Now, why do you suppose I’m taking time away from my land investing business to coach and mentor other people?
Well, a few years ago, I became very depressed. I was at the crossroads after selling land for all these years. I was providing a great life for my family. We were taking big vacations and traveling in style. I had generous education funds set aside for each of my 3 children. I was living a materialistic lifestyle of fast, expensive cars and big houses, and I felt very empty.
So, I started taking the family to local volunteering events to help others, and we became active with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. However, I wanted to do more. I wanted to make, as Steve Jobs would say, “a dent in the universe…”
Finally, I entered therapy. My therapist told me to “be the pebble.” Huh? She said, you’re helping a lot of people fulfill their dream of land ownership, but it seems like that’s not enough for you. You want to make a bigger impact, so you want to be the pebble in the pond.
She encouraged me to teach people to change their lives by learning how to buy and sell land as I do. I complained.
“You mean you want me to create my own competition?! Are you crazy?!”
She said that there are two fundamental world views. One view is that life is a zero-sum game, and for one person to gain, someone else has to lose. The other view is one of abundance in life. There is wealth and abundance for everyone who puts in the effort.
She said, “If you can help one person, there is a huge ripple effect, like the ripples on the surface of a pond when you drop a pebble in the water.” I realized I would not just helping that one person – I would be helping everyone else that person has relationships with, and then helping all of those people that have relationships with the people that person touched.
Think about it. If you have less financial stress, you’re more relaxed and life becomes more enjoyable. As a result, your family becomes less stressed. Then they start doing better. When they do better, they start helping other people and it has an exponential effect. So, that’s why I started land coaching. I want to be the pebble…
So thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your land investing mentor – your Obi-Wan Kenobi.
So why in the world did I pick land? Why in the world should you pick land?
Well, the number one reason is that land is simple. It’s simple because you don’t have to deal with the risks and headaches that you would typically run into with houses.
Let me elaborate.
Number one, you won’t be troubled with the 3 R’s. You see, with land there are No Renters, No Renovations and No Rodents. I’ll bet you’ve heard horror stories about the 3 R’s!
Your land will always be there.
Number two, no one can steal or destroy your land. I mean someone could load up a wheelbarrow full of soil or rocks from your land and run off like a bandit, but guess what? There’s more underneath.
And number three is a big one. Land actually does cash flow. You can structure your sales such that you get cash flow for years and years and years. And that’s a big part of what we’re going to talk about later in this article.
You also get very little competition in the land business. How many people do you know that talk about land investing? Most people think that land is super expensive. They say land is something that costs millions of dollars, and that it’s only for the rich. Or they say land is for developers who love to take big risks.
You know what? That’s probably true for downtown Phoenix, LA, New York City, Atlanta and Boston where quarter acre lots sell for $3 million, right
The good news is, we are not focusing on these $3 million lots. Not even close! We are going to look for lots or acreage that costs less than $30,000.
We want property in the outskirts of big cities, in smaller towns, and in rural areas. Areas that nobody actually looks at, talks about, or analyzes etc. Even though most investors overlook the land that we are going to seek out, there is a huge demand for these properties – especially right now.
A recent study found that 9% of Americans – fewer than one in ten – would choose to live in a major city today. 24% of all persons desire to live in a small town away from big cities, and 22% want to live specifically in a rural areas.
The primary reason given? Urban areas were full of crime, traffic, congestion and crowds. So do you think we have a massive market?
One of the biggest advantages of land is that there’s virtually no maintenance.
I personally own over 80 properties in my family trust. Not even one of these 80 costs me anything to take care of, and not one requires any effort from me in terms of maintenance. Which is great, because these properties are directly in the path of growth and I have no intention of ever selling them.
My neighbor who is a buddy of mine and an anesthesiologist, owns 22 rental properties. He has constant tenant issues, maintenance headaches, and has to save a significant amount of money every month for upkeep.
We both do very well financially with our investments, but my weekends and his weekends are vastly different. While I’m watching football, snacking on nachos and enjoying a couple of cold beers, he is busy taking care of tenant issues all weekend. Which sounds more enjoyable to you?
These are very exciting times in the land business.
Currently, there are deals out there like I’ve never seen before. One of my students just bought 320 acres for $15,000 and sold it for $67,000. Another student bought land for $2,500 and sold it for $30,000.
Do you realize you can buy properties for less than the cost of an iMac computer? So let me ask you… How would you like to skip buying that flashy new computer that will just be obsolete in 3 years, and buy a piece of land instead?
OK, let’s keep moving!
As I’ve mentioned, we’re focusing on buying properties under $30,000. And selling them is ridiculously easy today with all the internet platforms. Without the internet, we’d be like the old-time land sellers buying radio spots and putting up billboards. Today, in less time than it takes to shave, you can market and sell a property online.
I want to stress the point of easy to implement. Now, easy does NOT mean without effort. It just means that I’ve removed all of the headache involved with figuring out how to bring in your target market and how to get more buyers than you can handle.
Alright, we’ve talked a lot about the benefits and advantages of investing in land. Let’s get into how it actually works. You may be very surprised, because the concept is deceptively simple. It all starts with this one simple fact: All over the country, there are people that don’t want their property anymore. How do I know this? Well, they’re secretly advertising it.
Let me explain.
These land owners haven’t paid their property taxes. And when we don’t value something we don’t pay for it, right? Many of these land owners just want to get rid of their property. And your jaw will hit the floor when you discover how many of these owners will sell you their property for next to nothing. Sometimes they’ll even give it to you for free – just to get rid of their tax burden.
It’s hard to wrap your head around until you see it first-hand. Every month, when you do this business consistently, you’re going to get properties for pennies on the dollar or even for free. Why don’t these people want to keep their property and why don’t they value it? Well, many owners want to get rid of their land for a variety of reasons. Maybe they have lost their job. Or, they might be going through a divorce. And, we often find that they have inherited their land from a relative who passed away, and have no clue what to do with it. There are boat-loads of reasons – too many to cover tonight.
So what happens when land owners don’t want their properties? They stop paying their property taxes and start going down the road to tax foreclosure.
Now, let’s be crystal clear.
This is NOT a tax lien program that I’m talking about. This has nothing to do with the tax lien system. Buying properties at tax deed auctions (NOT tax lien auctions) is something I teach as another method of acquisition, but that’s not what I want you to focus on at first.
The reason being – auctions can be very competitive, depending on the market you’re in. At some auctions, egos get out of control and the bidding goes so high that properties end up selling for retail! These auctions are a huge waste of your time, and that’s definitely not what we want. The trick is to avoid that competition altogether by snapping up properties before they hit the tax lien or deed auction!
Stayed tuned, next week we’ll tackle Avoiding Competition At Auctions!