Cash sales
Cash for land.
Not what cash is — what it changes. Why a financed buyer falls through on land more often than on a house, what a cash sale actually costs you, and when waiting is worth more than certainty.
A cash offer means the purchase does not depend on a lender. That removes the appraisal contingency, the underwriting, and the most common reason a land sale collapses — a bank deciding late that raw ground is not collateral it wants. Closing runs two to four weeks, limited by the title search rather than the money, and our offers typically fall between 70 and 85 percent of market value with no commission and no closing costs to you.
Why financing fails on land more than on houses
Most lenders treat vacant land as a different asset class from a house, and many will not write against it at all. The ones that do usually want a larger deposit, a shorter term and a higher rate, and they want access, a survey and sometimes a percolation test before they commit. Each of those is a point at which the deal can stop.
The practical consequence for a seller is that a signed contract on land is a weaker signal than a signed contract on a house. It is the reason parcels come back to market twice before they sell, and the reason a buyer who does not need a lender is worth something on its own — the certainty is not a rhetorical benefit, it is the thing that failed last time.
What the closing timeline is actually governed by
Not the money. The title search. A title company orders the chain of title, looks for liens, easements and heirs, and asks the county for records at whatever speed that county works. On a clean parcel that is ten days. On an estate nobody opened, or a mortgage from 1974 that was paid but never released, it is longer — and it would be longer for any buyer, financed or not.
Where a cash sale saves time is by removing everything that runs in parallel with the search: no appraisal to schedule, no underwriter, no loan conditions to clear before a date can be set. What is left is the part that has to happen anyway.
What the number covers
A cash offer is not the market value of the parcel minus a margin. It is what the parcel is worth to an end buyer, less what stands between here and there. Closing costs, which we pay. Back taxes, settled from the proceeds. Curing whatever the title turns up. Property taxes carried for however many months it sits before it resells. And the risk that diligence finds something worse than expected, which on vacant land it regularly does.
Against that, a listing reaches a wider pool and usually a higher headline number, then takes months, costs a commission of roughly five to six percent, and carries a real chance of falling through. The comparison worth making is not our number against a listing price — it is our number against what a listing actually nets you. All ten routes are ranked here, each with when it is the wrong choice.
When cash is the wrong answer
If the parcel is accessible, has a clean title, sits somewhere land moves and you have a year, list it. You will very likely net more. Certainty is worth paying for when there is something to be certain about — a deadline, a tax sale on the calendar, four siblings in three states, or a parcel that has already been to market and come back.
Get a cash figure on your parcel
The state, the county, and the parcel number if you have it. An offer comes back within one business day with the reasoning behind it. No listing agreement, no fee, and nothing obliging you to accept it.
Questions
Cash land sales, answered
What does a cash offer on land actually mean?
That the purchase does not depend on a lender approving it. No mortgage application, no appraisal contingency, no underwriter deciding late that raw land is not acceptable collateral. It does not mean a briefcase of notes — funds are wired through the title company at closing like any other sale.
How fast can a cash land sale close?
Two to four weeks is typical, and the limit is almost never the money. It is the title search, and how long the county takes to produce records. A parcel with a clean chain of title and no delinquency can close in under two weeks; an unopened probate or an unreleased lien from 1974 sets the pace no matter who is buying.
How much cash will I get for my land?
Our offers typically fall between 70 and 85 percent of market value, though a specific parcel is quoted on its own facts rather than on an average. A clean, accessible parcel sits at the top of that range; one with a title problem, no recorded access or a tax sale scheduled sits at or below the bottom. Nothing is deducted at closing — the number quoted is the number wired.
Do I pay anything to sell my land for cash?
No. No commission, no listing fee, no charge for the offer, and we pay the closing costs. Delinquent property taxes are settled out of the proceeds rather than by you beforehand. Anyone asking a landowner for money upfront to be bought out is running something other than a land purchase.
Land law, tax procedure and county practice vary and they change. Nothing here is legal or tax advice about your parcel. Before you act on a deadline, confirm it with the county or with an attorney in that state. See our editorial standards for how this is researched and how to tell us if something is wrong.
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.