Land Development question

I was curious if any of you guys or gals knew anything about raw land development? I drill water wells for a living and have been up in the hills all summer long and have been seeing quite a few properties with acreage for sale with nothing on it. I was thinking about trying to buy a property and developing on it to resale. But had questions. (I briefly talked to a realtor friend of mine about it but it was quick and the way she was talking it sounded like she thought i was wanting to build a house on it). Basically I'm thinking drill a well, cut a road/driveway, and making a flat or two to build on, and possibly harvest some timber. All permitted obviously. I was wondering if there were different kinds of loans for this? Most people living up in the hills are either going to build a house themselves or use it for camping or whatever. The property is 20.25 acres. But is buying raw land for developing the same kind of loan as if I was buying a house? I tried to check USDA's website for their loans ....but they are kind of shut down at the moment haha.

 

I've bought un-imporved land in tracts of 20, 40 and plus acres. In my area (and certain parts of the midwest) buying larger then 5 or 10 acres does have different (read less) finance options. Generally requiring a larger equity stake on your part and higher finance charges on shorter terms.

On the development side: Are you pretty familiar with the codes in the area? I know plenty of people that develop land for both commercial and residential building that bartar acres in exchange for work such and installation of infastructure and surveying. Would you need to install utilities, roads, curbs, sidewalks, lighting etc....?