What You Should Know About Buying Land for Sale in Virginia

Published: 10-01-21    Category: Investing

Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.

A plot of farmland for sale in Virginia.

This article was updated on 9/14/2023.

Virginia, home to the very first English settlement to appear on North American soil, is ranked thirteenth in the nation for its economy. The "Old Dominion" state has a GDP of $557 billion and a median household income of $80,615; according to usnews.com, it's ranked fifth in the nation for employment, as well.

Virginia boasts a robust, lengthy origin story with a diverse economy: After the American Civil War, the state resisted social change and relied on its rural farmland for income, but now, seafood harvesting, food production, beverage production, and corporate services generate new revenues.

The state's economic flexibility makes buying land for sale in Virginia a potentially profitable decision for investors of all types.

The state's proximity to densely populated locations on the east coast makes it a logical choice for many businesses in its key industries; its vast, rolling land makes it ripe for investors looking to profit from its agriculture, tourism, and commercial real estate (CRE) industries.

The State of Virginia's Commercial Real Estate Market & Economy

Many panicked that the Coronavirus Pandemic would ravage Virginia's commercial real estate market; but surprisingly, the state's CRE industry is doing just fine. While employment in 2021 was still below pre-pandemic levels, the demand for industrial real estate has risen, and highly vacant office space buildings are being sold at discounts to counteract falling rental incomes.

Economically, the state is showing resilience: Virginia reported gains across all regions of the state in Q1 2021. Despite the spread of COVID-19's delta variant, these gains are expected to continue improving as the year progresses and as more Virginians receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In 2023, the state's labor market grew significantly, aligned with the state's other economic gains.

Visitors to the state, in 2023, are spending more per day than they were in 2021 at about $83 million, according to recent economic data.

How Much Is an Acre of Land for Sale in Virginia?

The average cost per acre of land for sale in Virginia varies widely; a rough estimate places this number between $3,000 and $4,500 per acre, but true costs will depend on a multitude of factors, including location, new home sale prices, density requirements for building lots, and more.

Some other components that help calculate the average cost per acre in Virginia include:

  • Quality and limitations: Whether the land for sale in Virginia you're looking at is entirely undeveloped or majorly improved will directly impact price. If the latter, you'll have a more difficult time acquiring financing should the original owner not provide it.
  • Geography: This goes hand-in-hand with location, but gets more specific. The mountainous terrain is not necessarily ideal for new CRE construction; on the flip side, if you're looking to take advantage of coastal Virginia's economy with seafood harvesting or something similar, your only choices for land lie on the coastline.
  • Supply: Some counties in Virginia, like Fairfax County, are lacking undeveloped land zoned for commercial development; a lot of the undeveloped land currently available is zoned and sold for residential development.

We recommend linking up with a commercial real estate broker to help you find the best possible land for sale in Virginia. A CRE broker will have more hours of training, experience, and more intimate geographic knowledge than a real estate agent would have. Moreover, CRE brokers need state licensure.

Virginia's Large, Private Agriculture Industry

The U.S. economy depends greatly on Virginia's agricultural exports. The state's agriculture industry is its largest by far and its food producers keep its economy steady. Virginia's agriculture generates about $70 billion a year and provides over 300,000 jobs. Over 40,000 farms cover its farmland, each with an average acreage of about 180.

Other, less-known components of Virginia's agriculture industry include agritourism and agribusiness. Agritourism involves farmers inviting visitors and locals alike to tour their premises and purchase their locally grown goods; agribusiness refers to businesses that manufacture important tools for and provide necessary services to farmers.

Why Is Virginia Agriculture Important?

Despite being its largest industry in general, agriculture is also Virginia's largest private industry. None of the state's other key industries come even close to its agriculture. As a result, the values of agricultural land for sale in Virginia are rising as the state continues to recover from the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The size of Virginia's agriculture industry means there will hardly be a shortage of customers looking to lease land for new ag ventures, providing investors with plentiful opportunities for long-term profits. On top of that, many commodities and products the state is known for producing are in the top ten in the nation. These include:

  • Apples (ranked 6th);
  • Tobacco (ranked 3rd);
  • Grapes (ranked 8th);
  • Peanuts (ranked 9th); and
  • Tomatoes (ranked 10th).

In combination with the sheer size of Virginia's agriculture, farmland rental rates are cheap compared to the national average; in 2020, the average rent per acre in Virginia was $62, up from 2019's average of $59. Now, in 2023, average rent per acre sits at around $61.

Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credit Program

Another direct impact on land for sale in Virginia comes from the state's Land Preservation Tax Credit Program, wherein individuals and businesses can purchase land preservation tax credits from conservation-conscious landowners in Virginia in return for tax savings. Owners of these credits who don't use them can sell them at a discounted price to other Virginians.

With the state government encouraging and rewarding land preservation and conservation, prospects for commercial real estate development in Virginia dwindle, but not entirely.

Browse & List Land for Sale in Virginia for Free on MyEListing.com!

Brokers and investors can both browse and list land for sale in Virginia for free right here on MyEListing.com's website. Sign up for customized email alerts, receive property-type notifications, and access accurate market intelligence.

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