How to determine whether land is “build-able?”

[Mitchell Rusten]

I’m looking into buying a duplex on 3 acres directly connected to a new development that is almost completed. The way the terrain works, I could be able to split the nothernmost unused 1.5-2 acres of land and sell it to a developer. The home is currently listed for $400k, but has been on the market for 70 days without a price drop going into the down season, so I could probably pick it up for less. Comps in the area suggest the duplex on ~1 acre of land should go for $340-360k. It’s pretty turn-key.

The issue I am running into is whether or not the land is entirely capable of being built on and supporting a home. A portion of the land, maybe ~0.75 acres, shows up as wetlands on the wetlands inventory mapper, but the agent listing the place claims it’s barely a soft spot and should be build-able (not that he has any bias). Part of the difficulty in getting a solid answer on this question is it’s winter in Minnesota and the land is frozen and covered in snow.

How do I go about figuring whether the land is capable of supporting a home or whether there is an option to mitigate the issue? I figured I could call a builder but run the chance of being undercut since the deal is on the MLS and I don't have it under contract. The other issue I've been reading about is that developers can have issues getting bank financing on raw land, and this would certainly be raw land. They wouldn't have to go far to hook up water and sewer and so forth, but that wouldn't matter much to a bank.

What steps do I need to take to figure out if this is worth my time? Should I call an actual builder and see if they are interested, or should I go another route to get the necessary approvals for the land? I’m pretty new to this, so I think my best bet is to split and just sell rather than trying to turn them into proper paper lots.