Last week we covered how to get a lot ready to list. This week we wanna talk about how actually to market it once it’s on the market.

There’s a lot of advice (tons of it) out there for selling a home. But where can you turn when you’re trying to sell a piece of land someone can build on? Here. You can come to us because we work with people who always sell lots.

Tactics for selling a lot vs. a home are completely different. The audience you market to is different, your conversations are different, and the buyer has completely different goals. Let's talk about how you can sell a lot of land, and how you can make it easier

Here are some quick tips to get your lot SOLD:

1. The lot’s “It” factor … We’ll start with the most important thing—what about this specific lot that will elicit emotion? Is it because it’s in a great school district? Is it conveniently located close to grocery stores and other shopping? Or is it more because of the size and all the freedom that allows (horses, ATVs, etc) the wooded setting, the rolling farmland, the stream running through the backyard? Your lot has an “it” factor. And that’s what you should spend your time talking about.
2. Talk to Bob the Builder … Reach out to local builders in the area. They may be working with a client who is still looking for land or may even be interested. They could want to work with you on marketing a “paper spec.” A paper spec is a hypothetical house. The builder takes one of their plans and uses that base price to market what it would cost to build on that lot. This allows you to market it both as a land listing and a residential listing.
3. Don’t forget about investors … many investors focus primarily on building new homes rather than buying rental properties or flipping fixer-uppers.
4. Stalk real estate agents … Research your local MLS to see which agents seem to take the most land listings. Chances are if they work with many land sellers, they also work with many land buyers. (Hint, they might have a buyer for you.)
5. Do the work for your buyer … A lot of potential buyers will be curious about taxes. So do some homework on the real estate taxes for the area, in particular making calculations on what estimated taxes would be on a finished home at different purchase prices.
6. Be the imagination … Help buyers see the potential. Make sure that the lot’s boundaries are clearly marked with fresh, bright-colored ribbons on stakes. If possible, ask for the prospective home location and septic location to be marked as well.
7. Make it pretty … If the lot is grassy, ensure your seller cuts it often during the growing season. If it is a wooded lot, ask the seller to clear out the underbrush as best as possible. It’s hard to sell a lot that a prospective buyer is unwilling to walk on!
8. Easy Access … If possible, ask the seller to create space for buyers to pull off the road and park on the lot. The chances of someone stopping to take a closer look will greatly increase if they feel there is an easy and safe place to pull off the road onto.
9. Again, for emphasis … We covered this in the first point, but it’s worth saying again: talk about what makes the lot special. And talk about it everywhere. Put it all over social media, and list it in the MLS, Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, etc. Don’t miss an opportunity to brag about what you’re selling. This list assumes that you’ll do that and provides all the extra touches to help. But social media is baseline marketing. Use it.

Bryan Entrekin is our East Region Sales Manager and Director of On Your Land Sales here at Berks Homes. He has been practicing real estate since 2003, specializing in new construction sales at Berks Homes since 2005. He’s been getting promoted over and over within our sales team for the past 15 years. He knows home building and he knows how to sell. Give Bryana follow on Instagramand look for more articles like this from him in the future!