Beth:
Hi, I’m Beth, a land investor with TB Properties Buys Land. There’s a few reasons why people may wish to sell directly to a land investor rather than listing with a realtor. The biggest reason is it’s going to close a lot faster. Right now, we’ve got the war going on, inflation is high and there’s a lot of uncertainty in the market. When you list your property with a realtor, it may sit out there for months on end. Additionally, whatever you list for, you may have to continually drop the price over time. On top of that, when it comes to closing, you’ve got closing costs to consider. As the seller you are expected to pay title insurance on top of your side of the closing fees, which are called escrow fees. You may have to factor in excise taxes or the recording fees as well.
Alternatively, when you work with an investor like TB Property Buy’s Land, when we offer you a price, it includes us covering all closing costs. On top of closing quickly, there is certainty in how much money you will pocket at the close of the transaction.
Now, there’s a concern with scams out there when dealing with investors. One way to minimize or reduce your risk of being scammed when selling your property is always closing through a title company. At TB Properties Buys Land, we’re never going to buy your property directly outside of a title company. For us, title does provides a lot of security in the course of the transaction. They provide the title search, so we know if there are any liens against the property. We check a lot of things that gives us a lot of background. For your security as the seller, Title requires us to send our cash via wire directly to their own account. Once they have our certified funds in their account, only then will they deed your property to us and then also give you the money. Title offers protection to you and it protects us as well.
Another consideration if you’re concerned about scams out there is what I’ve seen a few times before. I’ve had people sign a contract with other land investors and then they come back and sell to us instead. The reason for that is if there’s not a good closing date on the contract, or if there’s a stipulation that they can try to market your property before the closing takes place. I’ve seen it where the investor has delayed closing over and over again. For example, perhaps you sign that contract only because you wish to close quickly and have cash within the month but instead of closing on time, they keep pushing out closing because they haven’t found a buyer for your property yet.
Instead, at TB Properties Buys Land, we give you a closing date that is “on or before” a named date. Normally we’re limited by the title company, how slow they are, how quick they are. We tend to put about four weeks or so unless your situation is little bit more complicated, such as inherited property. Sometimes for inherited property Title will need a little bit more time to close. Still, we close! We buy your property before we do anything. Those are a couple things that you can do to minimize your risk when it comes to selling your property.
There’s a lot of good reasons to sell directly. One thing to remember when you work with a realtor is that, oftentimes there’s a 10% closing fee for land. Homes may be a 6% split but often for land it is a 10% split since land costs less than a house and requires more work to sell. 10% of your sell price can dramatically reduce your profit.
Even though you may be offered less from a land investor, such as TB Properties Buys Land or anybody else, a few things to consider in the price is that you’re not paying any closing fees, your property is not sitting on the market for a long time, you’re not covering the realtor fees and that you’ll be paid quickly.
Ways to minimize risk include closing through a title company and understanding your contract, asking questions, and making sure you understand it. If there’s anything that doesn’t make sense to you, have them change the contract. I mean, the land is in your name, so you’ve got the leverage there. You can make those demands and see where it goes. If you have questions, please reach out to us. We’re buying property across the country. We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.