My dream is to become a real estate developer. How much do I know about real estate development? Not a whole lot. I’m a beginner, and that’s the point of this series. I want to take you along with me on my journey to becoming a professional real estate developer. Whether or not my dream comes true, I know I will learn a lot along the way.
Buying Land:
Once I decided I wanted to become a real estate developer, I went on Zillow in search of land. To my great surprise the up front cost of buying land was relatively inexpensive. However, I learned price is often reflected in the area the land is located in and the utilities available. I am sure there are more factors, but those are the two major factors that I can recall off the top of my head. With that being said, a lot of the land that was relatively inexpensive was in a remote area and did not have utilities available like water, electricity, or a sewer system. I also learned about zoning laws and regulations, as well as what an SPDS is.
Although the land was on the cheaper side, I still didn’t have the amount of cash needed to purchase the land up front, especially with the additional costs that come with buying through a real estate agency on Zillow. I was getting pretty discouraged because the real estate agents typically charged a high interest fee if the seller was willing to finance the property.
Fortunately, while I was going through this struggle I was watching a YouTube video by a YouTuber named SimplySimona. She mentioned that she bought her land off of Facebook Marketplace. I think I had heard her mention it before in a video and dismissed it because I wanted to buy through Zillow rather than possibly falling for a scam on Facebook Marketplace. However, when I heard it again it really resonated with me because I knew I wanted to buy land sooner rather than later.
I went onto Facebook Marketplace and searched for land and messaged a handful of people about the land they were selling. I did come across a few that looked like they could be part of a scam, and I avoided those ones. I ended up finding someone who was selling 1.16 acres of land who seemed like a legitimate seller, so I messaged him and asked him for an SPDS and more information.
The guy selling the property got back to me and gave me more information. I then had Robert call and talk to him to ask him follow-up questions and to make sure he wasn’t trying to scam me. The phone call went great! I wasn’t charged an interest rate and he was willing to finance the property. I signed the contract for the property the next day At the time, I hadn’t looked at the property (I do not recommend), but there was a 90 day return policy.
On December 27th 2024, Robert drove me a little over 3hrs to go look at the property I bought. Unfortunately, the road that was supposed to lead to the land was practically nonexistent. The “road” was really just tire tracks going through the land. I use the term “through” loosely because someone started to build in the middle of the “road”. We had to get out and walk the rest of the way to my land. In addition, the land was not flat like it should have been and it had a HUGE wash in the middle of it. For me, the lack of physical access to the land was a deal breaker along with the wash. I will post a photo of me at the property below.
I was pretty disappointed to have to call it quits on that land because I wanted it to work out so bad. But, I did it anyway. I messaged the seller and told him everything. He was very kind and wanted to make it right, so he offered me a new property with better road access for the same price the next day. I was bummed because the new property was an additional hour away from me. On the plus side, the property did look nice from the photos, so I told the seller I would go and look at it when I got a chance.
I had been telling my grandma about the properties and she said she wanted to come see the new one with us. I was so excited because I love spending time with my grandma – she’s so fun! She really makes my days so much brighter. So, on January 5th, we all went down to see my new property. The road leading up to my property was a long winding dirt road, but at least it was a road. Although I will say we were skeptical at first because there was a very narrow part of a road with a wash in it, but the road did eventually expand and we were able to avoid the wash. The property itself looked nice. It was beautiful, and once I got there and was able to take a look around, I decided that the property was worth it despite the road being far less than ideal.
My hope is that once that area grows, the road will be paved, and maybe one day the road will even be paved with asphalt! That would be great! I will post pictures of me at my property down below.
Now, I am waiting for the seller to create a new contract for me to sign tomorrow. Once that happens, I am going to pay a surveyor to come out and mark the land that way I know exactly where my property begins and ends before I work on clearing the land.
Thanks for reading Becoming a Real Estate Developer: Post 1 “Buying Land. I hope you tune in again next time! 🙂