I had the opportunity to interview Mark Podolsky a few weeks back and I gotta say he really has opened my eyes to an impressive opportunity!
You can listen to his interview here
If you are not familiar with Mark Podolsky aka “The Land Geek” you can check him out at thelandgeek.com
Mark has flipped over 5000 parcels of raw land and boasts that he has “THE BEST PASSIVE INCOME MODEL”
I’ve been successfully investing in residential real estate since 08 and like many investors I have been happy with my investing strategy as well as my businesses annual growth. Having said that, I am also open to new strategies that can increase my income streams passively!
After spending 30 minutes with “The Land Geek,” analyzing his strategies to earn 300%+ returns passively I decided to diversify and dive into the waters of raw land investing myself!
You may be thinking what is so great or glamorous about land investing?
I felt the same way. There is nothing glamorous about it but the returns make this business amazing!
If you are not hip to land investing here is a crash course!
Just like any other real estate deal we are looking for motivated sellers so we can make an amazing purchase on the property. You also want to focus on areas that most of the country would be interested in owning raw land. These are areas like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and California.
DO NOT INVEST IN DETROIT!
Now we know where to invest, where do we find highly motivated land owners to sell us their property at a deep discount?
Motivation is found in out of state property owners that are behind on their tax payments. If someone isn’t keeping up on their small land tax bill then they are most likely done with the property and do not care if they lose it at a tax deed auction.
Rather then get nothing for their property most distressed sellers would love a quick $200 (or much less) in exchange for a parcel they are no longer attached to.
Where do you find tax delinquent property owners?
They can be found by contacting the county auditor or online using sites like etaxsales.com.
Once you receive the list start your direct mail campaign with a “top dollar offer” you are willing to pay for the property. This should be $0.20 on the dollar after you subtracted the delinquent tax amount from your potential resale price.
Once you get an offer accepted it’s time to do your due diligence!
Hire someone off craigslist or wegolook.com to visit the property and get you current pictures. You don’t want to buy something that is under water or that has become the neighborhood dump site.
If this checks out it’s time to check the title and close on this awesome deal! There are several ways to confirm clear title but for the simplicity of this post I recommend ALWAYS using a title company to close your transactions. The last thing you want is to purchase an “amazing” deal just to find out it comes with a $30,000 lien attached to it!
Congrats! You just negotiated and purchased an amazing piece of raw land! It’s time for these insane profits to hit your bank account!
Where the heck do you list and resell raw land?
Here are the top websites to list and resell your property on:
Craigslist.com
Backpage.com
eBay
Landflip.com
Landhub.com
Landandfarm.com
Landsofamerica.com
Landwatch.com
Facebook groups including real estate, RV clubs and alternative investing groups (gold, silver…)
If you purchase the property properly and market consistently on these sites you should have it sold within 30 days on a cash or seller financing terms (creating passive income) with a profit margin far greater then what the stock market offers!
Aside from the impressive returns this offers, here are a few additional points why raw land is worth looking into:
There is no tenants, no toilets and no termites to deal with. In short NO HEADACHES!
Look, I haven’t flipped and decided that land investing is the “end all be all” strategy. I love flipping houses and the experiences that come with it! I also feel that it’s great to diversify income streams and I feel that this is an excellent, low risk, low cost way to do it!
If you want more information on land investing check out Marks completely free strategies on how to get started over at thelandgeek.com
