Data Sources & Method
LandCheck automates the lookups an experienced land buyer does by hand across six government websites. Every number in a report comes from a named public source, queried live from your browser.
The sources
| Exhibit | Source | What we query |
|---|---|---|
| Aerial | Esri World Imagery (Maxar and others) | Current orthoimagery around the point |
| Flood | FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer | Flood zone, sub-type, SFHA status and base flood elevation at the point |
| Terrain | USGS 3DEP Elevation | A 25-point elevation grid across a 240 m square, plus a hillshade image |
| Wetlands | USFWS National Wetlands Inventory | Polygons at the point and within roughly 400 m |
| Soil | USDA NRCS Soil Survey (SSURGO) | Map unit, dominant component, drainage class, hydric rating and septic interpretation |
| Context | OpenStreetMap / Nominatim | County, state, nearest named road |
How the verdict stamp is calculated
Each exhibit resolves to one of three states. Red flags found means at least one exhibit returned a serious constraint — a high-risk flood zone, very steep ground, a wetland at the point, or a hydric or septic-limited soil. Proceed with caution means something needs verification but nothing is disqualifying. No screening flags means nothing adverse appeared in the public data, which is not the same as the land being good.
What LandCheck cannot tell you
- Parcel boundaries. There is no free nationwide parcel dataset. Reports describe a point and its surroundings, not a legally defined lot. Your county GIS viewer is authoritative.
- Ownership, title, easements or liens. These live in county records.
- Zoning and permitted use. Local, and not available as a national dataset.
- Anything below ground. Contamination, fill, buried tanks, mine workings.
- Legal access. A visible track is not an easement.
Every exhibit names its authority. Each section of a report ends with a "verify with" line pointing at the office or professional whose answer is binding. That is deliberate: screening should tell you where to look, not pretend to be the final word.
Coverage and accuracy notes
FEMA has not digitised every county; where a point is outside a mapped panel the report says so rather than reporting no risk. Soil survey coverage is near-complete in the lower 48 but has gaps over open water, some federal land and much of Alaska. NWI mapping was largely photo-interpreted over several decades and misses small, seasonal and forested wetlands. Elevation is bare-earth and reflects the date of the last survey flight.
Privacy and cost
All queries run directly from your browser to the government services. We do not log the addresses you look up. The tool is free, has no account, and no report limit; it is supported by advertising.
Run this check on a real parcel
Paste an address or coordinates and get flood zone, slope, wetlands and soil in about fifteen seconds. Free, unlimited, no account.