A Guide on How To Sell Your Central Texas Property
The Land Up Dirt to Dollars Series
We all know that the Central Texas housing market is red hot right now so it’s probably no surprise that the land market is too. Selling land might seem like a daunting task but there hasn’t been a better time in history to take on the challenge and take advantage of a seller’s market. If you’ve ever wondered what the process of selling land looks like in Texas, then you’re in the right place! We’ve put together this step-by-step seller guide to help you sell your Central Texas property.
Selling your property can be confusing, but we’ll walk you through it
Land Up Realty’s Step-By-Step Seller Guide
As you can imagine, there are multiple steps necessary to the land selling process. Listing your property, getting it ready for potential buyers to view, and finally completing the sale all take some behind-the-scenes work. The best first step to selling your property in Texas is to talk to someone who is knowledgeable on the subject, in this case, a Realtor who is a land specialist. If you’re not quite ready to make a commitment to selling your land just yet, read on to learn what the land selling process looks like!
Choose a Land Brokerage to List Your Property With
You might be thinking, “Aren’t all real estate agents the same?” Spoiler alert, they’re not! Beyond finding someone who will hustle for you and take the time to build a personal relationship, it’s important to work with a land specialist who knows the difference between raw land, undeveloped land, farms and ranches, and commercial properties. These might all seem like the same beast to the untrained eye but selling each type of land presents its own nuances and challenges. This means that choosing to work with an average Realtor who specializes in houses or condos just won’t cut the mustard.
Find The Value of Your Central Texas Property
Another critical step when selling your property is to ensure you’ve priced it correctly. This sounds like common sense, but sometimes sellers have emotional attachments to a piece of property or arbitrary profit targets that can influence their desired listing price point.
Regardless of what you might think the value of your property is, it’s only really worth what someone is willing to pay. The best way to estimate the real value of your property is to look at comparable properties in your area that have recently sold. Your land specialist has access to this information and will put together a list of ‘comps’, or comparable properties that have sold in the area recently, which they will use to help you decide on a price.
In addition to comps, a trusted land specialist will employ other strategies to help you set the right price. For example, in certain areas, it might be advantageous to set the price a little below market value knowing the lower price will attract multiple buyers who will end up in a bidding war for your property.
As you can tell, setting a selling price for your land is not as simple as just picking a number. Working with someone who has the experience, analytic tools, and industry knowledge can help you price your property to sell quickly for the biggest return. Having a Realtor who is a land specialist is your surest way to get top dollar for your property!
What Is a Land Survey and Do I Need One?
Whether you’re selling a home or selling land a potential buyer is going to want a survey of the property. A land survey is done by a licensed professional and is a map of where the exact geographical boundaries lay as well as any structures or easements.
Your Realtor will help you schedule a professional survey and assist in determining next steps if any issues come up as a result. If a buyer is using a lender, the lender will always require a survey. At Land Up Realty, we include the survey in our listings for potential buyers to view easily.
Get Title Insurance to Verify Property Ownership
Like with selling a home, getting title insurance for a property is fairly standard. Title companies provide insurance that the ownership of the property has been verified. If an ownership issue arises they will cover the cost of litigating the issue. Most of the time verifying ownership is straightforward and simple but situations such as a divorce can muddle the clarity of who actually owns the property. Another situation that can sometimes make things more complex is when the property owner passes away and it’s unclear who owns the property afterwards.
The state of Texas doesn’t require title insurance in a real estate transaction but if a buyer is borrowing money to purchase the property the lender may require title insurance. While the seller is not responsible for this, a buyer may still ask them to help cover the cost. If the seller agrees to help cover the cost the amount will be deducted from the proceeds at closing.
Prepare Your Property for Showing
There are some simple actions you can take to help your property attract potential buyers.
First, we recommend clearing trash and other debris from the property. Some properties will require more cleaning than others, if you need help your Realtor can help you find a local trash removal company.
Second, take the time to touch up fading or missing paint on things like fences, gates, barns, and sheds. You’d be surprised at how far a fresh coat of paint will go in making a property more visually appealing to land buyers.
Lastly, repair any small things around the property that need attention. Buyers tend to overestimate the cost of repairs so a little effort here can help you get more in your pocket when selling.
Offers & Negotiations
Choosing when to accept an offer or when (and what) to counteroffer is definitely an art. An offer is a contract by a potential buyer that officially lists out what they are willing to pay for the property and their stipulations (if any) for purchase. An offer might list out certain things a buyer wants a seller to pay for or fix in order for the deal to go through. A seller can always deny an offer or come back with a counteroffer and push back on the stipulations or try to increase the selling price.
When the market is slower and favors buyers you might get a lot of lowball offers that aren’t worth your time. When the market is hotter and favors sellers, as it does right now, you might get multiple offers and need to determine which one to accept. It may not be as straightforward as accepting the one that is offering the most money; it can be a balance of choosing which one might close the fastest, have the least amount of stipulations, and have the highest offer amount.
As with many of the other aspects of the selling process, this is where a trusted land specialist’s expertise is extremely useful. They will be able to guide you through the offer process and advise you when it’s time to accept or hold out for something better.
What Happens Once Your Central Texas Property Has Been Sold?
Once a seller has accepted an offer the transaction moves to what’s known as a ‘closing’ and there will be lots of paperwork to fill out and sign. Closing is a term for all the paperwork and review that happens between the time an offer is signed by the buyer and seller all the way to the buyer officially being the new owner.
How long a closing takes depends on the type of funding the buyer is using, whether or not there are any changes to the offer, and the ability of the title companies and lenders to review the paperwork.
If a buyer is paying in cash, the closing process is very quick and simple. As soon as the contract is signed by both parties and the money is transferred, the deal is ‘closed’. This can be as short as a couple of days.
If a buyer is working with a lender the process can take 30 days or more. When a buyer uses a lender there is just more paperwork and document review that is required. Often a closing is like a ‘hurry up and wait’ situation where there is a rush to get documents signed and supporting info to the lender and title company followed by a long period of waiting. During this time your Realtor will keep you up to date on the situation and let you know if there is anything else that needs to be done.
An official closing happens after a transfer of ownership for the property occurs (either to the buyer or the buyer’s lender) and the seller has all the money for the property in their account. If the seller owes any money on a mortgage for the property, the seller’s lender will automatically receive the money to pay off the loan first and the seller will receive the remaining profit.
Why Should You Work With a Texas Land Specialist From Land Up?
Selling your land may not be rocket science but it can be more complex than one might think, and there are differences between land sales and home sales that require someone knowledgeable to handle those subtleties. That’s why it’s important to work with a land specialist who knows the ins and outs of selling land in Central Texas.
When you are ready to sell, contact Land Up Realty and we will connect with one of our Texas Land Specialists who will help guide you through the selling process every step of the way. Our agents sold over 2,200 acres of Central Texas land in 2021 and have the experience to get you the most amount of money for your property in the least amount of time.
At Land Up, we sell Central Texas so give us a call and let us help you get the most for your land while the market is still hot!