7 Tips to Sell Your Land Fast

Information to gather before selling vacant land

Here are some important steps a landowner should take to sell their land quickly:

• Research recent sales of comparable properties on a site like Zillow to get an idea of the market value of your land. 
• Locate any documents relating to the land such as the deed, a survey if one exists, and a recent tax bill. These documents contain important information you’ll use when selling your land.
• Visit the property to check the condition and determine if the property will need any work before the sale.

1. Price your land below the competition

When it comes to selling land fast, nothing will make as much of a difference to prospective land buyers as lowering the price.

Research your local market to find land like yours that has recently sold, then consider whether your land has any qualities or defects that would affect its value.

Zillow is actually a great place to get an initial estimate of your land value. Filter by 'Home Type' so that you only see Lots/Land. 

Check out the Sold listings which will appear as yellow dots. Click on a sold listing and check how long it was listed before it sold, which you can find by scrolling down to 'Price History.' By checking how long several similar properties to yours were listed before they sold, you can get an idea of how long it will take your property to sell at market price.

If you want your listing to sell faster than average for your area, you may need to reduce your asking price 30-50% below market price or even more. The reason for this is when a potential buyer sees a low enough price they start to see it as an investment, even if they can't use the land themselves. Otherwise, you have to wait for the perfect land buyer that's looking for exactly what you're selling.

2. Get professional real estate photos taken

Most ways to sell your land fast will require high-quality photos so you can list the land for sale across the internet. You could do this yourself, but do you have the right equipment, especially for the aerial imagery that many land listings have? 

Since you're trying to save time, this is an easy task to outsource to a professional photographer who can visit your vacant land and provide the finished photos to you within a few days. The photographer can typically add the property lines to your aerial imagery, which is another time saver for you when trying to sell land fast. 

Land listings with great photos will create more interest from buyers and give you the best chance of selling your land in the least amount of time. For more information about how much a real estate photographer will cost and what services to order, see Should I Hire a Real Estate Photographer?

3. Make sure the title is clear

The last thing you want to do is take the time to market the property for sale and find a land buyer, only to find there's a title issue that will send your prospective buyer running for the hills. 

With vacant land, this could be any number of things. If property taxes haven't been paid there could be a lien on the property. If the land was inherited, the property may not have been properly taken through the probate process. Or if it's raw land that was originally part of a larger parcel, a survey may be needed to provide a legal description of the property.

If you think your land may have any title issues like these, you can have your local title company perform a title search. While it can be a headache to deal with title issues, your land buyer is only going to be able to close on the sale quickly if you've resolved them ahead of time. 

4. Post everywhere on the internet

Selling land fast is about getting as many views as possible, and the best way to do that is to post it EVERYWHERE online. Take advantage of free websites first such as Zillow, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist to sell land online. Don't forget to share on your own social media accounts as well.

To sell land fast, you may want to utilize paid websites as well that specialize in land listings like the Land.com family of websites or your local MLS (multiple listing service) which you can pay a flat fee to list on without a real estate agent. It can be worth paying for these sites where a potential buyer looking to buy land online will be actively searching. 

To learn more about all the places you can sell land fast on the internet, see How to Sell Land Online.

5. Put up a for sale sign

An old-fashioned For Sale sign can help you sell your vacant land quickly too. This is especially helpful if your land is on a highly-visible and heavily-trafficked road. Drivers passing by may not be searching for land to buy, but when they see something in a location they know they might become interested. 

Your sign also helps land buyers find your property if they've seen it advertised somewhere, but may not know the area very well. When they find your sign, they'll know they're in the right place.

If you're wondering where you can get a inexpensive sign made to sell your vacant land, see Sell Your Land for Less than $100 with a Sign.

6. Talk to your neighbors

People that already live near your vacant land or own land nearby themselves are some of the most likely buyers of your land. Make sure you let them know your land is for sale. They're likely to know the approximate value of land in the area, so if you offer it to them at a great price, they just might say yes.

You can expand on this idea by sending out letters to all the landowners within a certain distance of your land. This takes a little time and money, but can be very effective in reaching a potential buyer who already own land nearby and may be interested in buying more.

Don't worry, if you follow our guide in Sell Your Land with a Neighbor Letter Campaign, you won't be writing out the addresses and stuffing the envelopes yourself. You'll use a free data service to find the addresses and then send the letters to be printed and mailed by a bulk mail company.

7. Get a cash offer from a land buying company

If you truly want to sell your land fast, your best option may be to sell to a we buy land company like ours. This is undoubtedly the fastest way to sell vacant land with the entire process from receiving the cash offer to finalizing the sell can take as little as two weeks in many cases. 

For many people, a cash buyer also offers the most convenient way to sell land. When they realize how many steps are involved in selling land by owner, and the uncertainty whether the land will sell quickly - or sell at all, some land owners decide to skip the hassle and get straight to the sale.

The downside to selling to a cash buyer is a discounted sale price since they need to make a profit (and go through all the steps to sell the land that you may not want to). But unlike selling land by owner, you won't have any costs to list the land for sale or any closing costs to pay.