With the United States being short an estimated 5 million homes as of the summer 2021, there has been an increased interest in purchasing land for development and alternative forms of living, such as tiny homes and nomadic lifestyles. As a result, if you are a landowner, now could be an ideal time to sell your land fast. Selling land fast is important because the cost of owning land can add up if you have no plans of using it for commercial gain or for your own private residence.
Therefore, the following breakdown analyzes why selling land fast is so important, discusses the best ways to get a cash offer for your land, and provides four simple tips for how to sell your land fast.
Why Is Selling Land Fast Important?
There are a number of reasons why it is important to sell land fast. First, the cost of owning vacant land can be higher than owning developed land. For example, with vacant land, you still have to pay property taxes but are unable to write off depreciation or improvement expenses.
Next, moving land can be difficult during a down market. When conditions get tough, people will be more likely to have interest in ready-to-use property than they will in purchasing an undeveloped tract, so it is best to move your land as quickly as possible when you get the chance.
Finally, undeveloped land requires maintenance and management, even though it is unlikely to bring a rental income. Owners must be sure that the land is free from litter, is not at risk of natural disaster, and is in presentable condition. All things considered, it is probably best to sell the land than have to deal with the hassle.
Reasons Landowners Want to Sell Land Fast
Given the importance of selling land fast, landowners have significant motivation to sell their land quickly. Even though land can be an appreciating asset when held over time, there are a number of “pain points” associated with being a landowner. Some of the most pertinent include:
- Taxes – if landowners have no immediate or long-term plans for their property, then paying taxes can make it expensive to hold onto the land.
- Managing land that is seldom used – in addition to the taxes, having land that is seldom used can be a major inconvenience. Whether it be issues pertaining to irrigation, upkeep, trespassing, or hazard, having to manage little-used land can be both expensive and time consuming.
- Inherited land complications – more often than not, people who inherit land are extremely motivated to sell fast. First of all, if you never really wanted the land, the taxes and upkeep become even more inconvenient than in cases where you bought the land yourself. In addition, if you are sharing the inherited land with someone else who didn’t want it, it is often in all beneficiaries’ best interest to sell the land quickly and split the money, because if one of the beneficiaries dies before the land is sold, finding an equitable distribution for the deceased’s share can become a nightmare in most states. Finally, inherited land often lies many miles away from the beneficiary. This not only adds complications come tax season due to having to claim property in a different state, but it likely creates a situation in which you will have to pay someone to manage the property for you.
- Development plans that fell through – most people purchase land with an eye toward development. However, changes in local codes, difficulty in securing utility access, or simply a change in the investors’ financial situation can cause development plans to fall through. When this is the case, it is best to just sell the land and move on.
Common Roadblocks & Barriers When Selling Land Fast
Although it is often in landowners’ best interest to sell land fast, there can be some complications that slow down the process. The following breakdown looks at some of the most common barriers that may give buyers pause when it comes to purchasing your land:
Restricted access
The number one roadblock to selling land is when buyers fear that they may not have access to the land. In some cases, investors may look at the property and see that they will have to sink thousands of dollars into making the land passable for passenger vehicles. More often, someone else’s private property may be blocking access to the land. In this case, an affirmative easement must be created. An easement is a legal agreement that grants the easement holder permission to use another person’s land. Usually, this affirmative easement will grant the nonpossessory party the right to use a road through the nonpossessory land to access their property. However, there may also be negative easements that prohibit commercial vehicles or other types of traffic on the nonpossessory property. In order to expedite the sale of the land, landowners need to be sure that they have the most favorable granted easements in place to appeal to the widest pool of buyers, with developer interest being kept at the forefront of negotiations.
Topography complications
As mentioned, most buyers of vacant land purchase with an eye toward development. Buyers will look for natural barriers, such as sinkholes or difficult vegetation, analyze the threat of erosion, and see if there are any hills that may block natural sunlight in the development area.
Hazards and contaminants
Trespassers will often use vacant land to dispose of their personal waste or hazardous materials. If buyers see that significant sanitation investment will be required subsequent to a land purchase, they may be hesitant to buy your land.
4 Tips and Ideas for Selling Your Land Fast
Now that you understand the importance of selling land fast and some of the most common roadblocks that can get in the way, the following four points provide helpful tips for selling your land fast.
1. Don’t Overprice Your Land
One of the most straightforward tips for how to sell your land fast is to set a reasonable price. While you certainly want to get good value for your land, setting a price that is too high can lead to a lengthy negotiation process in which buyers attempt to bring the price lower. In addition, a high price tag will cause some buyers to strike your land from their consideration set, and a smaller pool of prospects decreases the likelihood that you will be able to close a sale quickly.
2. Compare Your Property to Similar Listings
One way to quickly sell your land is to make it stand out from other offerings. Therefore, it is essential to do thorough market research and see what it is about other properties that is causing them to sit on the market. Determine where your land is unique, and use attractive online listings to highlight your land’s best features to move it to the top of buyers’ lists.
3. Understand the Importance of Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is not restricted to only homes. Any private owner wants to take pride in their holdings, so your land is more likely to sell fast if it looks good. Make sure that basic landscaping is attended to and that any structures, such as fences or roads, are in good condition.
4. Get Creative With Your Signage
The large plywood sign along the side of a lonely road with the bleeding paint offer of “Land for Sale” is a common sight throughout America. However, this is probably not the best way to drum up interest in your land in 2021. Innovative signage should be attention-grabbing, consistent with other mediums used to market the land, and contain any other pertinent information about the property, such as contact, plumbing, and acreage data.
Prepwork for Selling Land Quickly
There are a handful of important steps that a landowner can take to expedite the sale of their land. Before talking to a land broker, be sure to have all clerical documents compiled and ready to present. Some key data to include is:
- Property identification – in most jurisdictions, parcels of land will be assigned an assessor’s parcel number (APN). This unique number is assigned by the tax assessor for identification and record keeping. Some other common names for the APN include assessor identification number (AIN), property identification number (PIN), and property identification (PID).
- Tax information – it is best practice to present at least three years of tax information to your land broker. In addition to this tax history, it is important to present them with a current assessed tax value for the property as well as information on if all back taxes have been paid.
- Utility access – land with utilities in place will be much easier to sell than that without utilities. If utilities, such as power, water, Internet, and septic, haven’t been established, has the land been assessed to determine the amount of work required to create utility access? For example, has a percolation test been conducted to determine if the water absorption rate of the soil will allow for a septic drain field on the land?
How to Get a Cash Offer for Your Land?
Getting a cash offer for land is always the most desirable option. This is because with land purchases, there is usually a high degree of speculation involved. Investors will likely be eyeing the land with plans of something bigger.
As is often the case, plans have a way of going awry. If the buyer financed the purchase of your land, the sale may end up falling through. In addition, a cash sale of your land is often likely to close much quicker, with less likelihood of delays and other unforeseen issues impeding the final sale.
To get a cash offer for your land, use the following pieces of advice:
- Have an ideal customer in mind, and market your land toward this customer
- Take time to prepare the land and make it as visually appealing as possible
- Create an online listing aimed at land buyers to attract a deeper set of pockets
Selling Land Fast: Everything You Need to Know
With the country currently in a housing crunch, now could be the perfect time to sell your land fast. Selling land fast is extremely important to reduce the overall cost of ownership. To help you through the land selling process, use the helpful tips listed above and contact Buy Yo Dirt today!
