Land Dept. tells you which diligence matters first. It does not do that diligence for you. Read these terms before you rely on anything in an issue — especially the part about doing your own homework.
Land Dept. is an editorial newsletter published by ZMR Ventures LLC, not by any individual, and not in any professional or attorney capacity. Each issue curates land listings we find interesting and gives each an even-handed analysis: topography, schools and taxes, what a listing leaves out, what's worth watching, and, where relevant, an estimated cost to build. Our verdicts are opinions, a reading of market dynamics drawn from familiarity with these areas. They are not valuations, appraisals, or investment advice, and they can be wrong. We do not rank the listings, we have no financial stake in them, we are not paid to feature them, and we are not the seller's or buyer's agent.
Everything in Land Dept. is general information and opinion, not advice. It is not legal, financial, tax, real-estate brokerage, engineering, surveying, or construction advice, and no reading of it creates any professional or fiduciary relationship with you.
Prices, acreage, boundaries, approvals, taxes, zoning, and build estimates are drawn from third-party listings and public sources, can be wrong or out of date, and change without notice. Each data layer reflects its source's publication date, which may not be current; confirm status with the issuing authority. Build-cost figures are illustrative ranges, not quotes or appraisals.
Land Dept. is not a title search and not a survey. Always out of scope: title, ownership, liens, easements, rights-of-way, covenants and deed restrictions, access and frontage rights, legal buildable-lot-of-record status, and prior approvals. Nothing we publish confirms zoning, permits, or what may be built on a parcel, and no map we publish locates a legal boundary. All of it must be independently verified. Our analysis is assembled from public data (the listing itself; county and state parcel and zoning GIS; USGS elevation and hydrography; FEMA flood maps; U.S. Fish & Wildlife and state DEC wetlands; USDA-NRCS soils; and U.S. Census / OpenStreetMap geocoding), any of which may be incomplete, inaccurate, or out of date. Seller-impersonation fraud on vacant land is real and growing; read our guide, and buy the owner's title policy.
Do your own diligence and retain your own licensed professionals — attorney, engineer, surveyor, and contractor — before making any offer, purchase, or building decision. Any action you take based on an issue is your own responsibility.
Your subscription is for you. Please don't resell it, scrape the site, or use Land Dept. to break the law or infringe anyone's rights.
The writing, the analyses, and the custom topographic drawings in each issue are our original work and are protected by copyright. You may read and share individual issues for personal, non-commercial use with attribution. You may not republish, resell, or build a competing product from our content without written permission. We do not republish brokers' photographs; our topo drawings are our own and are schematic, not surveys.
Listings, MLS numbers, and any outbound links belong to third parties we don't control and don't endorse. Availability and details are theirs to change. Confirm everything at the source before you rely on it.
Land Dept. is provided "as is," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, or fitness for a particular purpose. We don't warrant that any listing, figure, or estimate is correct or that the site will be uninterrupted or error-free.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Land Dept. and its authors will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for any decision you make in reliance on an issue. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service will not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in New York.
We may update these terms as the publication grows. When we do, we'll revise the effective date above and note material changes in the newsletter. Continuing to subscribe means you accept the updated terms.
Land Dept. · ZMR Ventures LLC · New York · [email protected]