Selling land in Florida is not an easy task. When we often think of selling real estate in Florida, we think of houses or condos. These are real estate opportunities most market buyers understand well. Land, however, usually requires a certain type of buyer. Most buyers don’t have the time, financial considerations, or foresight to invest in a piece of land, especially if it’s vacant land.
But there are ways to entice buyers and find new ways to sell land in Florida. One of them is to consider selling your land online. There are a lot of advantages to selling Florida land this way. First and foremost, it puts your land in front of a worldwide audience, not just those in your Florida town or county, which ups the number of eyeballs you’ll get on it. Digital technology also provides you with plenty of tools to make your land stand out from the crowd and be shown in the best way possible. If you’re wondering “how to sell land fast,” this could be the answer.
Of course, the easiest way to sell land in Florida is to sell to a cash buyer like Sell Your Gainesville Home Today. Don’t be fooled by the name as we also buy land as well. Plus, we pay cash. But if you want to give selling land on the market a try, here’s how you can sell your land online in Florida.
Florida Land Owner Laws
When it comes to selling land in Florida, it’s important to understand the landowner laws in the state.
One thing you need to be very clear on is the land use and zoning regulations in your town, city, or county. These control how your land can be used and what can be developed on it. Every local government in Florida has its own land-use laws and you’ll find them in the city or county land use development codes or zoning ordinances. If your land is located in a rural area, it is more likely to be under the jurisdiction of county rules. And if your land is farmland, you might be dealing with stricter regulations than if it were just a vacant lot.
Adverse possession is something all landowners need to be aware of in Florida. If you have someone living on your land, that could present some real legal problems for you if you intend to sell it. Adverse possession gives a trespassing person the right to gain the tile of the land if they’ve been allowed to live there for so long that removing them would cause some kind of hardship. In other words, if you haven’t bothered taking care of the land for years but someone else has been using it without any problem, the state may simply give them ownership over you. That will screw up your plans to sell your Florida land, so make sure any potential adverse possession problem is sorted out first before you sell.
Selling Land By Yourself
When it comes to selling land by yourself, sometimes referred to as For Sale By Owner, you’re going to want to be very clear about the land-selling process in Florida.
The first thing you need to do is figure out what the market value of your land currently is. The easiest way to do this is to hire an appraiser, who will evaluate your land and give you a dollar figure. That costs money, so if you want to avoid that you can do your own research and try to figure out the market price on your own. You probably won’t be as exact as the expert, so keep that in mind when setting your price. You’ll need to compare your land to nearby property sales while also incorporating potential land uses and any nearby properties or amenities that could affect the value.
Once you decide on a listing price, you should consider if you plan to offer seller financing or a land contract. Doing so may attract more market buyers because it means they don’t have to have enough cash available or get a mortgage loan in order to purchase it. That said, this means you won’t get the full amount of the sale price right away. Instead, you’re effectively becoming the lender with a payment schedule that the buyer needs to honor. It’s possible they could stop making payments and then things can get awkward for you.
When selling your Florida land, you’ll want to work on curb appeal just like you would with a house. You want people driving by to stop and think about buying the property, so if there’s something you can do to make it look nicer, you should do that. That could include mowing grass, trimming bushes, clearing debris, or putting up clear property markers.
If you’re selling land on the market, you might consider hiring a real estate agent. You’d want to hire someone with expertise in selling land in your Florida region. In theory, they should be able to get you the money you want, but remember that real estate agents take a commission fee for their services. That means you’re going to have to pay around four-to-six percent of the sale price to the real estate agent, who then splits that with the buyer agent.
Selling Land To a Developer
One way to avoid the hassle of selling Florida land on the market is to sell it to a developer. Developers have an interest in vacant or unused land so they can build something on the property, like housing or retail complexes. Ideally, your land will be close to infrastructure and utility services so that it’s easy for them to set up shop there. But if not, you should find out how far away those things are so they get a sense of what to expect.
Some things you’ll want to make clear to developers include the zoning laws around the property, any nearby projects already in development that might create problems for them, and anything else that they’d want to know before committing to purchase your Florida land for their projects. They’ll do their own research but the more you can provide to them the more likely they are to be interested.
How to Sell Land By Yourself Online
Selling land by yourself is tough but if you focus on selling your Florida land online you might be surprised how much easier it can be. There are a lot of tools and video opportunities that will end up doing the heavy lifting for you and bringing your land to way more people than otherwise.
Use Social Media Advertising
One of the best ways to promote your Florida land when selling it online is to take advantage of social media advertising. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so many other social media platforms offer advertising opportunities and they all allow you to target the exact demographic you’re looking for. So if you want to make your money count, you can buy an ad on Facebook that is only seen by people in Florida who have expressed interest in land buying, you can do that. It costs money but it’s a way to control how much and where you spend it.
Be Honest When Writing Land Descriptions
Just like with any Florida real estate, it’s in your best interest to be truthful and honest when writing descriptions about your land. Yes, you want to call attention to all the potential uses and exciting things about the land, but you don’t want to lie. Remember that someone interested in buying land is doing so for a reason, so just put the focus on the land’s potential. How can it be developed? What are some great opportunities waiting to be discovered? What will people who own the land be close to? Play up all of the nearby amenities and anything else that will excite people, but don’t be misleading.
Take Lots’ of Pictures
Selling land online is all about being visual. Just like with a Florida house, you should hire a professional photographer who can capture the ideal angles and scenes that make your land stand out amongst the other online listings. Don’t be afraid to play around with lighting as a photo in sunset can really spark excitement about the feeling of being there. Just take it easy with the filters because you don’t want to create unrealistic ideas of what the land is actually like.
Make a Virtual tour Video
If nothing else, your online land listing needs a virtual video. You can consider hiring a drone operator to get some great overhead footage from a drone. Aerial images are arresting and make land really pop. The bird’s eye view also gives potential buyers a good sense of the land’s scope.
Highlight Weak and Strong Points
Don’t be afraid to highlight both the strong and weak points of your Florida land. Yes, you need to make sure you’re selling the land and its potential but, again, don’t make promises you can’t keep. So if you don’t think the land would make sense for certain types of buyers or opportunities, be honest about that. If the land doesn’t come with any utilities nearby or has some dilapidated buildings, that’s okay to point out. A motivated buyer will still be interested.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s possible to sell your land online in Florida. However, if you want to avoid the costs, the hassles that come with listing land, and the fees you’ll have to pay a real estate agent, reach out to Sell Your Gainesville House Today. We’ll buy your land for cash, we won’t ask you to change anything, and we won’t charge you any commissions. Plus we can close the sale as fast as you like. Contact us today for a free quote!