Buying land · Land records · October 8, 2026
How to Find Land Comps: Free Ways to Price Vacant Land
How to find land comps: pull vacant land sales from county assessor, deed and GIS records or the MLS, then adjust for size, access and utilities.
Knowing how to find land comps is the most useful skill you can have when you buy or sell vacant land. A comp, short for comparable sale, is a recent sale of a similar parcel near the one you are pricing. Houses are easy to compare because there are many of them and they sell often. Land is harder. Rural parcels change hands less often, and two tracts a mile apart can differ in size, road access, power, soil and slope in ways that swing the price a lot. That is why the automatic estimates on big real estate sites tend to miss badly on raw land. The fix is to find the actual sales yourself, most of which sit in free county records, and compare them with care. This guide shows where sale prices live, how to tell a good comp from a bad one, how to adjust for differences, and what to do in states that keep sale prices private. It is a pricing method for buyers and sellers, not an appraisal; for a loan, an estate or a court case, hire a licensed appraiser.
What makes a good land comp
- It sold. Asking prices only tell you what sellers hope to get. Use closed sales. Listings that have sat unsold for many months are still useful, because they hint at a ceiling the market has refused to pay.
- It is recent. Sales from the last 6 to 12 months are best. In thin rural markets you may need to reach back two or three years; if you do, note whether prices have risen or fallen since.
- It is close by. Same county at minimum, and ideally the same township, school district or road. The parcel next door is the best comp of all.
- It is a similar size. Price per acre usually drops as tracts get bigger. Compare a 5-acre lot with other lots of roughly 2 to 10 acres, not with a 160-acre farm.
- It has similar features. Zoning, legal road access, power at the road, room for a well and septic, flood zone, slope, and timber or cropland all move the price.
- It was a normal, arm’s-length sale. Leave out transfers between relatives, deeds that show a token price, foreclosures, tax sales and sales to an adjoining owner, who will often pay more than anyone else would.
Where to find land sale prices
The county assessor or property appraiser
Many assessor websites show a sales history for each parcel, with the sale date, the price and sometimes the deed type. Some let you search sales by date range, by area or by property class, and most have a class code for vacant or agricultural land that narrows the list fast. Start with the parcel you are pricing, then look up its neighbors one by one. If you are not sure which office does what, our guide to the assessor vs the recorder explains the split.
The county GIS parcel viewer
A free parcel viewer is the fastest way to scan an area. In many counties, clicking a parcel opens a pop-up with the owner, acreage and last sale, and some viewers include a sales layer that colors recently sold parcels. Click around the tract you are pricing and write down every vacant parcel that sold in the last year or two. Find your county’s viewer on the Platbookmapper map.
The recorder or register of deeds
The deed is the original record of a sale. Some deeds state the price outright. In many states, the deed or a form recorded with it shows the transfer tax paid, and because the tax is a set rate on the price, you can work backward to the sale amount. Look up your state’s rate and divide. Deeds also tell you what was actually sold, such as whether mineral rights were kept or an easement was granted. Our walkthrough of county property records and plats shows where to search.
MLS and listing sites
A real estate agent can pull sold land from the local multiple listing service, with days on market and the original asking price, which is often the cleanest data you can get. Ask an agent who sells land in that county. Public home search sites let you filter for land and recently sold properties, though their coverage of rural sales is spotty. Land listing sites mostly show active listings, which are still useful for asking-price context.
Auctions and land value surveys
Farmland auction companies often post their results, and those sales are public by nature. For broad context, the USDA publishes an annual land values report with average per-acre values for cropland and pasture by state, and some university extension services run their own farmland value surveys. These averages are too broad to price a single parcel, but they show the direction of the market.
If your state keeps sale prices private
A group of states, including Texas, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico, do not require the sale price to be made public. Deeds there usually show a token amount, and the assessor may not publish sales. You can still find comps:
- Ask a local agent for MLS sold data, which still records the price.
- Call a land broker or appraiser who works the county; they track sales for a living.
- Check auction results, which are announced in public.
- Ask neighbors and sellers. People often share what they paid or received.
- Look at mortgage or deed of trust amounts, which can hint at a price range, though a loan is not a sale price.
Do not lean on the assessed value as a stand-in. It is a tax figure, set by a formula and often years behind the market. See assessed value vs market value.
How to compare and adjust land comps
Put every comp on the same footing first. For acreage, that means price per acre. For small city or subdivision lots, price per lot or per front foot often works better. Then line the comps up against your parcel and ask which way each difference pushes the price.
| Feature | Usually worth more | Usually worth less |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Smaller tracts, per acre | Larger tracts, per acre |
| Access | Frontage on a public road | Access only by easement, or no legal access |
| Utilities | Power at the road, public water or sewer | No power nearby |
| Septic | Passed a perc test | Failed or untested soils |
| Flood risk | Outside the floodplain | Mostly in a flood zone or wetland |
| Terrain | Gentle, buildable ground | Steep slopes, ravines, rock |
| Zoning | Allows the use buyers want, or can be split | Restricted use or large minimum lots |
Give the most weight to the three to five comps that match best, and finish with a price range, not a single number. If one comp is far off from the rest, find out why before you use it. It may have included a barn, a well and septic already installed, or a second parcel.
A worked example
The numbers below are made up to show the math. Say you are pricing 8 acres with frontage on a paved county road and power at the road. You find four sales from the past year:
- Comp A: 6 acres, road frontage, power. Sold for $54,000, or $9,000 per acre.
- Comp B: 10 acres, road frontage, no power. Sold for $80,000, or $8,000 per acre.
- Comp C: 12 acres reached only by an easement. Sold for $66,000, or $5,500 per acre.
- Comp D: 9 acres bought by the next-door owner for $108,000.
Comp D comes out, because a neighbor’s purchase is not a normal market sale. Comp C sets a floor, since it lacks road frontage. Comps A and B bracket your parcel: yours is bigger than A, which pulls the per-acre price down a little, but it has power that B lacks. A fair range is about $8,000 to $9,000 per acre, or roughly $64,000 to $72,000 for the 8 acres.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using asking prices. Listings are wishes. Closed sales are evidence.
- Trusting an automated estimate. These models need many similar sales, and raw land rarely has them.
- Comparing land with improved property. A parcel with a house, mobile home or barn is not a land comp. The assessor record splits land value from improvement value, which helps spot these.
- Missing a multi-parcel sale. One deed can cover several parcels for one total price. Divide by the total acreage, not just the parcel you clicked.
- Getting the acreage wrong. Use deeded or surveyed acres when you can. See how to find the acreage of a property.
Land comps FAQ
What are land comps?
Land comps, short for comparable sales, are recent sales of vacant parcels that are similar in location, size and features to the land you are pricing. Their sale prices, usually compared per acre, show what buyers have actually paid.
Where can I find land comps for free?
Start with the county assessor's sales history and the county GIS parcel viewer, which often show the last sale price. Recorded deeds may state the price or the transfer tax paid. An agent can also pull sold land from the MLS.
How many comps do I need to price land?
Three to five good comps are usually enough to set a range. In rural areas with few sales you may need to look farther away or further back in time, and then adjust for the differences.
Why are online estimates so far off for land?
Automated estimates rely on many similar sales nearby. Vacant land sells less often, and parcels differ widely in access, utilities, soil and slope, so the models have little good data to work with.
How do I find what land sold for in a non-disclosure state?
Ask a local agent for MLS sold data, call a land broker or appraiser who works the county, check auction results, and ask sellers or neighbors. Recorded loan amounts can hint at a range but are not sale prices.
Can I use assessed value instead of comps?
Not reliably. Assessed value is set for taxes by a formula and is often behind the market. Use it as a rough check, not as a price.