With the Florida tax deed calendars filling up for November and December, I keep seeing the same trap on cheap vacant lots: the opening bid looks like a steal, but the lot has no legal way in.

Before I put a max bid on any vacant parcel, I run four quick access checks:

1. Pull the parcel on the county property appraiser's GIS and turn on the road layer. Does the parcel actually touch a road, or does it just look close on the aerial?

2. Check whether that road is county-maintained or a "paper street." A lot of older Florida subdivisions (Charlotte, Sarasota, Lee, Putnam) were platted with roads that were never built. The county road and bridge or public works office can tell you if it's on their maintenance list.

3. Read the recorded plat and search Official Records for easements. If the only way in crosses a neighbor's land, you want a recorded easement, not a dirt path everyone has been using.

4. Look at the wetlands and flood layers. A lot can have frontage and still be unbuildable if most of it is wetland or the road floods every summer.

If any of those come back bad, I either skip the lot or cut my max bid to what it's worth as a neighbor sale, not as a buildable lot.

What else do you all check on vacant land before a Florida tax deed sale?