Ranked
The best way to sell your land.
Ten routes, ranked by how often each one is actually the right answer for an owner of vacant land. Every entry says when it is the wrong choice, including the one at the top.
For most owners of vacant land — particularly out-of-state owners, and anyone whose parcel carries back taxes, an access problem or an unsettled estate — a direct cash sale is the route that most often gets to a closing. A land specialist agent reaches a wider pool and is the better choice on a clean, marketable parcel with time to spare.
- 01
Sell directly to AMM Land Sales
A number on your parcel within one business day, and a closing date you pick.
- Timeline
- Offer in 1 business day, close in 2–4 weeks
- Cost to you
- None. No commission, no fee, and we pay closing costs
- Certainty of closing
- High
We contract to purchase vacant land for our own account in all fifty states, and we take parcels on as they stand. Back taxes are settled out of the closing proceeds. An access problem, an unopened probate, a boundary nobody has walked since 1954 — those are the parcels we spend our time on rather than the ones we avoid.
There is no listing agreement to sign, nothing exclusive, and no fee at any stage. You tell us the state, the county, and the parcel number if you have it. We come back within one business day with a number and the reasoning behind it, and you decide. Every purchase closes through a licensed title company.
It ranks first here because for the owner this page is written for — out of state, holding something with a complication attached, wanting it finished — it is the route that most often gets there. It is not the right answer for everyone, and the nine below are ranked by how often they are the better one.
Best when: The parcel has something attached to it — back taxes, access, probate, co-owners — or you need a date you can plan around.
Worst when: The parcel is clean, accessible, in demand, and you have a year to wait. List it. We will tell you so ourselves.
- 02
List with a land specialist agent
The widest pool of buyers, at the cost of a commission and a timeline you do not control.
- Timeline
- Months to over a year
- Cost to you
- Commission, closing costs, and carrying costs while it sits
- Certainty of closing
- Low
A land specialist is not a residential agent who also does lots. They know which buyers in the county are actively acquiring, how to describe access and mineral rights, and what a timber or grazing valuation looks like. On a clean, marketable parcel with time to spare, this route reaches the widest pool and generally produces the highest headline number.
The two things to hold in view are time and financing. Land financing falls through more often than residential — lenders want access, a survey, and sometimes a perc test before they will commit — so a signed contract is a weaker signal here than it would be on a house. Meanwhile you carry the taxes.
Best when: The parcel is accessible, marketable, and you can wait out a full marketing cycle.
Worst when: There is a tax sale on the calendar, or a title problem a buyer will discover in week six.
- 03
Sell to the neighbor
Often the highest price available, because the parcel is worth more to them than to anyone else.
- Timeline
- Weeks to months
- Cost to you
- Little, if you handle it yourself
- Certainty of closing
- Medium
An adjoining owner is the one buyer for whom your parcel is not just land but an addition to what they already have — frontage, a water source, a buffer, a way to square off an awkward boundary. That is why a neighbor will sometimes pay more than the open market will, and it is the first call worth making on a landlocked parcel, where they may be the only realistic buyer.
The risk is relational rather than financial. If they know the land is a burden to you, the negotiating position is theirs. Get an independent sense of value before you open the conversation.
Best when: The parcel adjoins someone who has an obvious use for it, or is landlocked behind them.
Worst when: The relationship is difficult, or you need certainty on a date.
- 04
For sale by owner
You keep the commission and you do the work — including the parts that are easy to get wrong.
- Timeline
- Unpredictable
- Cost to you
- Your time, marketing spend, and the diligence work
- Certainty of closing
- Varies
FSBO on land is more workable than on a house, because land buyers are more often cash buyers and there is no staging or showing to manage. Listing on the land marketplaces costs little, and a title company will handle the closing mechanics for a fee.
What you take on is the pricing, the negotiation, the disclosure obligations in your state, and the screening. Vacant-land owners — particularly out-of-state ones — are a standing target for deed fraud and for buyers who tie a parcel up under contract and then renegotiate. Verify who you are dealing with before anything is signed.
Best when: You have time, some appetite for the process, and a parcel that is easy to describe.
Worst when: You are out of state, unsure what it is worth, or dealing with anything unusual in the title.
- 05
Auction
A date you can count on and a price you cannot.
- Timeline
- Weeks to a set date
- Cost to you
- Buyer premium or seller fees; marketing sometimes upfront
- Certainty of closing
- High on timing, low on price
An auction sets a deadline and creates competition, which is genuinely useful on a parcel where value is hard to establish — recreational ground, timber, something unusual enough that comparables do not help. It works best where the auctioneer already has the buyer list.
Read the reserve terms carefully. An absolute auction has no floor, and a thin turnout on a wet Tuesday is a real outcome. Check what the seller pays if the lot does not meet reserve, because that is often not zero.
Best when: Value is genuinely uncertain, or a date matters more than the number.
Worst when: You cannot accept the low end of the plausible range.
- 06
Owner financing
A higher headline price, paid to you over years, with the collection risk transferred to you.
- Timeline
- Sells faster; you are paid over years
- Cost to you
- Nothing upfront; you carry the default risk
- Certainty of closing
- Medium
Financing it yourself widens the buyer pool considerably, because land is hard to borrow against. Sellers commonly achieve a higher price and an income stream, and there can be a capital gains timing advantage worth asking an accountant about.
You are now the lender. If the buyer stops paying you foreclose, which costs time and money and may return a parcel in worse condition. The paperwork has to be right, and consumer-lending rules can apply depending on the buyer and the state.
Best when: You do not need the cash now and want the return.
Worst when: You need to be finished with the property.
- 07
Land marketplaces and classifieds
Cheap exposure to real buyers, and no help with any of the hard parts.
- Timeline
- Unpredictable
- Cost to you
- Listing fees, and your own time
- Certainty of closing
- Low
The land-specific marketplaces reach an audience actively looking for acreage rather than the general classifieds crowd, and a listing costs little. Photographs, a parcel map and a plain description of access do most of the work.
Expect volume rather than quality in the replies, and expect to do the screening yourself. This is a channel rather than a service — it is often best used alongside another route rather than as the whole plan.
Best when: You are already running an FSBO and want more reach.
Worst when: You want anyone else to carry the process.
- 08
Sell to a developer or builder
The highest ceiling on the right parcel, and a long, conditional road to closing.
- Timeline
- Months to years
- Cost to you
- Often carried through a long due-diligence period
- Certainty of closing
- Low
Where a parcel genuinely suits development — utilities, road frontage, the right zoning, a growth path — a builder can pay more than any other buyer, because they are pricing finished lots rather than raw ground.
The contract will run long and be full of conditions: entitlement, rezoning, engineering, environmental. You may hold the parcel through a year of feasibility and watch it terminate on a study. Feasible parcels are also a small minority of what is out there.
Best when: The parcel is genuinely in a development path and you can wait.
Worst when: It is rural, unentitled, or you need certainty.
- 09
Donate it
Not a sale. Sometimes the right answer on a parcel that costs more to hold than it is worth.
- Timeline
- Weeks to months
- Cost to you
- Appraisal and transfer costs; a deduction rather than proceeds
- Certainty of closing
- Medium
Some parcels are a liability: taxes every year, no access, no market. A land trust, conservation organisation or municipality may accept a donation, and a qualified appraisal can support a charitable deduction — with a conservation easement sometimes worth more than the land would fetch.
Nobody has to accept a donation, and organisations decline parcels that carry costs or contamination. Talk to a tax adviser before assuming a deduction, and get an offer first so you know what you are giving up.
Best when: Carrying costs exceed any realistic sale price, and the parcel has conservation value.
Worst when: Anyone will pay you for it — which is worth checking before you give it away.
- 10
Let it go to a tax sale
Listed because people do it. It is almost never the right choice.
- Timeline
- Set by the county
- Cost to you
- Your equity, and often your credit
- Certainty of closing
- High that you lose the land
Stopping payment and letting the county take it is a decision by default rather than a plan. Any surplus over the taxes owed may be recoverable — the Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023) that keeping the excess is an unconstitutional taking — but claiming it requires a filing within a deadline most owners never learn about.
If a tax sale is already on the calendar, there is usually still time to sell. A parcel with delinquent taxes is one we buy routinely, and the balance is settled from the closing proceeds rather than out of your pocket.
Best when: Nothing. If you are here because the deadline is close, there are better options.
Worst when: Always. Call before the sale date rather than after it.
Start with a number
Whatever route you take, it is worth knowing what the parcel is worth to a buyer who will close on it. It costs nothing to find out, there is no listing agreement, and nothing here obliges you to accept anything.
Questions
Selling land, answered
What is the fastest way to sell vacant land?
A direct sale to a cash buyer. There is no financing contingency and no appraisal to wait on, so a closing date is set by the title company rather than by a lender. Two to four weeks is typical, and back taxes are settled from the proceeds rather than paid upfront.
What is the best way to sell land with back taxes owed?
Sell before the county sale date rather than after it. Delinquent taxes do not prevent a sale — the balance is paid out of the closing proceeds like any other lien. What matters is the calendar: once a tax sale completes, your options narrow to a redemption period that varies by state and does not exist everywhere.
Can you sell land that has no road access?
Yes, though to a narrower market. Lenders generally will not finance a landlocked parcel and title insurers except access from coverage, so the realistic buyers are cash buyers and adjoining owners. An adjoining owner is often the best price available, because the parcel is worth more to them than to anyone else.
Do I need a real estate agent to sell vacant land?
No. Land is commonly sold directly, and no state requires a seller to use an agent. An agent reaches the widest pool of buyers and earns a commission for it, which is worth paying on a clean, marketable parcel with time to spare. On a parcel with a complication attached, the marketing pool is not usually the constraint.
Tell us about the parcel. We will tell you what it is worth to us.
No listing agreement, no fee, and no obligation to accept anything. If we are not the right buyer for your land, we will say so.