Land For Sale in Cedar Glen

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Some of These Lots Had Houses On Them

Cedar Glen was hit hard by the 2003 Old Fire, and the shape of its land market still reflects that.

This page narrows the live MLS feed to vacant land and lots inside Cedar Glen only.

Rebuild sites are not the same as raw land

The Old Fire of October 2003 destroyed a large number of homes in Cedar Glen, and vacant parcels here have included former home sites ever since. That history cuts both ways for a buyer and it is worth knowing which kind of parcel you are looking at.

A former home site may already have utilities run to it, a recorded address, an existing driveway and a septic system or sewer connection in place — which can make it considerably cheaper to build on than genuinely raw land. It may equally have a damaged septic, a foundation that cannot be reused, or debris still to be cleared.

Ask directly whether the parcel previously carried a structure, and what remains usable. Get the septic inspected rather than assuming a connection still works. The difference between a serviced rebuild lot and raw land is often the whole budget.

The questions that decide a mountain lot

Price is the last thing to settle on a parcel up here. What decides whether a lot is worth anything is whether you can legally reach it, get water to it, put waste somewhere, and build on the part that is not falling away. Two lots on the same street, same size, same price, can differ by a hundred thousand dollars in what it takes to make them habitable.

• Water. Some parcels sit on a water district main; some need a well. Ask which, and if it is a district, ask what a new connection actually costs today rather than what it cost someone five years ago.
• Waste. Sewer in some pockets, septic in most. Septic means a percolation test, and a failed perc can end the project outright.
• Access. A road on a map is not legal access. You want a recorded easement, and you want to know who plows it in February — the county, an association, or nobody.
• Slope. Buildable square footage is what matters, not the parcel size on the listing. A steep lot can be beautiful and still cost more in foundation and retaining than the land.
• Fire. Defensible space requirements and insurance availability both bear on what you can build and what it costs to keep. Get a real quote on the parcel, not an estimate.

None of this is a reason not to buy land here. It is the reason to get answers in writing before you remove contingencies, and it is most of what I do on a land deal.