Received a letter from a developer LLC wanting to buy your land?

Ask for the buyer's exact legal name, registration state, business address, and the representative's role. Is the sender buying for itself, acting for a client, or trying to secure an option to transfer later? An LLC is a business structure, not proof of either a scam or a credible project.

Use the relevant state's official business-registration records to check the entity, and independently verify any broker's license with the applicable state regulator. Do not rely solely on links or phone numbers supplied in the letter. Registration may confirm an entity exists; it does not establish its funding, beneficial owners, or authority to complete this purchase.

Ask counsel how to confirm the representative's authority and what information remains unavailable. Do not send bank details or pay an unexpected fee to a contact you have not independently verified.

A proposed use is not an approved use. Ask the planning office and serving utility for the appropriate project-specific checks; public maps and the buyer's statements do not substitute for those answers.

• What is the proposed use: a data center, housing, solar, or something else? Who would operate it?
• Which parcels and how many acres are requested? Ask for a map, not only a street address.
• Does the proposal cover a purchase, lease, option, easement, or access permission?
• Which approvals, financing, utility connections, and water arrangements remain outstanding?
• What conditions let the buyer exit, extend the arrangement, or assign it to another entity?

A document described as a preliminary step can still create obligations. Give your own attorney the actual documents before agreeing to confidentiality, surveys, drilling, access, an option, or a purchase. Effects depend on the wording and applicable law.

For access, ask counsel about the permitted work, notice, duration, insurance, restoration, and responsibility for damage. For an option, ask about payment, expiry, extensions, assignment, and restrictions on other uses or offers.

For confidentiality, ask whether the terms permit independent legal, appraisal, tax, and financial advice and any legally required disclosures. Do not assume an NDA automatically prevents you from seeking help, or that every NDA includes adviser exceptions.

Ask a tax adviser about the proposed structure and net proceeds. Do not treat an assessor's value, a neighboring owner's asking price, or a report score as an appraisal.

• The letter, all messages, draft agreements, proposed maps, and stated deadlines.
• Your deed, any available survey, leases, mortgages, easements, and information about co-owners or inherited interests.
• Questions about retained acreage, access, timber or agricultural use, and responsibilities if development does not proceed.
• An independent appraiser's scope of work and your attorney's review of title, terms, and authority to sell.

A starting point for discussion with your attorney is: Please provide the legal buyer name, your role and authority, a map of the requested land, the proposed use, and the complete written terms, including conditions and deadlines.

This is a list of information to request, not a legally approved response template. If you have already signed something or face an asserted deadline, have counsel assess your obligations before responding. Ask for time to obtain advice rather than relying on an assumed cooling-off period.

A report can organize sourced grid, water, and climate context and questions for a developer, utility, or adviser. It cannot identify an undisclosed buyer, verify a company's funding, review legal documents, value the land, or establish power availability.

LandownerIntel publishes this guide and sells the reports discussed here. This is educational information, not legal, tax, or appraisal advice. Start with the free sample if you want to inspect the format before considering a purchase.