The deed and legal description
Plus a plat or survey if one exists, even an old one.
Donate unbuildable, landlocked, wetland or floodplain property
Difficult land specialists: (888) 228-7320
Donate Unbuildable, Landlocked or Wetland Property
Some parcels cannot be built on and never will be: no legal access, wetland across the whole delineation, a floodplain, a slope, a setback line, a lot platted before anyone checked. The tax bill still arrives. Land like this is reviewed rather than refused, and the reasons it cannot be developed are often the reasons somebody else wants it.
Tell us about the parcel
Every property gets a look. Name, phone and email are the only required fields.
Fully IRS Compliant
We Handle the Paperwork
Form 8283 Done Right
501(c)(3) Recognized Charity
The reasons land will not take a building
Usually one of six. The lot is smaller than current zoning allows or cannot meet setbacks. There is no legal access, only a neighbour’s goodwill. A wetland delineation covers the buildable area. The parcel sits in a floodway where fill is prohibited. The slope or the soil will not carry a foundation or a septic field. Or a coastal construction line, a conservation restriction or a deed covenant puts development off the table.
Most owners discover this the year they try to sell. A parcel that has been on the tax roll since the 1960s turns out to be unpermittable, the listing expires, and the annual bill continues. Nothing about that history stops a gift.
Landlocked is not always permanent
Access by necessity, prescriptive use and a willing neighbour are all real possibilities, and a title examination often finds an access route the owner did not know existed.
Who wants land nobody can build on
Adjoining owners, first. A strip that is useless alone is worth real money to the person whose fence line it touches, for privacy, frontage, or simply to control what happens next door. Beyond that: conservation buyers and land trusts, municipalities assembling greenway or drainage corridors, hunting and recreation buyers for larger tracts, and timber operators where there is standing merchantable wood.
Wetland and floodplain parcels have their own market through mitigation banking, where protected land generates credits that offset development elsewhere. That market is regulated and technical, and it is one reason a delineation report is worth sending with the deed.
What to have in front of you
Documents that answer the access and the water question move fastest.
Anything official that says no
A permit denial, a wetland delineation, a zoning determination, a FEMA flood map panel. These help rather than hurt.
The tax position
The annual bill and whether anything is behind. See property with back taxes if it is.
Questions about donating difficult land
Is land I cannot build on worth anything at all? +
Often more than the owner expects, and the buyer is usually the neighbour rather than the open market. Value comes from assembly, access, conservation, timber or recreation rather than from a building permit. An appraiser who works in rural and remnant land will find the comparables.
My parcel is landlocked. Can it still transfer? +
Yes. Title passes whether or not there is a road to it. Whether access can be obtained is a separate question, and one worth answering during the review rather than after.
Should I put a conservation easement on it instead? +
A qualified conservation contribution is a real option with its own rules, its own appraisal standards and a high level of IRS scrutiny. It is not a decision to make from a web page. Tell us what the land is and we will talk through whether it is worth discussing with your advisor.
The taxes are years behind and it is barely worth the arrears. Then what? +
That is the honest case to raise on the phone. What decides it is whether the cost to clear the arrears is below what the land can sell for. Where it is not, other routes exist, including a local sale with a cash gift of the proceeds, receipted. We would rather say that plainly than string it out.
I own several scattered lots from an old subdivision. Together? +
Yes, and it is usually the better way. One appraisal, one transfer, one Form 8283 covering a group of similar parcels. Send the parcel numbers and the county.
We do not provide tax or legal advice. See IRS Publication 526, Publication 561 and the Form 8283 instructions, and consult your own advisor.
Related guides
Tell us about the parcel and we will review it
The county and the parcel number are enough to start.