Can I make money flipping land?

Question

I’m 16 and I’d really like to get into real estate as soon as possible, my parents recently started buying rentals and are having success with it. I can’t really afford to pay big down payments on properties but is it possible to flip land by developing it (cutting down trees, landscaping, etc) or selling it to builders. Or are there anyways I can rent the land to someone with a trailer?

Matthew Bailey · Answer

@Justin Goodrich You can absolutely start with land. @Casey Mericle is right, he's actually kind of spot on haha, it is possible to buy land for 1k and sell it for 3k and at those prices if you can't triple it then don't do the deal.  (those numbers scale for 5k-15k too)

In all seriousness, I have been a land investor for 3 years.  I have graduated away from the buying for 1k selling for 3k model because there's a lot of leg work.  But it allows for growth and it's forgiving.  I'd encourage you to read as much as possible on the REtipster.com land investing forum.  Should you elect to give land a shot you will learn a lot about direct mail marketing, talking to buyers and sellers, and how real estate title works.

I would not try to make money improving vacant land, you make money buy "buying equity".  In other words buying land that is worth 5k for 1k and selling it for 3k quickly.  I will say that land investing is more akin to a job than passive income.  It's like wholesaling, there is a lot of work, but the profit is there.  I am working on outsourcing a lot of the business and rolling profits into buy and hold, or notes, or some more passive form of investing.

So, read up about the niche on REtipster, ask questions on the LandInvestors.com forums, listen to podcasts and see if it's right for you.

Casey Mericle · Answer

Land eats interest for breakfast, principal for lunch & taxes for dinner.  If you can't triple your money then you might consider another type of real estate investment.