Process
Four steps, and you can stop at any of them.
Nothing is binding until you sign a purchase agreement. Up to that point you are getting free research on your own parcel.
- 01
You tell us about the parcel
State, county, and parcel number is enough to start. If you do not have the APN, the county assessor site will have it under your name — or we will find it for you.
- 02
We research it
We pull the assessor and recorder records, check zoning and access, look at what comparable parcels actually sold for, and confirm who is on the deed. This is the step that takes real time, and it is where most of the number comes from.
- 03
You get an offer and the reasoning
Usually within 24 hours of us having what we need. The offer is a specific figure, not a range, and it comes with what we based it on. There is no obligation and no pressure to answer quickly.
- 04
A title company closes it
Title is examined, any liens or delinquent taxes are settled from the proceeds, and documents are recorded. Most closings are remote — you sign with a notary wherever you are. Funds are wired when it records.
How we make money
We contract to purchase land for our own account. Our return comes from what we do with it afterwards, not from you.
We are not a broker, we do not represent you, and we do not charge a fee — so nothing is deducted from your side at closing and the number we quote is the number you receive. Some parcels we hold, some we improve and resell, and on some we assign the purchase contract to another buyer before closing.
What you are buying with a direct sale is certainty and speed: a specific number now, no carrying costs while it sits, no commission, and no repairs or reports to fund out of pocket. Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on your situation, and it is not always the right call. If listing it would genuinely serve you better, we will say so.
What happens between the offer and the money
The four steps above compress the part that takes the longest. Once a purchase agreement is signed, the file goes to a title company or, in the states that require it, a closing attorney. They run a title search back through the chain of ownership, pull the tax status from the county, and issue a commitment listing what they will insure and what they will not.
That commitment is where problems surface, and on vacant land they surface more often than on houses — land changes hands less, so a defect introduced in 1974 has had fifty years to sit undisturbed. An heir who never signed, a lien that was paid but never released, an easement that was granted verbally. None of those are unusual and most are fixable. You are told what was found and what it will take, rather than the file going quiet.
When title is clear, you sign a deed in front of a notary — in most states that can now be done remotely by video, which is what makes it practical to sell land in a state you have never visited. Funds are wired the same day the deed records, or the next business day.
What we need from you, and what we do not
To make an offer we need enough to identify the parcel and check it: the state and county, and ideally the parcel number. If you do not have the parcel number, the address or a description of where it is will normally be enough for us to find it in the county records.
We do not need photographs, a survey, an appraisal, a cleared lot, or anything paid for in advance. If anyone asks you for an upfront fee, an application fee or a payment to release funds, that is not how any legitimate land purchase works.
When we are the wrong buyer
A direct sale is a trade of price for certainty, and there are parcels where the trade does not favour the seller. Land in a hot submarket with good access and utilities, where a broker can produce competing offers. Entitled development ground, where the value is in approvals a specialist buyer will pay for. Land you are in no hurry to sell and can afford to hold while it is marketed properly.
In those cases listing it is likely to net you more even after commission, and we will say so rather than making an offer you should refuse. We have written the comparison out in full, including where a buyer like us genuinely is the worse choice, in how to choose who to sell your land to.
Questions
Selling land, answered
How long does it take to sell vacant land for cash?
Two to four weeks is typical once a purchase agreement is signed. The work that takes the time is the title search and the county records, not the funding. Where title is clean and the county records promptly, it can be shorter; where there is a probate to open, an heir to locate or an unreleased lien from decades ago, it takes longer than a month and no buyer can honestly promise otherwise.
Who pays the closing costs when you sell land to a land buyer?
We do. Title work, escrow, recording and our own transaction costs come out of our side, and the number in the offer is the number wired to you. Property taxes are prorated to the closing date in the ordinary way, so any unpaid balance for your period of ownership is settled from the proceeds rather than billed to you separately.
Do you need a survey to sell vacant land?
Usually not. Most land sales close on the existing legal description and the recorded plat. A survey becomes necessary when the description is ambiguous, when a boundary is disputed, when a parcel is being split, or when a title insurer requires one to remove the survey exception. Where we need one, we order and pay for it.
What stops a land sale from closing?
Title, almost always. The common causes are an heir who never signed a deed, a mortgage or judgment that was paid but never released, a break in the chain of title, and a parcel with no recorded legal access. All four are findable before closing and most are fixable. What they cost is time.
Can you sell land you inherited but never put in your name?
Not until the transfer is completed on the record. If the estate went through probate and a deed was recorded to you, you can sell. If nothing was ever filed, the land is still legally in the deceased owner’s name and a probate or a small-estate procedure has to run first. The requirement varies by state and by the size of the estate.
Do you have to accept an offer to get one?
No. There is no listing agreement, no exclusivity and no fee, and nothing binds either side until a purchase agreement is signed. If you take our research to a broker and list the parcel instead, that is a legitimate outcome and it costs you nothing.
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.