Hey Everyone,
I’m new around here, and just in the infant stages of land investing. I’m from Utah, and I’ve found an itch for the real estate game. In the past couple years, my wife and I graduated from college and started earning significantly more money in our W2 jobs, and since then we have bought our own home here in Utah, as well as partnered on a long-term hold rental out in Ohio.
I’ve realized over the next few years I’d love to transition away from a W2 job, and work for myself in some way; land investing seems like one of the best ways to get off the ground in real estate, and something I feel pretty stoked about.
I’m sure there will be many questions along the way, and I’m grateful that @retipsterseth put together this forum and community! I’m excited to be apart of it.
As a first, general question, I’m wondering if anyone here has done any deals in Utah. I’m not necessarily tied to the idea that I have to invest in Utah, but being it’s where I’ve grown up, I’m definitely interested to see if I can make it work. I’ve poked around the forum, and really have only seen some negative parts of investing here (non-disclosure state, water-rights, etc.). Is it worth trying in Utah? Or should I be looking into other states to get my first land deal?
Thanks so much, I’m excited to be here.
Colton
Welcome to the forum and land investing, @coltonsmart!
To answer your question, I have not personally invested in Utah, but I’m generally a believer that this can work virtually anywhere, provided that you can find leads, and ultimately enough data to reliably determine a likely resale value for properties, from which you’ll work backwards to determine your offer amounts.
To that last point (determining values), I personally recommend strongly that you look over the awesome blog post that Seth created about Non-Disclosure States (https://retipster.com/non-disclosure-states-map/), if you haven’t already. It covers some great points, and some suggestions for getting price data in non-disclosure states like yours.
As you said, you certainly don’t have to invest (or start investing) in your home state, but in my opinion there can be some advantages to it, especially in the early stages when you’re really just figuring out the details, and trying to avoid unnecessary risks. I also know and have heard from people who invest (sometimes exclusively) in non-disclosure states, so a) it can be done, and b) there may actually be some advantages to it. The same thing that makes it harder for you to nail down values (lack of publicly disclosed comps) is also going to make it harder for the property owners you’re marketing to, and other investors, to determine the market value as well.
Contrast this with a state like Florida where everyone (all investors, the owners, etc.) can see what every single property has sold for, now and for the past 40+ years, in most counties. That can make the market extremely competitive, and drive up expectations on the part of owners/sellers, sometimes to unrealistic levels. On the other hand, if you can become a local expert at valuing properties in your own market, that could be a huge advantage.