On acreage, the money is in what the photographs do not show

If you are looking at land in Arrington, College Grove, Eagleville, Fairview, Joelton or anywhere else where the lots get measured in acres rather than feet, the inspection you need is not the one most buyers order.

Start with septic. Most of these properties are not on public sewer. What matters is not just that a septic system exists but what it is rated for, where the field lines run, and whether there is a viable replacement area if the current field fails. A three bedroom permit on a four bedroom house is a problem you inherit. The county environmental office holds the permit records and they are worth reading.

Then water. A well and a utility connection are different assets with different costs and different failure modes. If it is a well, ask about depth, recovery rate and the last time it was tested. If it is a utility district, find out which one, because capacity and connection policy vary between districts and that can decide whether you can build what you want.

Then access. Look at how you actually reach the house. If any part of the drive crosses someone else’s land, there needs to be a recorded easement, and you want to read it rather than take someone’s word that it has never been a problem. Handshake access works right up until the neighbor sells.

Then the land next door. Pull the zoning on the adjoining parcels. The pasture across the road is only a pasture until it is rezoned, and in Williamson, Rutherford and Wilson Counties that happens with some regularity. You are not buying a view, you are buying whatever the neighboring zoning permits.

One more that is specific to this area: on the lake, people treat a dock as part of the waterfront, and on acreage they treat a barn or an outbuilding as part of the property. Confirm that every outbuilding was permitted. An unpermitted structure becomes your problem at resale, not the seller’s.

That is four phone calls and a couple of record pulls. On a large parcel it is worth more than any amount of time spent looking at kitchen finishes.