Agents with experience buying land

[Christina R.]

We are looking to buy land in either Howard County or northeastern Montgomery Co, MD.  Clearly we would need a period of due diligence if we find something to make sure we can build what we want on it.  How long would you make your study period (what is typical for residential zoning) and what specific questions would you be seeking to answer?  I'm thinking master plan, soil. setbacks and variances, utilities if they are already not available at the site for hookup....  it seems in our area that land takes a while to sell and sometimes parcels are on for a year or more (which I attribute to not being priced right - like an existing house), but is that typical because of study periods?

Thanks for any help you can provide!