Jack and Michelle Bosch are the creators of Land Profit Generator. It’s a company that sells tools, courses, coaching, and live events to help you build, grow, and scale your own land investing business. Should you attend their on-demand Land Flipping Masterclass to learn more about their products? Let’s talk about it, see if it’s something you even wanna do, alright? So when you invest in land, you really have to begin with the end in mind.
You have to find the right location and determine if it’s gonna be for residential or commercial use. Then you gotta verify the zoning of the land you are interested in. Are there any restrictions set by the city? Are there any permits that are required? What’s the traffic situation like nearby? Is the plot of land easy to get to? But like, not right next to a major road that’s gonna be super noisy? What else is around there and is it good or bad? Are there any plans for new construction, in close proximity, that could affect the value?
What about water sources? Septic systems? Obviously, if the land’s eventually gonna be used to build on, those should be in place. If not, they’ll be costly to install, which could adversely affect your sale price. And don’t make any assumptions. It could be a beautiful piece of land that overlooks hole 9 on the local golf course, but that doesn’t mean it’s suitable to build on, does it? You have to make sure it is. Also, check for surveys to get the exact acreage. Sellers often don’t know the true square footage of the land.
If you don’t do your due diligence, it’s easy to overpay and not even know it. Again, it’s a good idea to try and talk with builders and members of the city council, or anyone in the know, really, just to gather as much insight as you can, so you’re not blindsided by anything after you buy (or secure a contract). Ideally, you’re purchasing land in a path of growth. What’s coming to the city? What’s gonna be built around that area? You’ll wanna work with a really experienced real estate agent who’s familiar with land transactions.
Typically you’re looking at 20% to 30% downpayment for land. Maybe a little lower in certain areas. Perhaps higher if the location’s not that great or you’ve got bad credit. I share all that just to illustrate that it’s a lot to think about it. Not quite as easy as “buy low, sell high; after all, they’re not making any more of it.” Right? That said, land’s a pretty safe investment. Not as volatile as stocks and crypto, that’s for sure. But the tradeoff is, your returns probably aren’t gonna be near as good either.
You can buy undeveloped land for reasonable prices, and property taxes and maintenance costs will be lower, so that’s a bonus. Yes, it’s less competitive than traditional real estate investing, since everyone and their nerdy nephew’s on the flip houses bandwagon. What sucks though, is, until you flip it, there’s zero immediate cash flow. And there’s always a chance you can’t get it sold at a profit. So then what? If you’re wholesaling it, you’re out all that time, energy, and all your marketing and advertising costs. If you bought it, it’s even worse, right?
What you can and can’t do with the land is fluid; it changes over time. There’s upkeep and insurance and neighbors and HOAs and macro events that can affect the land market. And while flipping’s touted as this “quick and easy” way to make money with real estate, the reality is, even a successful land flip can take many months to play out. Are you willing to put in all that up front work and wait patiently for seven months before you get that check? If so, no doubt Jack and Michelle Bosch would be great mentors to study under.
