Selling land is an often lengthy process, very different than selling your home or condo.
Here are 6 mistakes that people frequently make when selling land:
Hiring the wrong agent.
Hiring a real estate agent who doesn’t specialize in land sales can be a fatal mistake when selling your land.
You need someone who understands the intricacies of land sales and all that entails.
Items such as zoning, highest and best use, development permit processes are all important subjects your land real estate agent must understand if they’re going to be successful in selling your land.
Not having a great listing.
Having an eye-catching listing is critical. It needs to include all of the pertinent details about the property including the zoning, any easements, right of ways, restrictive covenants or other encumbrances that can restrict or limit the uses for the land.
By putting this information in the listing, your agent ensures people have sufficient information in hand before looking at the property.
Advertising in only one place.
Advertising the property in only one place severely limits the exposure your land will receive.
To maximize the number of “views” your land gets, you need to make sure it’s on the MLS, your real estate agents website, in trade publications and print ads (local, provincial and even national).
You should also make sure the land has the real estate agents’ signage on it to capture the “drive-by” traffic that may pass by the land.
Selling at the wrong time.
Ask your real estate agent when the peak time is for selling land.
Your agent should know the selling trends in the area to maximize the chances of selling the land quickly. Maybe it’s best to list land in the spring or fall. Maybe the community is expecting an influx of developers in six months as the community grows.
Your agent should understand the best times to sell the land and hit the ground running at the right moment.
Showing to buyers who are not qualified.
Make sure your real estate agent is pre-qualifying anyone who expresses an interest in the land. If they don’t have the financial resources to complete a transaction in your price range, then don’t waste time and energy on a buyer who isn’t a serious prospect.
Using pricing gimmicks.
Advertising your land for sale using gimmicks isn’t going to attract many serious buyers. Using “offers over” a certain price or “price to be negotiated” provides a lot of uncertainty around the price of the land.
If people don’t know the starting point – the asking price – they may simply walk away, particularly if they think they may not be able to afford it.
By naming your price, you’ll narrow down the buying pool right out of the gate and eliminate anyone without the financial ability to do the deal.
Do you have a development land for sale? Connect with our team at Development Land BC to get the best offer on your land deals.
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