The Art of Land Flipping with Pete Reese
The great thing about real estate investing is that you can choose to focus on a lot of different areas – multifamily, mobile home parks, self-storage, house-flipping, etc. However, how do you know which ones are the right investments for you?
Pete Reese has been in the real estate investing space for more than 20 years and he is also a licensed broker in the state of California. But in the last two years, he has gotten into land flipping.
With land flipping, you’re basically holding the property until someone else wants to convert it to something else. The best thing about land flipping is you only have to do little things to make the property attractive to buyers, as opposed to flipping a house. But there are also things you can do to make the land more accessible for a quicker turnover.
What You Can Do to Make the Land Accessible
The best way to flip land is by just doing a little thing. It's not what people are used to in terms of doing a lipstick flip or something. But there are things that you do to make the land more accessible to somebody who wants to develop it.
Things you need to do to turn over a land property quickly:
Perc test - In building your onsite sewage disposal system, the perc test is required if you are not going to be connected to the municipal sewer. With the perc test, a soil scientist or someone from the municipality comes out and digs some holes to determine if the soil is suitable for that. Once all that is laid out, it instantly makes that property buildable.
Clearing - Clear the paths and some access so people can walk around the property. There could be some grown-up woods or stuff that you can't even walk through. And so, clearing the path can be a small thing but it makes all the difference.
Finding Your Ideal Buyers
Those looking for a little piece of the world that they can call their own and where they can put a house on there.
Those who want to use it as a piece of farmland, or as timber investments and solar farms.
When the property is within the municipality and there is a demand there, the property can be turned into potential subdivisions with access to public utilities.
Marketing Land Properties
Pete says their average hold time on their inventory is only 60 days. The whole key is to buy the properties at the right price. And then feel when to market them, slightly under market value, so they can attract a buyer pretty quickly.
Partner with local brokers who are experts in their area. It’s better to pay a good broker agent that's going to get things sold and take a lot of that hassle off your plate even if you're a licensed broker yourself.
Consider buying a large parcel and splitting it up into smaller lots. There are also properties that you could hold long-term, and then just figure out when is the right time to develop them.
At the end of the day, you have to find a model that aligns with who you are and what your strengths are. Try to see if land flipping is the right fit for you.
If you want to learn more about The Art of Land Flipping with Pete Reese, check out www.trustgreene.com/podcast/zen/020.