Land Speculation

This is by far the hardest way to make money in real estate. Why is it the hardest? One, the only thing not getting mass produced is land. Two, people are sceptical about in something that isn't a guaranteed money maker. Land is just that, it's  a gamble. You could get lucky and sell for huge profits or stuck with a giant money pit that you just don't want.

The Trick:

Buy the land low, sell for higher than what you paid for it. Sounds easy enough right? Basically, if you understand what your goals actually are, and maintain realistic goals. It could be rather easy to make money off of inner city vacant lots. 

The Cons:

Something could also go wrong very easily. The general public doesn't understand how the appraisal system works in this country. They think that what a website says is the value, is the value! That will be all that they are willing to pay.  You may end up holding a property for longer than you anticipated.

The Pros:

It is very easy, under the right conditions to flip vacant land for one, two, five or more times what you paid for the land. The key is your buyer/exit strategy. Most of my vacant land exit strategies depend heavily on the influx of new residents to the area. I will either build on the land myself and sell it, sell the land to a neighbor, or sell the land to a speculative builder (competition). 

My Strtegy for Success:

1. Buy low! There are several ways to buy low. They range from auctions, to probated, to government owned land, and so on. I could very easily list fifty places to obtain property that are not traditionally considered normal sources for property. Get creative, and don't just look at the MLS. Checkout Craigslist, Facebook, eBay, and even Twitter. I was able to buy a city lot for $35 filing fee, once. The poor old man that sold me the property, just wanted to quit paying the taxes and someone to mow the lot. 

2. Have a Solid Exit Strategy: I like to sell to others moving into a neighborhood. They already know that's the area they want to live, and are willing to pay more for a property. I will build on property, or sell to a builder use. The most unreliable exit strategy is, I will sell it to the neighbors. If they wanted it, they would have figured out how to buy it before you even had a chance. I sold the old mans lot for $2500, didn't pay a dime in taxes and I didn't even have to mow. The church across the street was looking at the lot to make it a parking lot.

3. Use Social Media in Your Advertising Plan: I bet you think I'm clueless on how to sell property now. But the fastest way to let 77,000,000 people know in one day, that you have something to sell, is to post an ad on your Facebook page. Come on people, social media is better than placing an ad in the newspaper. Even if you don't pay to advertise on the website, post it!  To your page. There are a lot of numbers that say you are dumb if you don't. Note: Facebook isn't the only social media website. I sold a lot to a home builder for a 233% profit on a lot in a war zone. 

4. Have a Good Attorney Draw Up you Sale Docs: If you don't, it will cost you something somewhere. Either at closing, or during the negotiations. The use of generic documents will eventually cost you more than you earn. Bad documents equals easily sued for whatever reason. Even the small fee to get your documents correct are better than the retainer fees if you were to get sued. They can also help you draw up the documents so you can keep those ever important, mineral rights.