If you’ve been driving out along Route 360 toward Chesterfield’s rural edges, or eyeing a wooded lot near Glen Allen in northern Henrico, you already know the feeling: that particular piece of land just feels right. Maybe it’s where you want to build your forever home. Maybe it’s an investment you want to hold. Either way, the next call you make is usually to your bank — and that’s where the surprise hits.
Standard home loans don’t cover land. Not raw acreage, not vacant lots, not unimproved parcels waiting for a foundation. Most buyers discover this gap only after they’ve already fallen in love with a property, and it’s a frustrating moment. The good news is that financing options do exist — they’re just more specialized, and the right path depends on what kind of land you’re buying and what you plan to do with it.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the three main financing tracks for Virginia land buyers: land and lot loans, construction-to-permanent financing, and USDA rural construction programs. You’ll see a real worked example anchored to Midlothian, a side-by-side comparison table, and answers to the eight questions I hear most often from Chesterfield and Henrico buyers. You can also explore these options early using our NoTouch Credit process — a no hard inquiry mortgage pre-approval that uses Vantage Score 4.0, so your credit score stays protected while you’re still in the shopping phase.
By Duane Buziak, NMLS #1110647 | Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC NMLS #376205 | Updated July 2026.
Why Your Standard Mortgage Won’t Cover That Chesterfield Lot
Here’s the core issue: conventional home loans are secured by an improved, habitable property. A lender who writes a standard purchase mortgage is betting that if something goes wrong, they can foreclose and resell a home that someone else will want to live in. Raw land, vacant lots, and unimproved acreage don’t offer that same security. There’s no structure, no utility hookups in many cases, and the resale market for bare land is narrower and slower than for homes. That makes land a riskier collateral category — and lenders price and structure their products accordingly.
This distinction catches buyers off guard constantly, especially in outer Chesterfield and Henrico. A buyer scouting lots along the Midlothian rural corridor or in one of Henrico’s northern pockets near Glen Allen will often make an offer, then call their bank, then hear for the first time that their pre-approval for a home purchase doesn’t extend to the land they’re trying to buy. It’s not a reflection of their creditworthiness — it’s simply a product mismatch.
The encouraging part is that there are financing tracks built specifically for this situation. Three of them matter most for Virginia buyers:
Raw and Unimproved Land Loans: These cover bare acreage with no utilities, no road access improvements, and no construction plan required. They carry the most restrictive terms of the three categories because the collateral risk is highest.
Lot Loans (Improved Land): When a parcel already has utilities stubbed in and road access established, lenders view it as meaningfully less risky. Terms improve, and this category covers a large share of the suburban-fringe lots you’ll find in Chesterfield’s expanding areas.
Construction-to-Permanent Loans: If you already know you’re going to build, a one-time-close loan wraps land acquisition and construction into a single product that converts to a permanent mortgage when the home is complete. For buyers with a clear build plan, this is often the most efficient path.
Each of these is explored in detail below. And if you’re still in the early research phase, you can explore these options with a no hard inquiry mortgage pre-approval so your credit score stays protected while you shop.
The Three Loan Paths for Virginia Land Buyers
Understanding which track fits your situation is the most important decision you’ll make before going under contract on land. Here’s how each one works in practice.
Raw Land Loans
Raw land loans are available, but they come with the most demanding terms. Because there’s no habitable structure serving as collateral and no utility infrastructure making the parcel immediately developable, lenders face a harder resale scenario if a borrower defaults. That risk translates into higher down payment requirements than a standard home purchase, shorter loan terms, and rates that carry a meaningful premium over conventional mortgage rates.
Down payment expectations vary by lender and parcel type — don’t let anyone quote you a universal number without reviewing your specific situation. What’s consistent is that the requirement will be higher than you’d see on a home purchase. Working with a broker who has access to multiple wholesale lenders matters here precisely because terms on raw land loans vary more across lenders than they do on conventional products. A single bank can only offer what’s on their shelf; a broker can shop the wholesale channel for the lender whose appetite for a given land type matches your parcel.
Lot Loans (Improved Land)
When a lot already has utilities stubbed in and road access established, the risk profile changes meaningfully. The parcel is closer to being buildable, which makes it easier to value and easier to resell in a default scenario. Lenders respond with better terms: lower down payment requirements relative to raw land, longer available terms, and rates that sit closer to (though still above) conventional home purchase rates.
Much of outer Chesterfield’s suburban fringe falls into this category. As development has pushed south and west of Richmond, many parcels along corridors like Hull Street Road and Midlothian Turnpike’s outer reaches already have infrastructure in place. If you’re shopping in these areas, there’s a reasonable chance the lot you’re looking at qualifies as improved land — which puts you in a better financing position than you might expect.
Construction-to-Permanent (C2P) Loans
For buyers who already know they’re going to build, the construction-to-permanent loan is often the most cost-efficient path. A one-time-close C2P loan covers both the land acquisition and the construction phase under a single loan structure. When the home reaches certificate of occupancy, the loan converts automatically to a permanent mortgage — no second closing, no second set of closing costs, no second round of underwriting.
The 2026 conforming loan limit for Henrico and Chesterfield County is $832,750 (verify the current figure at fhfa.gov before application, as limits are updated annually). A total project cost that falls under this limit can be structured as a conforming C2P loan, which typically carries better pricing than a jumbo construction product. Start with a soft credit pull mortgage pre-qualification to understand your construction loan budget before you go under contract on land — it gives you a realistic ceiling before you start negotiations.
USDA Loans and Rural Land Opportunities in Outer Chesterfield
The USDA Rural Development program is one of the most underused financing tools available to Virginia buyers, partly because people assume it only applies to farmland or extremely remote areas. In practice, some outer Chesterfield pockets and rural Henrico edges qualify for USDA eligibility — and the program’s terms on eligible construction are genuinely favorable.
Here’s the nuance that trips up many buyers: the USDA Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program does not finance bare land purchase alone. The program is designed to finance the construction of a home on eligible rural land — meaning you need a construction plan attached to the loan, not just a desire to hold the land. Buyers who approach USDA expecting to purchase a vacant lot and figure out construction later will find the program doesn’t work that way.
What USDA does offer, for eligible buyers with an eligible property and a construction plan, is genuinely compelling: no down payment requirement on qualifying construction loans, competitive rates, and access to areas that many conventional lenders treat as difficult collateral. The trade-off is that the program has both income limits and strict property eligibility requirements — the property must be in a USDA-designated rural area, and the buyer’s household income must fall within program limits for their county.
Eligibility for both property location and income can change as USDA updates its maps. The live eligibility map is available at eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov — I’d recommend checking it early in your search rather than assuming a given area qualifies based on how it looks on a map. Rural designation doesn’t always align with how rural a neighborhood feels to drive through.
The practical recommendation: if you’re looking at land in outer Chesterfield or a rural Henrico pocket and you’re planning to build, check USDA eligibility before you go any further. If the property qualifies and your income is within range, the no-down-payment construction path may be the most accessible route to your build. A broker can run a NoTouch Credit soft pull to assess your qualification picture without any credit impact — so you know where you stand before you invest time in a USDA application.
Worked Dollar Example: Financing a Midlothian Lot in 2026
Let’s make this concrete. For illustration purposes, imagine a buyer finds a 1.2-acre improved lot in Midlothian, Chesterfield County, listed at $85,000. Utilities are already stubbed in. They plan to build a $350,000 home on the lot, bringing their total project cost to $435,000 — well under the 2026 conforming loan limit of $832,750 for Chesterfield County.
They’re weighing two paths. Here’s how those paths compare in practical terms:
Path A: Lot Loan Now, Separate Construction Loan Later
The buyer closes on the lot first using a standalone lot loan. Because the lot is improved (utilities in, road access established), the terms are better than a raw land loan, but the down payment requirement is still higher than a standard home purchase. They close once on the land, then — typically six to eighteen months later when their builder is lined up and plans are finalized — they close again on a construction loan. That second closing means a second set of closing costs: origination fees, title work, appraisal, and related expenses paid twice. The construction loan then needs to be refinanced into a permanent mortgage at completion, which is a third transaction with associated costs.
Path B: One-Time-Close Construction-to-Permanent Loan
The buyer structures the entire $435,000 project as a single construction-to-permanent loan. The land acquisition and construction are funded under one loan with one closing. At certificate of occupancy, the loan converts automatically to a permanent 30-year mortgage. There’s one set of closing costs, one underwriting process, and one closing to attend. The rate during construction is typically adjustable or tied to a draw schedule, then locks into the permanent rate at conversion — the exact terms depend on the lender and the product.
For a project at this price point, Path B typically saves meaningfully on closing cost exposure simply by eliminating two of the three transaction events. The trade-off is that Path A offers more flexibility — if construction plans change or the buyer isn’t ready to build immediately, the standalone lot loan doesn’t lock them into a build timeline.
Here’s where broker access makes a real difference. A construction-to-permanent loan or a lot loan is not a standard product that every lender offers on the same terms. Pricing, down payment requirements, and draw schedule structures vary significantly across wholesale lenders. A single bank can only offer what’s in their product set. A broker with access to hundreds of wholesale lenders can match your specific parcel type, project scope, and credit profile to the lender whose terms are most competitive for your situation — and that difference in rate and structure on a non-standard product like this can be more meaningful than on a conventional purchase loan.
RichmondMortgages.com vs. CapCenter: Land Loan Options Side by Side
CapCenter is a well-known name in the Richmond mortgage market, particularly for its fee structure on standard purchase and refinance transactions. But land financing and construction loans are a different product category — and the comparison looks different here. Below is a factual side-by-side of what each option offers for land and construction buyers.
RichmondMortgages.com (Duane Buziak / Coast2Coast Mortgage LLC) vs. CapCenter
Land / Lot Loan Availability: RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, through wholesale lender network. CapCenter — Not prominently advertised; standard purchase/refinance focus.
Construction-to-Permanent Loans: RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, one-time-close available through wholesale channel. CapCenter — Not prominently advertised as a core product.
USDA Construction Eligibility: RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, eligible rural construction loans available. CapCenter — Not prominently advertised.
Non-QM / Bank Statement Loans (Self-Employed Buyers): RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, Bank Statement and Non-QM products available through wholesale lenders. CapCenter — Does not publicly advertise Non-QM or Bank Statement product suite.
DSCR Loans (Investor Land / Rental Development): RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, DSCR available for qualifying investment scenarios. CapCenter — Not publicly advertised.
Minimum FICO Flexibility: RichmondMortgages.com — VA loans available to 500 FICO; product-dependent flexibility across lender network. CapCenter — Standard credit requirements; limited flexibility on non-standard profiles.
NoTouch Credit Pre-Qualification: RichmondMortgages.com — Yes, Vantage Score 4.0, no credit impact. CapCenter — Standard credit pull process.
Lender Network: RichmondMortgages.com — Wholesale broker with access to hundreds of lenders. CapCenter — Single institution / direct lender model.
The practical implication for land buyers is straightforward: if you’re purchasing a standard home in Richmond and CapCenter’s fee structure works for your situation, that’s a reasonable option to evaluate. But if you’re buying a lot in Midlothian, planning a custom build in outer Chesterfield, or investing in Henrico acreage as a self-employed buyer or investor, the product range available through a wholesale broker is meaningfully broader. Unlike a direct lender, a mortgage pre-approval without hard pull is available here through our NoTouch Credit process — so you can compare options across hundreds of wholesale lenders before committing to anything.
8 Questions Richmond Land Buyers Ask Before Applying
Q1: Can I use a VA loan to buy land in Virginia?
A: No. VA loans cannot be used for bare land purchase alone. The VA requires that a home be built or already present on the property. If you’re a veteran planning to buy land and build, you may be able to use a VA construction loan — but the land purchase and construction must be part of a single transaction that results in a primary residence. Confirm current VA construction loan availability with your broker, and reach out to start a NoTouch Credit pre-qualification at no credit impact. Source: VA.gov Home Loans.
Q2: What credit score do I need for a land loan?
A: Credit score requirements for land loans vary by lender and loan type. Because land loans are considered higher risk than standard home purchase loans, many lenders set higher minimum score thresholds. Working with a wholesale broker gives you access to a wider range of lenders, including some with more flexible credit requirements than a single bank can offer. The best way to know where you stand is to start with a soft credit pull mortgage pre-qualification — no credit hit, real guidance.
Q3: How much down payment is required for a lot loan in Chesterfield?
A: Down payment requirements for lot loans in Chesterfield depend on the lender, the loan type, and whether the land is raw or improved. Improved lot loans (utilities in, road access established) typically carry lower down payment requirements than raw land loans. Expect the requirement to be higher than a standard home purchase in either case. Get a personalized quote based on your specific parcel — call 804-212-8663 or start online with NoTouch Credit.
Q4: Can I get a USDA loan for land and construction in Henrico?
A: Some rural Henrico pockets have historically qualified for USDA Rural Development eligibility, but eligibility changes as USDA updates its maps. USDA does not finance bare land alone — you need a construction plan attached. If the property is in an eligible area and your household income falls within USDA limits, a no-down-payment construction loan may be available. Check the live eligibility map at eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov and confirm with a broker before assuming eligibility.
Q5: What is a construction-to-permanent loan and how does it work?
A: A construction-to-permanent loan (also called a one-time-close or C2P loan) combines land acquisition and home construction into a single loan that automatically converts to a permanent mortgage when the home reaches certificate of occupancy. You close once, pay one set of closing costs, and go through underwriting once. During construction, funds are disbursed in draws as work is completed; at completion, the loan converts to a standard amortizing mortgage. Learn more about construction loan structures at consumerfinance.gov.
Q6: Will applying for a land loan hurt my credit score?
A: A standard mortgage application triggers a hard credit inquiry, which can temporarily affect your score. At RichmondMortgages.com, our NoTouch Credit process uses a soft pull with Vantage Score 4.0 — no credit impact, no hard inquiry, real qualification guidance. You can explore your land loan options and understand your budget before you commit to a formal application. Call 804-212-8663 or start online to use the NoTouch Credit process.
Q7: Can self-employed buyers qualify for a land loan?
A: Yes. Self-employed buyers who don’t show qualifying income on traditional tax returns can access Bank Statement loans and Non-QM products through the wholesale broker channel. These programs use 12 or 24 months of bank statements to document income rather than W-2s or tax returns. CapCenter does not publicly advertise these products; a wholesale broker with access to multiple Non-QM lenders is the right resource for self-employed land buyers in Chesterfield or Henrico.
Q8: What is the 2026 conforming loan limit for Chesterfield and Henrico County?
A: The 2026 conforming loan limit for Chesterfield and Henrico County is $832,750, based on the standard limit for Virginia non-high-cost counties. This limit applies to construction-to-permanent loans that convert to conforming permanent mortgages, which typically carry better pricing than jumbo construction products. Verify the current limit at fhfa.gov before application, as limits are updated annually by the FHFA.
Your Next Step: Getting Pre-Qualified Without a Credit Hit
Land financing is more specialized than a standard home purchase — but that doesn’t mean it has to be more stressful. Whether you’re eyeing a raw lot in outer Chesterfield, planning a custom build in Midlothian, or investing in Henrico acreage as part of a longer-term strategy, the right broker with access to hundreds of wholesale lenders can find the right fit for your specific situation.
The most important thing you can do right now, before you go under contract on anything, is understand your financing picture. That starts with a NoTouch Credit pre-qualification: a soft pull using Vantage Score 4.0 that gives you real qualification guidance with zero credit impact. No hard inquiry, no ding to your score, no commitment required.
Get your personalized rate comparison today with no credit impact, call 804-212-8663, or start online. I’m available 24/7, and our team is known for some of the fastest close times in the Richmond area.