Maryland Buyer Due Diligence
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Most of what goes wrong in a Southern Maryland purchase goes wrong in ways that would never occur to somebody who learned about buying houses from the internet. You do not need to be an expert in any of it — you need to recognise when something warrants a closer look.
The questions a national buyer guide will never ask
Most of what goes wrong in a Southern Maryland purchase goes wrong in ways that would never occur to somebody who learned about buying houses from the internet.
Public water and sewer is the exception here, not the rule. A great deal of this county runs on private systems, private roads and land with restrictions attached to it. None of that appears in a listing photograph, and every item below has cost a real buyer real money.
You do not need to become an expert in any of it. You need to recognise when something warrants a closer look, and to have somebody who knows which questions produce answers.
Wells and septic
If a home is not on public systems, this is the largest single item on your list.
On the well: water quality tested for bacteria, nitrates and lead at minimum, plus a yield or flow test, which is a separate thing from quality. A well can produce perfectly clean water and not enough of it for four people and a dishwasher.
On the septic: a condition inspection with the tank pumped so the inside can actually be seen, plus the county records. And crucially, whether the property has an approved reserve area — a second location where a replacement drainfield could go if this one fails. A failing system on a lot with nowhere to put a new one is a serious problem. See the well and septic guide and private well testing.
Perc records and where the system can go
On land, or on a home you intend to expand, the perc history is the whole ballgame. A percolation test determines whether soil will support a septic system, and a lot that will not perc cannot be built on.
Pull the county records rather than relying on what anybody tells you. Old tests expire, tests can be for a smaller house than you are planning, and "it perced years ago" is not a document.
Flood zones and flood insurance
Check the flood map before you fall for the house, not after. If the home sits in a mapped zone your lender will require flood insurance, the premium becomes part of your monthly payment for qualifying purposes, and it can be substantial.
Get quotes in the first week. An older home without an elevation certificate takes longer to quote properly, and leaving this to the final week is a common reason settlements move. See understanding flood zones and flood maps and insurance.
Waterfront rights, piers, bulkheads and permits
Every structure on the water needs a permit, and an unpermitted pier or bulkhead becomes yours the moment you settle.
So we verify: permits for the pier, the lift, the bulkhead or revetment, and any dredging. Riparian rights and whether they are shared. Water depth measured at mean low water rather than described in an advertisement. And the shoreline's erosion history, which old aerial photographs will show you honestly. See shoreline protection documents and the waterfront buyer guide.
Critical Area restrictions
Maryland limits clearing, impervious surface and expansion within a defined distance of tidal water. Buyers discover this when the addition, the pool or the detached garage they were planning turns out not to be permitted.
If your plans for a property involve building anything, check this before you commit. See Critical Area restrictions.
Association and condominium documents
Maryland gives you a period to review association documents and, in defined circumstances, to cancel. Use it properly rather than treating the package as paperwork.
Read for the fee and what it covers, the reserve balance, any pending special assessment, litigation, and the rules — parking, fences, sheds, boats, trailers, rentals and pets. A civic association here can also hold the community pier or beach, which makes its documents considerably more important than a typical HOA's. See association documents for buyers.
Private roads and shared driveways
A great many homes here sit on roads the county does not maintain. That means the owners do, by agreement or by nobody's agreement at all.
Find out whether a recorded maintenance agreement exists, what it obliges you to pay, who plows, and whether the road is passable for an ambulance or a moving truck. Also check that your lender will lend on it, because some will not without a recorded agreement. See private road agreements.
Easements and boundaries
A survey or location drawing is frequently worth the money even when nobody requires one.
It shows you where the lines actually are, whether the shed or the fence is over one, and what easements cross the property — utility, access, drainage or a neighbour's right to reach their own land. See do you need a property survey and survey or location drawing.
Agricultural transfer tax and forest conservation
Two land items that surprise people.
Land assessed as agricultural can trigger an agricultural transfer tax when it changes use or ownership, and who pays it is negotiable — but only if somebody raises it before settlement.
Forest conservation easements and retention areas can restrict clearing on a parcel permanently. If you are buying acreage to build, or to clear for pasture or a pole barn, confirm what is actually allowed before you own it.
Permits and unpermitted improvements
The finished basement, the sunroom, the deck, the electrical in the garage. If the work was done without a permit, the problem transfers to you.
That can mean an insurance claim denied, a lender balking, difficulty selling later, or the county requiring the work to be brought up to code or removed. Pull the permit history on any property with obvious additions. See unpermitted improvements.
Solar panels
Panels on the roof are not always an asset. Owned outright, usually yes. Leased or financed, you may be asked to assume a payment for fifteen more years, and the lease terms can complicate your loan and your eventual resale.
Get the agreement and read it before you are under contract. See buying a home with solar panels.
Ground rent, lead paint and zoning
Ground rent still exists on some older Maryland properties, where you own the improvements and pay rent on the land. It is uncommon here but it is not extinct, and it must be disclosed.
Lead-based paint obligations attach to housing built before 1978, including disclosure requirements and, for rentals, registration and risk reduction duties. See lead paint due diligence.
Zoning against your actual intentions. Not just residential or agricultural, but whether you can run a business from it, put up an outbuilding, keep horses, add an accessory dwelling for a parent, or rent it short term. See accessory dwelling units.
How to use this
Not all of it applies to every house. A townhouse on public water and sewer in a mapped subdivision needs perhaps four items off this list. Ten acres on a private road with frontage on a creek needs almost all of them.
Work through the inspection selection checklist with me early, because several of these take time to investigate and your contract deadlines will not wait. The whole purchase sits inside the complete guide to buying a home in Southern Maryland.
Frequently Asked Questions
Water quality for bacteria, nitrates and lead at minimum, plus a separate yield test. A well can produce clean water and still not supply a family adequately.
It is an approved second location where a replacement drainfield could go. A failing system on a lot with no reserve area is a serious and occasionally unsolvable problem.
A percolation test determines whether soil will support a septic system. Land that will not perc cannot be built on, and old tests can expire or cover a smaller house than you plan.
Yes, and unpermitted structures become the buyer's problem at settlement. Every shoreline structure should be verified before you commit.
The fee and what it covers, the reserve balance, any pending special assessment, litigation, and the rules on parking, fences, sheds, boats, rentals and pets.
Maintenance falls to the owners. Check for a recorded agreement, what it obliges you to pay, who plows, and whether your lender will lend without one.
No. Owned outright, usually. Leased or financed, you may be asked to assume payments for years, which can complicate your loan and your resale.
The problem transfers to you, and can mean a denied insurance claim, a hesitant lender, difficulty selling later, or the county requiring the work corrected or removed.
Send Me the Property and I Will Tell You What to Check
Not all of this applies to every house. A townhouse needs four items off this list; ten acres on a creek needs almost all of them.
Dawn Riley
Associate Broker, Realtor, Master Certified Negotiator
The Riley Team at Deep Roots Real Estate
410-414-2438
dawn@dawnriley.net
https://dawnriley.net/