All Forum Posts by: JT Olmstead

If you own a piece of vacant land (especially in the Southern half of the country) you absolutely have (or will) get an offer like this. The niche of sourcing vacant land via direct mail has been growing quickly over the last few years.

It can be difficult to ascertain how legitimate a specific buying company is but the quality of their communication is often a good indicator. They will commonly send "Blind Offers" for the property but the accuracy of their initial pricing varies wildly.

If the price works for you and they seem communicative I would simply make sure that:
1. You require an all-cash purchase (as opposed to allowing them to tie up the property for months at a time with no skin in the game)
2. You close through Escrow (Some buyers will try and get the deal done outside of escrow. This is rarely advisable)

I'm sure these are things you've already considered but they are the most common issues I see people running into when dealing with land buying companies.

We like to do a mix of both in our business. Owner financing often leads to a faster sale at a higher price but can be difficult to sustain if you don't have the liquidity to wait for the proceeds to come in. Our goal is to have our investment capital back in 12 months or less with any owner financing deal we offer.

Truly wholesaling vacant land can be a tricky business. It really comes down to the type of vacant land you intend to work.

If your focus is going to be infill lots then just as @Bryce Jamison indicated you need to make sure you have your buyer pool on lockdown so that you can take orders from the serious players and then go out and source them deals. That'll will give you the greatest degree of surety

If you intend to deal in the rural space then the exit strategy is a little bit different. You can still sell to investors but the sale cycle is quite a bit longer so the discounts expected are quite a bit deeper. This obviously means that in order to make the spread you want you need to be securing them at an even greater discount.

That being said there is plenty of opportunity in both spaces if you're willing to put in the work. In order to ensure the greatest degree of success I would recommend you focus on markets with excellent sell through rates. That helps alleviate the long sale cycle that can sometimes occur and will ensure a healthy amount of buyers for you on the wholesale side.

If you haven't already check out some land focused communities like RETipster.

Quote from @Michael Hopkins:

Quote from @JT Olmstead:

You're looking for the best sources of Data for Vacant Land Leads?

We do a couple million a year using exclusively DataTree (First American) Data. We've tested a few others but find them to be the most reliable for Vacant Land.

If you're doing enough volume you can explore contracting with them directly. I've seen people get really competitive rates that way. You can also set up with someone front-ending their API like Prycd.com. Prcyd pricing is pretty competitive for most people and offers additional value like some data scrubbing and valuation Estimates.

The only other service I've seen people using lately is LandVision (LightBox). We're personally testing them right now to see if the data quality is high enough to switch over but the jury is still out.

 Following up on your opinion now that you have had some time using LandVision. Who would you recommend at this time?

The data seemed fine overall. Difficult to tell with 100% certainty. We've moved to updating our list of properties for a given state once a year and updating ownership data more regularly through Direct Skips Property Search option.

Quote from @Eric P Martin:

Hey JT,

I wanted to give you an update. I received an email yesterday from a land flipper I spoke to on the phone from his Land Watch sold listing. 

Initially he said he didn’t have the time. In his email, after giving it some more thought, he has an opportunity for me to help him in his business in exchange for helping me in my learning curve and is also allowing my access to his paid land flipping course.

There is nothing impossible with God.

Eric

Fantastic! That's awesome to hear.

You'll note I used the word difficult, and not impossible. That choice was deliberate. Worthwhile things often are. Sounds like you're willing to put in the work to make it happen!

Finding an experienced Land Flipper for unpaid 1 on 1 on mentorship is likely going to be difficult. There are lots of options out there if you want to pick up a course or some 1 on 1 coaching but that kind of direct support often comes with a decent price tag.

If you haven't already seen Hormozi's comments on mentorship I would definitely recommend giving it a listen

Alternatively, you could dive into some of the free Land Flipping communities (if you haven't already) to connect with others in the same phase of your journey.

In addition to the points already made in this thread I would ask you what you really want out of "investing" in land.

We commonly call it land "investing" but in reality land flipping is very much a business. If you're looking for more of a proper investment than unless you only plan to do one or maybe two deals a year you are really starting a business. It comes with many of the same challenges starting any business does but the inventory you deal in happens to be land.

That being said, it does have a much lower barrier to entry than many other forms of real estates and it comes with several advantages. It was one of the first things I decided to do in real estate and I've been doing it full-time now for a couple of years.

if you haven't already I would dive into a couple of land flipping specific Facebook groups and podcasts like the one Seth Williams runs over at RETipster to really get a feel for what the niche is like right now.

Quote from @Melania Martinez:

Hi everyone! I am looking for ready cash buyers who are interested in acquiring vacant land in Georgia (specifically in Atlanta + additional areas). 

I am looking to close deals ASAP with motivated sellers. Please reach out if you are a legitimate buyer looking for vacant land in Georgia.

Hey @Melania Martinez, My team and I are always buying rural vacant land in Georgia. PM me and I'll send you our buy box.

We comp a few dozen vacant properties a day.

The answer to this question will vary depending on the type of vacant land. Infill Lot vs Rural Acreage vs Commerical vs Farmland, etc.

In general, be prepared to go back up to 24 or even 36 months depending on comp density. As with most real estate, like-for-like when it comes to sellable attributes is the most critical thing in conjunction with proximity. Go out as far as you need to in order to find reasonable comps. We source most of our comps off of Zillow and Land.com using their mapping features.

Hey Jesse!

With a 30 day timeline your options are quite limited.

Assuming your zoning is some version of Agg then here are my suggestions on options to pursue. Many will take longer than 30 days but are among the fastest to cashflow or profitability.

1.Rent out space as campsites - As you noted, this can be done on a few sites. You'll need to verify the local regulations on this but assuming they're favorable this is probably the fastest path to cashflow.
2. Farmland/Cattle Land - The key here is going to be finding the right lessee to approach. Start with checking the ownership of the land near yours.
3. Hunting Lease - 5 Acres isn't usually considered large enough to hunt in most places but there's a small chance this could work
4. Gun Range - While there is a possibility here I would recommend steering clear of it due to a host of other problems and would likely spawn from this
5. Logging - Again, 5 acres is small here but If the timber type is of high value and you have enough timber you might be able to capture something

Those options above have the possibility of being able to be completed in under 90 days. There are lots of other options but the timelines and capital requirements are much higher. Things like Self Storage, Solar/Wind Farms, Gravel Pits, Etc.