Land & Ranch Guide
Everything I wish every buyer knew before they wrote an offer on Wasatch Back ground. Water rights, irrigation shares, wells, zoning, access, septic, and the horse question. Read these before you fall in love with a view, and you'll buy like someone who's been here before.
Post 01 · Water
6 min read
Water Rights in Utah: First in Time, First in Right
In Utah, water is public property and the state decides who gets to use it. Here is what "first in time, first in right" means for your land purchase.
Post 02 · Water
5 min read
Irrigation Shares: What Your Canal Company Stock Actually Buys
Much of the greenest ground in the Heber and Kamas valleys is watered by canal companies, not wells. The shares are personal property, and they do not transfer with the deed.
Post 03 · Water
5 min read
Wells: Permit First, Drill Second
You need a valid water right before you drill a well in Utah. Here is how well permits, start cards, and closed basins actually work.
Post 04 · Zoning
6 min read
Agricultural Zoning: AG-20, RA-5, and What You Can Actually Build
Zoning decides how many homes can sit on your acreage, what you can raise, and what the county will let you do with that beautiful old barn.
Post 05 · Title
6 min read
Easements and Access: The Road on the Map Isn't Always Yours
A road you can drive is not the same as a road you own. Access easements, mineral severance, and encroachments are where land deals go sideways.
Post 06 · Systems
5 min read
Septic: The Perc Test Is Your Friend
Can the ground handle a septic system? That is a soil test, a perc test, and a county permit, and it decides whether your building site is actually buildable.
Post 07 · Equestrian
5 min read
Equestrian Estates: What Horse People Actually Need
Horses are the most honest clients in real estate: they need pasture, water, shelter, and safe ground. Here is what to look for in an equestrian property.
Reading is good. Riding is better.
The guide covers the paperwork. The Jeep covers the ground. Book thirty minutes and we'll put the theory on the actual dirt.
Talk it through
Every post in this guide started as a real conversation on a real parcel. If one of them raised a question about your land, bring it along. We'll answer it where the answer lives: on the ground.