Thinking about selling land in Florida, Georgia, or somewhere else? You might be surprised to learn that selling land is not like selling a house. In our latest post, you’ll read about why selling land is oftentimes very different than selling a house .
When you own real estate, you might not have thought a lot about whether it has a house on it or if it’s just undeveloped land. However, there are important differences and they definitely affect the sales process. Here are 4 reasons why selling land is a different experience than selling your house or any improved property.
4 Reasons Why Selling Land Is Different Than Selling Your House
#1. You Might Need A Survey and Other Info
Selling a house is really about selling the structure; but selling land is more involved because the real estate is a blank slate. Different buyers might have a number of different ideas for how they plan to develop the property – zoning and other legal restrictions permitting of course. They may want to buy the land for development, farming, mining, recreation, or some other purpose. So, when selling land, you’ll probably need to provide the buyer with key documentation, like a survey, soil test, geologic testing, and/or environmental testing to rule out wetlands the presence of endangered species on the land (yes, this goes for simple home lots, too!) A survey in particular will help the buyer understand the make-up of the property so they can determine if the property meets their needs.
#2. You Can Skip The Structure Inspection
When selling a house, the focus is on how good the structure is and whether or not it will continue to be a safe structure for its new owners. So, if you’re selling a home, the focus is on fire and flood potential, the possible need for upgrades, risks like mold, wood destroying organisms (WDO) like termites, etc. But when you’re selling land, these factors (thankfully!) don’t matter.
#3. You’ll Need To Identify The Development Potential
The secret to selling a house is to get people to see themselves living there; the secret to selling land is to get people to see number of ways the property could be developed in the not-so-distant future. For example, the classic story you might want to tell buyers is about how the central city is growing toward the empty land, so it will be perfect to develop a new home or neighborhood someday, or you might show the potential buyer a geological sample that proves your acreage is ideal for farming.
#4. It’s A Different Type Of Buyer
When selling a house to someone, you’re usually talking to a “retail buyer” – that is, someone who is pre-approved for bank financing, thinking about buying a forever home that their family can live in. But when selling land to someone, it’s typically a very different kind of buyer. Most land buyers can’t get financing for their land, or may have a difficult time doing so. This can narrow the buyer pool in some areas signficantly. If you’re selling larger acreage for recreation then your buyer might be someone looking for owner financing as the cash amount they need to purchase would be very difficult; if you’re selling the land for development potential then it’s a developer or builder who is thinking of buying the land because they can make money from it after it’s developed. For smaller lots, you might pick up some retail buyers with enough cash to handle a full purchase. But again, they too might be looking for some kind of financing from you as interest rates rise and lending from traditional sources like banks dry up. Keep these buyer profiles in mind when selling. When you know who you are selling to, it becomes much easier to tell the right people about the potential of the property.
Do you have land you want to sell in Florida, Georgia, or elsewhere? If you’re thinking of selling and if you’re wondering why selling land is different than selling your house, then you might like this: we are currently buying land and would like to make you an offer for your land.