Everyone told me to check the deed, check the water, check the soil. Nobody once said to call the county road department before closing. I nearly bought a 40-acre parcel in central Nevada with a beautiful two-track access road — turns out it was a county-maintained road on paper only. They hadn't graded it in eleven years and had quietly reclassified it as 'non-maintained' in their internal records. Not in any public document my title company caught. Come spring mud season, that road was impassable for anything short of a tracked vehicle. The seller knew. The listing agent probably knew. I found out after the fact talking to a neighbor who laughed like I'd asked something obvious. I walk away from deals now if I can't get a county road supervisor on the phone personally and confirm current maintenance status in writing. Title insurance doesn't cover your truck being stuck axle-deep in bentonite. Anyone else found that county road records are wildly inconsistent depending on which state you're in?