.......and many many others

Answer 3

You can get ten acres in Brewster County real cheap. Plenty of it, too.