Start with completed sales a buyer would compare with your land. Match the nearby area, acres, road access and usable ground. A small roadside lot, open farm ground and a wooded hillside tract can have different buyers. Use checked sales to build a price range, then compare your ways to sell.
1. Check the Parcel You Want to Price
Find your tax bill, deed and any old survey. Write down the parcel number, acres and closest road. A parcel is one piece of land in county records. If you own several pieces, list which ones you want to price.
The county’s Real Estate page links to its property map and land records. The map is called GIS. The page says to search by one category at a time, then use the current land-card link beneath the total value.
A land card is the county’s property record sheet. Check its location, acres and any buildings against your own papers. Keep a note of details that don’t fit. A county map can help locate the land, but it doesn’t replace a boundary survey.
For questions about assessments or transfers, call the Commissioner of the Revenue at 540-928-2050. For technical help with the map, the county lists GIS support at 540-552-5592. That is map help, not a buyer’s price opinion.
2. Compare Open Ground and Hillside Land Carefully
Ask a local land agent or appraiser for recent completed sales that fit your property. Check the parcel, date, acres and what the sale covered. Look for land a buyer would consider alongside yours.
- Roadside lots: Compare size, entrance and the nearby area. Keep a lot with a house separate from bare land.
- Open farm ground: Compare current use, access and usable acres. Check whether barns or other buildings came with a sale.
- Wooded hillsides: Compare slopes, road access and open areas. A large tract can have fewer easy-to-use acres than its total size suggests.
- Several parcels: Check whether one price covered a group. Don’t count the same sale once for every piece.
For each match, describe how a buyer would reach it. Nearby roads don’t prove a right to cross another property. Share any written access agreement you have and mark unclear access as a question.
Show the land’s slopes and open areas in your photos. If you have a well, septic or other report, keep it with the parcel papers. Don’t call the land ready to build just because nearby land has homes.
Keep current listings in a separate list. An asking price shows what an owner hopes to get. It doesn’t show what a buyer paid. Leave unclear sales out of the strongest matches.
3. Keep Land-Use Tax Values Separate From Sale Prices
The county’s Land Use Program page explains that qualifying rural land can be taxed at a reduced value based on how it’s used. Farm ground, pasture and forest can have different values under the program. That isn’t a price a buyer has offered.
If your record shows land-use values, gather the program papers. Ask the Commissioner’s office what a planned sale or change in use means for your land. Don’t assume a buyer will get the same tax treatment.
The program page also explains that a change to a non-qualifying use can lead to rollback taxes. These are taxes connected to ending the lower-tax use. Ask the office whether any might apply, then ask the closing team how a possible cost would be handled before agreeing on terms.
Keep buildings and the land value separate when reading the record. For your asking price, return to similar completed sales. For the money you keep, ask for a written list of seller costs, any loan balance and unpaid taxes. These are different questions, so don’t mix their numbers together.
4. Check Each Transfer Before Using Its Price
A recorded transfer doesn’t always mean one parcel sold by itself for the price shown. It may cover several pieces, a home and land together, or a transfer within a family.
Write down the sale date, price, parcel number and deed reference when available. Check the acres and what the sale covered. Keep one row for each actual sale, even if it appears on several websites.
Look closer at a very low or very high price. Ask what explains it before using it as a match. If the details are missing, mark that sale “needs checking.” Don’t let an unclear row set your asking price.
This guide doesn’t give a new county average. A few well-checked matches are more useful for your land than a large list that mixes homes, lots and repeated entries.
5. Make a Short Price Comparison
For each useful sale, write down these details:
- The date, location, price and acres.
- The parcel or deed reference, if available.
- Road access and the main land features.
- Buildings or other property included in the price.
- Why it fits your land and what still needs checking.
Here’s made-up math: a bare-land sale of $180,000 for 20 acres is $9,000 per acre. That doesn’t mean another 20 acres is worth $180,000. The location, access and features still need to fit.
Use the total price as well as price per acre. Keep weaker matches apart from the strongest ones. Our land value guide explains the comparison in more detail.
If your likely range is still wide, get help before settling on a number. Ask which sales support the price and what makes your land different.
6. Compare Your Ways to Sell
A land agent can help you price and market the property. Ask about their land experience, fee and listing agreement. Selling it yourself means handling the listing, buyer questions, visits and price talks.
A direct buyer can give you another written offer to compare. If you’d like that option, tell Reelvest about your Botetourt County land. You don’t have to accept an offer to ask about it.
Compare the money you keep after costs, a loan balance or unpaid taxes. Ask who pays each cost, when the buyer can cancel and what must happen before closing. Use our land offer worksheet to put the terms side by side.
If you’re handling inherited land or helping settle a loved one’s estate, gather the papers you have. Ask the closing professional which documents and signatures are needed. You can start asking questions before everything is sorted out.
Questions About Botetourt County Land Value
Is my tax value the right asking price?
Not by itself. Compare similar completed sales, access and land use. Keep the tax value separate, and check whether it includes buildings before choosing a price range.
Is a land-use tax value my land’s sale value?
No. The county’s program uses a reduced value for qualifying land uses. Compare similar completed sales for an asking price, and ask the Commissioner’s office about the program before promising a buyer the same tax treatment.
What if the same sale appears more than once?
Use the parcel, deed reference and date to check whether it’s one sale. Keep one row for the actual transfer rather than counting every website entry.
Can I ask about an offer without knowing my land’s value?
Yes. Start with the location, acres if known and the papers you have. You can compare a written offer with other selling choices before deciding.
Local source links reviewed October 5, 2026.