Selling land in an ever changing real estate market can be a challenge to say the least. It’s important to equip yourself with the right information on how to selling land. Land Buyers are a different bunch than home buyers are. They have very different perspectives, wants and needs. Land buyers, developers and individuals, looking to build a house for themselves are looking for the best location and land meets their goals.
You can’t control where your land is or modify it to meet a buyers needs but there are the top10 ways to sell your land. There are simply much fewer numbers of buyers for vacant land than are looking for homes. These are the 10 best ways to sell your land.
10 Best Ways To Sell Your Land
1) Understand Who Your Buyer Are.
When selling your vacant land you must determine who your buyers may be along with many other factors. Your pool of buyers can depend on what type of land you are selling. Rural land or a developed vacant lot in the city are a couple of examples. It will also depend on your lands location and the current market conditions, along with other criteria. Maybe your buyer will be an individual looking for land to build a new home or maybe your buyer is going to be a builder or developer looking for land for their next project.
After you identify identifying your likely buyers focus your marketing on what you think they want to know about your land. Have information ready about schools, shopping and other local amenities available for them.
2) Have Your Land Ready
First impressions are very important when selling any type of property You should clean up your land before you put it on the market. Cut and trim the grass and weeds and pick up any trash or junk lying around. Be sure too find out what the land is zoned for. You don’t want discourage any buyers by keeping them waiting until you find out and you certainly don’t want to provide them with inaccurate information.
3) Choose Your Listing Price Carefully
Pricing your land for sale is of paramount importance when attracting potential buyers. Pricing your land too high is one of the biggest mistakes that sellers make and regret when all is said and done. Overpricing your land will both scare away buyers from even inquiring about your property and will cause your property to take longer to sell. When this happens, ultimately you will end up selling your land for less than you would of if you properly priced your land at the beginning.
Pricing land can be trickier when compared to pricing a home. Developed land located in an existing neighborhood will generally have a clear market value based on the recent sale of similar land. If you are selling raw rural land however, you may have a lot fewer comparable sales to use to determine your price.
Try to understand how pricing could impact a buyer’s interest in your land. When selling any real estate, you sometimes have to choose between getting the highest price and taking longer to sell or taking a lesser price to sell your land faster. Pricing your land for sale will ultimately require an understanding of the land market as a whole and why people are buying land in your area and who these buyers are.
3) Offer Short Term Seller Financing
The conventional lending market for vacant land still is challenging and buyers will have trouble getting financing. You should have a much larger pool of potential buyers if you are able to offer some type of short term owner financing. Short term, generally meaning, taking payments for a year or less while the buyer develops and build on the land. Once completed they can refinance and cash you out.
4) Use Online Listings Targeted to Land Buyers
It is probably obvious that you should market your land directly to land buyers. Online marketing is an important part of any real estate marketing plan and you should use all of the tools available to you. The best places you can list your land for sale on are Google, Facebook Marketplace, Zillow and Craig’s List. When you market your land for sale online you want to target only people who are looking to buy land. There are many different websites where you can post your land for sale, many of these sites are free.
5) Show Your Land At In Its Best State
Use visual tools to tell the story of your land in your online listings in a beautiful and compelling way. Be creative with your photos and use photos of the property including any natural features of the land and the view from your property, if there is one, and community amenities, if any.
Also consider getting a survey done to mark the boundaries of your land. Generally, the survey will show the setbacks on the property as well. This will provide useful information and help buyers see the potential in a property to encourage a sale. You may already have a survey from when you purchased the land.
6) For Sale Sign – Themis Law
In addition to your online listings that target land buyers, a for sale sign placed on your property can be very effective and inexpensive. It can be seen by potential buyers driving around looking for land and it can also be seen by neighbors that may have family or friends looking for land in your area. You will have to check your sign once a week to make sure it hasn’t disappeared on you.
7) List and Sell Your Land in the MLS
The MLS usually is a first move for real estate agents when they list land for sale. Keep in mind that MLS is generally focused on marketing existing homes, and should not be the only online marketing tool used for land and lot listings. Getting your land listed in the MLS may be a benefit but it comes with the cost of a high commission and injects two agents into the sale yours and the buyers.
8) Contact Previous Land Buyers
Look at online property tax records in your immediate area and see who, mostly companies like builders and investors, which have bought other land in your area. These are serious potential buyers who generally buy with cash. If the buyer’s information isn’t in the tax records try to Google them or look them up on a service like Spokeo which is very inexpensive.
9) Land Auction
Land Auctions are exciting but there is no guarantee that it will sell, especially if you set a reserve price. A reserve is the lowest price you agree to accept for the sale of your lot, the amount the auction will start at. If you don’t set a reserve your land could literally sell for $1! The good thing about auctions is that the buyer pays the commission, it’s called a buyer’s premium.
10) Sell to a We Buy Land Companies
Work with the real estate professionals. Having a knowledgeable professional land buying company on your side may be the best way to sell. There are many benefits to selling to one of these companies. They are experienced, no nonsense and hassle free, pay with cash and can generally close quickly.
Your Patience Required
Now that you have the 10 best ways to sell your land, selling it will typically take longer than selling a house. You must be patient but don’t get discouraged. Land markets continue to heat up all across the country and most land will sell. Folks like you successfully sell land all the time. We are here to help. What do you think that will help you sell your land? Let us know in the comments section!
Be sure to check out our Selling Land Blog and our Selling House Blog.
