5 Tips to Increase the Value of Your Property
The Land Up Dirt to Dollars Series
When you make a move, you want to sell your land for the highest price possible. That might be why so many landowners are eager to list in a seller’s market.
The beautiful thing about selling your land in Central Texas is that you have options on how you can get the job done. Just like you would take steps to improve your house before you sell, there are steps you can take to improve your land or ranch before you sell. And some of them are easier than you think.
These five tips below cover just some of the ways you can increase your property value before you sell as well as two pricing strategies that we’ve seen work for our clients.
There are a few simple things sellers can do to increase their property value while getting ready to sell
#1: Get Rid of the Junk
We can’t tell you how many times our agents have shown properties where there is junk everywhere. Sometimes it’s scrap metal from broken down tractors or old water pipes from a windmill into a tank. Other times it truly is trash, whether it be from people taking advantage of vacant land to dump things or trash blown in from the surrounding area. Regardless of how it got there, taking the time to clean it up yourself or paying someone to clean it up for you will pay off in the end.
A buyer will always argue that it will cost them more money to clean up the land than if you, the seller, were to actually pay someone to do it for you. If you feel like you cannot afford to pay a reputable company to do it for you, then you can request bids and wrap that amount into the contract for buying the land. Then it becomes a clear and defined amount of money on clean up that translates into a line item on the sale of your land.
Take note! If you do decide to clean up the land yourself, research how to properly dispose of waste so that you can avoid polluting the area and making matters worse. A great resource for land, waste, and cleanup questions is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TECQ, website. Depending on what junk or trash is on your land, it may be more cost effective and safer to pay a licensed “junk removal company” to assist you.
#2: New Paint
If you have an old barn with fading paint or your ranch house could use a new coat to brighten things up, scraping off the old paint and spraying on new paint can do wonders. Your livestock may not care what color the barn is, but in our experience, even a cosmetic change such as fresh paint can spark joy in a buyer’s eyes.
Another trick to know about new paint is that sometimes your color choice may be unique enough that other people wouldn’t appreciate it as much as you do. In this example, the paint on the walls in your ranch house could be changed, not because it’s old and chipped, but because using a muted color palette would appeal to more people. This will allow the buyer to imagine their own belongings inside the house, with their own personality in color choice.
First impressions are the most important, as we all know, so making sure your front gate or metal entrance looks inviting is key to increasing the value of your property. A new coat of metal paint can be a quick fix or just sandblast that layer of rust away. We’re sure your livestock will care what your gate looks like as the more they can see it the less likely they will be able to escape or get stuck!
#3: Make a Special Features List
There’s nothing better than selling your Central Texas land when you have unique property features an agent can highlight. Sure, you’ll want to highlight the fact that you have an agricultural exemption or that utilities are at the road, but taking the time to creatively write a list of features that set your property apart from the rest will entice buyers to come out and see it for themselves.
Some items we consider special features are:
Stock tanks, ponds or lakes
Large shade trees like oak, elm, pecan and ash
Creeks, streams or rivers (wet weather creeks are good too!)
Existing structures on the property that provide value (house, barn, corral, etc.)
Type of entrance or gate
Types of wildlife you can see while on the property
Type of fencing and how much of the land is fenced
And lastly, while this really isn’t a special feature, highlighting how far away things are from your property is also important. People want to know how far they would have to drive to get groceries, see a movie, drive to work, take kids to school, etc. So choosing to list how far major roads and cities are from your land will also set it apart and increase buyer interest.
#4: Take Care of the Little Things and Do Repairs
As we discussed in Tip #1 on this list, buyers tend to overestimate the costs to clean up a property just as much as the cost of repairing things on a property. There will always be something to repair on a ranch and even raw land typically has a gate or fence that might need repair. The best choice here is to make a list of repairs with your real estate agent as they can help you evaluate what repairs will actually increase your property value versus repairs that you might feel will increase value.
There are many resources out there that can help you decide what repairs to make on your home to increase its value. Here are a few things we’ve seen on land specifically that you can repair to increase value:
Making sure the front gate can easily be opened and closed. You may have to dig out the land underneath to gain some clearance, or it may be best to remove the gate from the post altogether and move it higher so you don’t end up with a mud puddle entrance.
Fill in holes in the driveway or road leading to the homesite. Sometimes just wear and tear on the road from use can create holes, other times it’s animals. The goal here is to put a bandaid on the situation, don’t worry about major repairs or extermination.
Mending fences, especially if you’re selling your property with other ranchers in mind, can go a long way. Fully fenced land sells for more money.
#5: Price It Right
There are many different strategies on how to price your property to sell. Whichever strategy you choose below, we highly recommend using a licensed REALTOR® who specializes in land to help you sell your land! Navigating the strategy as well as the entire process of a real estate transaction can get very complicated, quickly. Especially in a Sellers’ Market.
Price Strategy #1: Base your sales price on what the market says it’s worth
Have your REALTOR® create a CMA or Comparative Market Analysis. They will look at land that was sold on the MLS that has similar features as yours, in the same geographic area with the same number of acres. They can look back at the last 90 days of sales or they may go back even farther than that depending on the data they need. With this information they can safely estimate what your land is worth. NOTE: a REALTOR® is not an appraiser and is not technically allowed to tell you what your land is worth. They can only guess or estimate. Basing your sales price on what the market says it’s worth is the safest and fastest way to sell your land.
Price Strategy #2: Leave yourself room for negotiations
Starting with the CMA mentioned above, you can set your sales price much higher than it’s worth and gamble that a buyer would pay the price. Typically in this situation, your land would appraise for less than what you’re selling it for and so the buyer would have to make up the difference out of their own pocket (if they are borrowing money from a bank). Even if the buyer has cash, in this situation, they are going to want you to lower your asking price to match what your land is actually worth. Using this pricing strategy may sound more lucrative but will take longer to sell than using the first strategy and will ultimately require more negotiations.
As you can see, there are many different ways you can not only increase the value of your property but also different strategies to sell it as well. Our agents specialize in selling land, both for residential and commercial use. If you have any questions about other ways you might improve your property value or would like us to come out and give an estimate on how much your land is worth, contact us or give us a call 512-856-6653.