In doing your homework, you will need to determine the use of the land. Will you be flipping it to resell? Do you want the land for commercial, residential, recreational or agricultural? Once you’ve determined what you want to do with the land, you can move forward with finding the land you are looking for. And once you found it you can proceed to your investigation of the value of the land. The Value of a piece of land now and in the future depends on a variety of factors. Mainly what you want to do with the land, or in other words what the purpose of the land will be in the future.
There can be many benefits to investing into raw land, such as appreciation, the potential for value creation through sub-dividing it. For example, if you purchase a piece of land in an area that is experiencing high growth the price of the land might multiply in a relatively short period of time. With Land you don’t have to worry about Tenants, broken toilettes, mold, termites, theft… .
Once you own a piece of land and you want to sell it there are an entire host of value creating options available for you. One option to consider would be subdividing the land and selling it off in individual pieces. This allows you multiple opportunities to make a profit, because there are many more people with a budget enough for a small piece of land than there are for a large piece of land. So by splitting the parcel into let’s say 5 pieces, you now can sell each piece for much more than 20% of the initial sale price of the large piece. Instead you might be able to sell the smaller (1/5th) parcel for ½ or even almost the same price that you could sell the large piece, effectively multiplying the return on your investment.
You can also sell a piece of land to an buyer and offer them Seller Financing at a nice Interest Rate, sometimes even well above market average. This will not only allow you to sell the property at a higher overall price (because you are offering it with a low down payment, which makes it more accessible to people) but you gain considerably in the long run through the interest payments.
Another factor to consider what to do with your land and how to sell it includes planning and zoning of the land and the surrounding area. You will want to check with city departments regarding these issues. A Pending Re-zoning of an area close by area could potentially make your parcel’s value skyrocket, or the opposite can also be true. The County officials can offer you tons of information, including the existing uses, future development forecasts, maps of the surrounding areas, flood zones, etc. They also control building codes, subdivision regulations, permits for curb-cutting and housing codes. You can also find aerial photos and plat maps, which are a dated real estate tool, but it helps in you evaluation process.
You want to educate yourself about the ways to sell a property and the factors influencing the value of a piece of land before taking on the task of purchasing land, as you want your wealth to grow, not fall. You need to be well informed, or you will end up with a piece of land you paid too much for and can’t do much with it. After all, this is your future we are talking about. So, be well prepared.
The good news is that there are programs out there like my www.LandForPennies.com free CD which offers you lots of information about these subjects and can help you make better buying decisions and create your desired and deserved wealth fast and Safe.