Buying Land

 Affordable land invariably comes only far away from major cities. Knowing how to buy it is not something taught in school.
Some places can provide you portals for searching for available land, however, you may need to find the local newspapers to find many plots. Some of the portals I've seen include:

http://www.landwatch.com/
http://www.landandfarm.com/
http://www.landsofamerica.com/america/

Selecting your land will be the greatest challenge. Good luck!

Surveying: Which way do the sun and water go?

Surveying is something you see often with permaculture designs--because you absolutely need to know where your land is oriented with regards to the sun and which way the water will flow.  Obviously, this isn't taught in school, you'll have to teach it to yourself.