Vacant Land
Buildable residential lots. Rural acreage. Recreational waterfront. Inherited farmland you never planned to develop. Retail buyers don’t finance vacant land the way they finance houses, which is why most private land listings sit for a year. A direct cash sale skips the wait — written offer in 24 hours, close through a licensed Alberta or Ontario real estate lawyer in 7 to 15 days.
What We Buy
Most vacant land in Canada sits outside the standard mortgage lane. Retail buyers can’t easily finance it (banks want a house on the land, not just a parcel), which shrinks the buyer pool and stretches out the listing timeline. Cash buyers exist for these deals — that’s where we come in.
Serviced or serviceable lots inside a subdivision plan, on the edge of a growth area, or freshly severed. Zoning already permits a single-family or duplex build. Whether the utilities are at the lot line or a few hundred metres away changes the math but not our interest.
Anything from 2 to 160+ acres. Often held for years without a clear plan — a parent's land, a piece bought as an investment, a parcel severed off a family farm. Access via gravel road, private easement, or Crown-abutting is all workable.
Cottage lots, lakefront, riverfront, hunting-camp acreage, ski-country parcels. Seasonal access is fine. Deep-water frontage is a plus but not required.
Cultivated cropland, pasture, hay land, or transitioning land. Alberta and Ontario have different agricultural-land rules but neither restricts foreign or corporate ownership the way some prairie provinces do. Standing crops, existing lease-back arrangements, and shared-well setups all handled at closing.
Land without registered road access, with a disputed easement, or served only by an unmaintained trail. Legal access questions get resolved before closing by the real estate lawyer. Complicated files are still workable — often more so than sellers expect.
Inherited raw land that the estate doesn't want to keep carrying. Property taxes accrue, the executor lives out of province, and there's no lifetime plan for the parcel. Closing coordinates with probate through the estate lawyer — see our inherited-probate page for the estate-side mechanics.
We are a buyer, not an advisor. Canadian Home Buyers acts as a principal only — we buy your land directly for our own account. We are not a real estate brokerage, an agent, a planning consultant, or a land-use lawyer, and nothing on this page is legal, tax, planning, or environmental advice. Land sales turn on zoning, servicing, environmental history, subdivision status, and specific title conditions unique to each parcel. Talk to a real estate lawyer in your province before signing any agreement.
Alberta
Alberta runs a Torrens Land Titles system. Title registered with Alberta Land Titles is conclusive — no adverse possession, no shifting claims from length of occupation. That single fact makes Alberta land transactions faster and cleaner than most common-law jurisdictions. The closing lawyer pulls title, reviews any registered encumbrances (caveats, utility easements, mineral rights, restrictive covenants), and closes.
Zoning and subdivision happen at the municipal or Municipal District (MD) level. Whether a parcel is buildable, agricultural, environmental-reserve, or country-residential is set by the local land use bylaw. On larger acreage inside an MD, subdivision approval runs through the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board. We check the posture against title before offering — no surprises after the fact.
Farmland in Alberta faces no ownership restriction: individuals, corporations, and out-of-province buyers can all hold agricultural land, unlike Saskatchewan and PEI where non-resident ownership is capped. That keeps the market moving on ag-zoned parcels.
Environmental due diligence is proportional to history. A rural parcel with only agricultural or forest use typically clears without a Phase I. Former commercial or industrial use (old fuel storage, salvage yard, transformer site) triggers a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. We factor this into the offer where relevant.
Ontario
Ontario runs primarily on a Land Titles system now (most historic Registry parcels have been converted). The Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13 governs subdivision, severance, and land-use control. The section that trips up most private land sales is section 50, which restricts conveying part of a landholding without a consent from the local Committee of Adjustment (or, for larger tracts, a subdivision plan through the municipality). If the parcel you’re selling was severed at any point, we check the consent history on title before offering.
Zoningcomes from the municipal zoning by-law and the Official Plan. Rural parcels are commonly zoned Agricultural, Environmental Protection, Rural Residential, or Recreational — each with its own build permissions. Some municipalities require an approved building envelope, a surveyor’s report on setbacks, or an entrance permit from the Ministry of Transportation before a build can start.
Environmental and conservationconsiderations are heavier in Ontario than in Alberta on many parcels. Conservation Authority jurisdiction covers wetlands, valley lands, and shoreline setbacks. Some parcels sit inside a Provincially Significant Wetland or Greenbelt Plan area, which limits development. Species-at-risk habitat can also affect what’s buildable. We review the conservation posture against title.
Farmland in Ontario has no ownership restrictions but is often protected by prime-agricultural zoning that limits severance and non-farm use. The Ontario Farmland Trust holds conservation easements on some parcels — those transfer with the land.
How It Works
Address, roll number or PIN, approximate acreage, zoning if you know it, and any survey or plan you already have. If it's inherited land or an estate file, tell us where probate sits. Two minutes.
We pull the title, check zoning and any registered encumbrances against the municipal records, factor in access and environmental posture, and send a clear cash offer within one business day.
Closing happens through a licensed Alberta or Ontario real estate lawyer in a typical 7 to 15 days. The lawyer handles the transfer, pays out any registered charges from proceeds, and wires net proceeds to your account.
Why a Direct Sale
Retail buyers on MLS are mostly financed. And financing raw land is much narrower than financing a house — most Canadian lenders won’t write a mortgage on vacant land at all, and the ones that will require a bigger down payment (35 to 50% common) at a higher rate. That knocks 80% of the retail buyer pool out of the running before the listing even goes live.
The result: private land listings in Alberta and Ontario often sit for 12 to 24 months before selling — often to a cash buyer at the end who bought at a discount because the seller was tired of waiting. Meanwhile, the seller carries the property tax, sometimes an ongoing municipal levy, and the general opportunity cost of the capital tied up in the parcel.
A direct cash sale skips the waiting. Written offer within 24 hours. Closing through a licensed Alberta or Ontario real estate lawyer in 7 to 15 days. The lawyer handles the transfer on Land Titles, disburses net proceeds, and the file is done.
Common Questions
Buildable residential lots, rural acreage from 2 acres up to 160+, recreational and waterfront parcels, cultivated or fallow farmland, and landlocked or access-limited parcels. We buy in every Alberta and Ontario municipality — north to south, urban edge to remote.
Common on rural land. Landlocked parcels, undocumented easements, disputed rights of way, orphaned severances — these all get resolved through the closing lawyer's title review. We factor complexity into the offer and take the file as-is; the seller doesn't need to sort out the access problem before closing.
Yes. Existing cash-rent or share-crop arrangements transfer with the land or get bought out at closing, depending on the tenant's terms. Standing crops at closing are handled by a prorated adjustment on the statement of adjustments — standard on ag transactions in both provinces.
Very common — inherited raw land is one of the largest patterns we see. Closing coordinates with the estate lawyer and the grant of probate. We cover the broader mechanics on the inherited-probate page. Proceeds flow to the estate trust account.
No. Not to get an offer. If you have an old survey or environmental report on file, share it — it speeds things up. If not, the closing lawyer orders what's needed. For parcels with a clean use history (residential, agricultural, forest), a Phase I environmental usually isn't required. For former commercial or industrial sites, a Phase I is standard and factored into the offer.
Comparable recent sales of similar parcels in the area, factored against zoning, access, servicing (utilities at the lot line vs. distant), any subdivision or severance history, and environmental posture. Rural land comps are thinner than urban home comps, which is one reason more listings drag — we do the comp work as part of the offer.
Typically 7 to 15 days from accepted offer to closing. Estate files with an outstanding grant can run longer. Clean parcels with straightforward title close on the fast end.
Where We Buy Land
City and rural parcels alike. Major markets shown below — full city list at /alberta and /ontario.
Rural land outside the major markets? Still buying. Submit your property and you’ll have a response within 24 hours.
Related Situations
Estate-held land or a home closed remotely through probate.
Learn moreEmpty houses — insurance, vandalism, and carrying-cost math.
Learn moreOut-of-province owners closing remotely on a Canadian parcel.
Learn moreLand held as an investment triggers capital gains at disposition.
Learn moreThe listing sat for a year without a viable financed buyer.
Learn moreFor sellers with both a house and land under one file.
Learn moreGet a Written Cash Offer
Submit the parcel and you’ll have a written cash offer back within 24 business hours. Closing happens through a licensed Alberta or Ontario real estate lawyer in 7 to 15 days. Zero pressure, zero obligation.
