Q: My husband and I bought a property last summer direct from the owner.

Because it was just raw land we didn’t really think we needed to do any kind of inspections or anything. We signed something with the seller that said we understood that the land was a “recreational property”. Now we find out that’s some sort of code for not buildable! We didn’t pay a huge amount for the land, but when we recently met with a staff person from the County, we discovered that we can’t legally even put up a yurt or any kind of structure. I’m sick about it and wonder how we can sell it.

A: Even buying raw land requires some due diligence on the part of a buyer. If you intended to build on it you probably should have made your offer contingent on finding out if it was a legally buildable lot, if there were critical area issues to consider, if there was a water share available, and if the property would “perk” for a septic system.

The seller might be culpable if he or she knew that you really thought it was buildable. That’s for an attorney to advise you on and a judge to decide. But for now, if you want to sell it, you can always approach the neighbors, who might be willing to buy it to add to the size of their property. Often I’ve been able to get two or more neighbors to go in together on a property just to create some open green space, or a play area, garden or view corridor for all of them.

If the neighbors don’t want it you should list it for sale. Just be very clear in your advertising that as far as you know, it isn’t buildable. We have a lot of small parcels on Vashon that are not currently buildable. What you paid should have been a clue to the real value of the land. I believe the old adage that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.