LandGate’s free property reports provide property owners and their representatives with valuable data-driven insights about their land and its value. Along with resource leases and estimates, you can find soil types, tree types, topography, buildable acreage, and more. In this guide, we will explain the information provided in the property report and offer practical use cases for the data to help you get the most out of the tool.
Key Takeaways:
LandGate's property reports provide insights into land value, including data on soil, trees, and topography.
Lease and sale estimates offer a snapshot of property potential and uses.
Proprietary indexes help evaluate property value and risks quickly.
Unique metrics assess resource availability, such as water stress and solar potential.
Reports are free for landowners, aiding in informed decision-making for development and sales.
Summary
The summary on page 3 of your property report gives you a broad snapshot into the rest of the report by showing the lease and sale estimates for your property.
Value & Risk Indexes
LandGate's proprietary value and risk indexes provide property owners with a fast and easy way to evaluate the highest and best use for their properties at a glance. On a scale of 0-100, compare your property's value for different resources on the County and State level using the value indexes. Similarly, you can utilize the risk indexes to swiftly evaluate any potential environmental risks for your property compared to both the County and State level.
On page 4, you can view a snapshot into your property's estimated lease value for solar, wind, carbon, and oil & gas leasing. The rest of the property report will dive into the different factors that affect this evaluation.
Land
Discover the different types of land on a property and the total estimated value of the property in this section of the property report. These values are strictly the ‘dirt’ values and do not include any upgrades or buildings.
This ‘Total Land Value’ is calculated by aggregating the estimated values of the different types of land (ie; woodland, developed, pastureland, cropland) on the property. In the 'Land' report on page 5, you can view more specificities regarding this calculation.
LandGate Relative Water Stress: This metric is unique to LandGate, and it assesses the availability of water on a particular property. If the stress level percentage is high, this indicates a lack of water availability for any vegetation on the property.
Average 3D Solar Irradiance: This is a measure of how much solar energy is collected on a specific property. It is a ‘3D’ measure because it accounts for slope, topography and seasonal changes in the angle of the sun.
Average Slope: Slope refers to the incline or decline of the land. The smaller this number, the flatter the land is, and vice versa. Certain slope levels can affect any development plans for the property. For example, solar and wind energy developers prefer flatter properties because they can not build solar panels or wind turbines on areas that are too steep.
Property Features
In the 'Property Features' section of the property report, you can evaluate the elevation and slope of your property, along with its proximity to important amenities, such as shopping, hotels, schools, hospitals, EV charging stations, and more.
Topography
Learn about the terrain on your property by analyzing the average, minimum, and maximum elevation and slope levels. Topography plays a significant role in determining/ planning land use, as certain topography levels can render all or portions of a property unsuitable for development.
Trees
Discover information about the specific tree types on your property and the carbon offset potential for each. Not only does LandGate break down the average tree diameter for each type, but the average tree age and the amount of trees per acre is also provided.
If portions of your property are not currently covered by trees, you will see a ‘Reforestation Potential’ section:
‘Reforestation’ is defined as replenishing trees in areas where trees existed previously. Learn how many acres of your property could potentially be used for reforestation efforts (‘Potential Area for Reforestation Acres (ac)’).
The ‘Maximum Tree Canopy Density (%)’ shows you how much you could potentially improve your current canopy density. It is calculated by examining the surrounding parcels and how they are forested to determine a likely "maximum" tree density.
The ‘Suggested Tree Type for Reforestation’ is only provided if there are other trees on the property. The tree type suggested in this section is the type with the greatest carbon sequestration potential. The more carbon that your land/ trees sequester, the more valuable it is for carbon credits.
Soil
Discover the specific soil types & soil classifications on your property along with the soil carbon offset potential (in metric tons per year) for each type. The soils on your property can also store carbon (similar to the trees on your property).
Understanding the soil types on your property is also crucial for agriculture and development planning. For example, loamy soils are ideal for agriculture, while other soil types may not be as productive for crops. Similarly, the soils on a property are extremely important to consider when planning septic systems or the possibility of constructing any buildings on a property.
Rooftop Solar
If there are structures with rooftops for the property you selected for your property report, you can evaluate the rooftop solar generation potential for the rooftops on that property. Along with the rooftop square footage, you'll find the estimated number of rooftop solar panels that can fit on the rooftop and solar energy production estimates.
Solar Farm
In this section, you can find your property’s estimated value for a solar lease (‘Est. Solar Rent’). This estimate is calculated using an algorithm that accounts for a variety of factors including buildable acreage, state & local incentives, solar irradiance, solar activity in your area, proximity to electrical infrastructure, and electricity capacity data. You can also find information about your property’s buildable acreage (how much of your property is usable for a solar farm excluding exclusion zones) and the estimated total number of solar panels that could be placed on your property.
Please note that our estimates are intentionally conservative to help you identify low-ball offers, and are not reflective of any offers that you may receive if you choose to list your property for lease on LandGate.
Wind
In this section, you can find your property’s estimated value for a wind lease (‘Est. Wind Rent’). This estimate is calculated using an algorithm that accounts for a variety of factors including buildable acreage, state & local incentives, solar irradiance, solar activity in your area, proximity to electrical infrastructure, and electricity capacity data. You can also find information about your property’s buildable acreage (how much of your property is usable for a wind farm excluding exclusion zones) and the estimated total number of wind turbines that could be placed on your property.
Please note that our estimates are intentionally conservative to help you identify low-ball offers, and are not reflective of any offers that you may receive if you choose to list your property on LandGate.
Electrical Infrastructure
The 'Electrical Infrastructure' page of your property report breaks down your property's proximity to electrical infrastructure, including its distance to the nearest substation and transmission lines. When it comes to leasing land for solar or wind energy, the closer a property is to electrical infrastructure, the better it would work for a solar or wind farm.
EV Charging
This section provides your property's proximity to the nearest major roads, electrical infrastructure, other EV charging stations, and amenities. Each of these variables is important in determining if your land could be well-suited for an EV Charging station. Your property's EV Site Score is provided on a scale from 0-100, with 100 being the best fit/ most valuable.
Carbon
Although there are many different types of carbon credit agreements available (ex; reforestation, afforestation, harvest deferral) and the rates/ terms fluctuate for each agreement, property owners can use this data to learn about the carbon credit potential for multiple types of carbon credits in this section of the property report.
In the ‘Tree Carbon and Reforestation Credits’ section, the ‘Carbon Credits Est. Current Year ($/ ac/ yr) is the value that you should pay the most attention to, as this is an estimate of how much your property is currently worth in terms of carbon credits in dollars per acre per year. However, it is important to note that carbon credits are a commodity, so their price fluctuates frequently.
The ‘Tree Carbon Credits’ section breaks down the carbon offset potential for the tree-covered acreage on your land. Learn how much of your land is covered by trees and the amount of carbon that those trees are storing per year. The ‘Reforestation Carbon Credits’ section offers data about your property’s potential for reforestation carbon credits. Similarly, the ‘Soil Carbon Credits’ section explains how many carbon offsets your soil is storing. Check out the Soil section in the property report on page 7 for more detailed information about the soils on your property!
Oil & Gas
This section only shows up in a property report if there are oil & gas wells on the property. It provides general production and geological data to help you learn more about the resource potential for what exists underneath the surface of your land.
Mining
In the ‘Mining’ section, LandGate will show you where the nearest mining location is to your property, along with information about the resource that is being extracted in that location. The bedrock on your property is also shown, which has important implications for development and construction plans. For example, carbonate/ limestone is dissolved by water over time, which can reveal the potential for caves or future sinkholes on a property.
Industrial Contamination
This page of your property report provides information about your property's proximity to the nearest EPA Superfund site, along with details about its specific contaminant and current status. You can also find information about other contaminated sites near your property along with detailed information regarding the chemical properties, estimated release amounts, and
How to Get a Free Property Report
Property reports are always free for landowners- learn more about your property and its potential by generating your free report today. If you’re interested in exploring lease or sale opportunities after you receive your report, don’t miss the opportunity to to list on LandGate’s open marketplace for free (we do not charge any fees OR any commissions to list).
If you are interested in leveraging the data provided in the property report for a specific property, but you don’t own the property, you can receive the same information for any U.S. parcel and more in LandApp for just $10 per month.
