What Did You Get Wrong About Land Investing?

Land Investing
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Real talk question for land investors:

What is one thing you believed about land investing when you started that you now know was wrong?

Maybe it’s something that used to be true, but has now changed… or perhaps it was wrong then and is wrong now.

It could be about pricing, due diligence, sellers, marketing, funding deals, acquisitions, dispositions, time commitment, or anything else.

Bonus points if you share:

  • What made you realize it was wrong?
  • What do you do differently now?

Newer investors will learn a lot from honest answers here, and experienced folks usually have some good scars to share.

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I first thought land investing was simple and mostly passive. That changed when a deal stalled over access and zoning issues. Now, I take due diligence seriously and double-check everything upfront. Did anyone else learn this the hard way, too?

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That you need to keep mailing, texting, cold calling non-stop. Once you have reached you’re desired inventory level, stop for God’s sake. You can easily ramp that up again any time you need too. Controlling your expenses is just as important as your marketing, if not more.

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4

Like a lot of folks, I was sold on the idea that land would be way more passive than it actually is. I bought into the idea that I could send some mailers, flip a few properties, and basically print money with minimal effort.

My first deal took 6 months from acquisition to sale, and I probably put in 40+ hours of work between marketing, fielding calls, handling tire-kickers, negotiating, and managing the transaction. The profit was good, but it wasn’t “passive” by any stretch.

Nowadays, I try to set realistic expectations for myself and factor in the actual time commitment when evaluating deals. I also started tracking my hours on each property so I know my real “hourly rate” - helps me understand which properties were worth the effort.

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I used to think that if a property looked okay on Google Earth and had road access, it was good enough to buy.

That’s wrong for several reasons.

My first hard lesson was when I got stuck with a landlocked parcel that appeared to have access on the county’s online mapping system. Turned out that “road” was actually an abandoned railroad bed that hadn’t been maintained in decades and had no legal access easement. It took me a LONG time to get rid of that one.

I also learned that sometimes, Google Earth’s satellite imagery is can be many years old, which can hurt bad when material changes have happened on the property in the past year or two.

When the facts matter (and when do they not?), I call the county, check recorded docs, confirm utilities with providers, and I’ll even do an in-person site visit or at the very least, hire someone local.

The extra few hours of research have saved me from multiple bad deals since then.

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Good advice. I always get boots on the ground before I close on a property. Usually via my Drone pilot. That saved my bacon several times.

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