Hi, I’m Beth with TB Properties Buys Land. If you’ve got rural vacant land that you’re interested in selling you have options. Last week, I believe I spoke with you about the difference between selling your land through a realtor or working with a real estate investor. Now real estate investors, not all of them are created equal. So if you’re considering selling your vacant land to a real estate investor, here’s a couple of questions that you might want to ask them. One is, are you going to work through a title company? And this is an important question to ask. If they’re not, you need to know the process in which they’re going to work. So when you work with a title company, you know that there’s title insurance involved, you know that they’re going to pull the paperwork and file everything correctly with the county.
More importantly, you know exactly how you’re going to get paid. So if they’re not working through a title company, the next question you need to find out about is how are you going to get paid? And do you feel comfortable with that? Again, working with a title company, if you’re not familiar, the title company will instruct us as the buyer to send certified funds to them. Certified funds are going to be a bank wire or cashier’s check that comes directly from your bank. So once the title company has the signed paperwork in and they also know that the funds are guaranteed, they will issue the funding to you as the seller. In this way you know that you’ve got the money covered, it’s going to be a safe transaction. You’re not going to get scammed when you’re working through a title company.
Hopefully that explains why you want to ask that question. Another question to ask is how fast are they going to close? This is often dictated by how they’re paying. If the land investor or the real estate investor is going to be paying in cash, oftentimes through a title company, they can close as fast as two to three weeks. Now, if they’re not paying in cash and they need to get a loan, just think that it’s going to take a lot longer to close the transaction. If they’ve got to get a loan, it’s going to depend on their loan approval. Oftentimes there’s an appraiser that has to get out to the property. Perhaps a survey is involved as well. So if they have to get a loan and they’re not paying in cash, think that 30 days is the absolute fastest they’re going to close. Most of the time, we’re seeing it run out from 90 days to as long as 120 days. Just think on that and understand that in the equation.
When it comes to working with a real estate investor, what does your contract look like? Is there a lot of fine print involved? Or is it simple? Do you need to hire a lawyer to understand their contract? Make sure you understand what their contract looks like and make sure you feel comfortable with it. Another question to ask them is how long have they been doing this? Is this their first time? Do they know what they’re doing? What if they don’t have a title company lined up or, or understand how things are going to work? That’s really important. Do they have any reviews that you can look at to see what other people think about working with them? And another really important question to ask is also, throughout the transaction, how much transparency is there? Are they going to allow you to talk to the title company during this transaction?
If the answer is no, that should be an immediate red flag. Once that contract is signed and it goes off the title, considering it is going to title, can you call the title company and ask your own questions? If they’re saying no to that, then you should be concerned. You should always be able to call the title company and make sure you understand everything. Whether it’s the paperwork that they’re sending you, the title commitment, how you’re going to get paid, when the closing is going to happen, can you be there in person, or can you close remotely? These are all questions that you should be able to ask the title company on your own and not even have to involve the real estate investor. So hopefully I’ve answered some questions when it comes to what your options are when selling your rural vacant land through a real estate investor. There’s many options out there and they can all do it in different ways.
At TB Properties Buys Land, we try to do it in the easiest possible way. We have a very simple one page purchase agreement. It spells everything out. There’s no fine print. We close through a title company so that everything is done on the up and up. You can know that your funding is going to come directly from that title company and the paperwork’s going to be done correctly. We pay in cash so that the transaction closes quickly, as fast as two to three weeks, four weeks if the title company is running behind. We provide full transparency; you’re welcome to call the title company at any time. You’re able to ask us any questions if you have those. We try to make sure that everything is done so that you feel comfortable throughout the entire process. If there’s any questions that I have not answered for you, or if you have any individual questions, we’re happy to answer those. Please feel free to reach out to us across our website, email, or give us a call at 214-699-4455. We’re happy to talk to you. Thanks again.
I was informed step by step as the transaction progressed.
“When I first received an offer to purchase my property, I was a little skeptical. Once I spoke with Tim & then Beth, I had a sense of feeling that these guys were sincere. After the initial conversation I was comfortable & reassured with Tim & Beth’s professionalism and transparency of the entire process. I was informed step by step as the transaction progressed. I was immediately given the contact information & name of the Title Representative that was handling the closing with anticipated date of closure. Tim and or Beth were always available by phone or email. The entire process progressed flawlessly & expeditiously. I received the funds from the sale faster than I expected. This was one of the easiest & least time consuming real estate transactions that I have experienced in my 40 years of buying and selling of real estate.”