Are Land Acquisitions Seasonal (1023)
Are Land Acquisitions Seasonal (1023)
Transcript:
Steven Butala: Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit: Good day.
Steven Butala: Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit: And I’m Jill DeWit broadcasting from sunny southern California.
Steven Butala: Today, Jill and I talk about are land acquisitions seasonal?
Jill DeWit: Are they?
Steven Butala: I don’t really think so, and I know you do.
Jill DeWit: Oh, yeah [inaudible 00:00:22] been the opposite.
Steven Butala: What?
Jill DeWit: Wait a minute. You’re the one who used to think that it stopped over the holidays, and I used to have to talk you out of it.
Steven Butala: We’ll talk about it in a second.
Jill DeWit: Oh, he’s changed. He’s come over to my side now.
Steven Butala: I think there’s opportunity all the time. I don’t however, I do see huge dips in land sales during holidays and stuff.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Butala: Jill disagrees.
Jill DeWit: We’ll talk.
Steven Butala: I think houses sell like hotcakes during those… We’ll figure it out.
Jill DeWit: We’ll talk.
Steven Butala: Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the LandInvestors.com online community. It’s free.
Jill DeWit: Marcus asks, “I offered $73,000.00-”
Steven Butala: $73,632.00.
Jill DeWit: $73,632.00, okay.
Steven Butala: $73,000.00 dollars actually.
Jill DeWit: Okay. “I need funding for 59 acres in east central Tennessee. The owner inherited the property and accepted the price on LandsofAmerica.com,” the land selling website, “In the town that this parcel sits, there are 11 comps in the 50-65 acre range, and the cheapest being $125,000.00 for 58 acres. So I’m thinking there may be a way to get this done. However, near the road the property surrounds a trailer that sits on it, on its own two acres, and it appears that the owner has made a mess.”
Jill DeWit: Okay, so we have a couple of things going on here. Number one, we’re talking about just the offer price and what’s out there available so I’m going to address that first. If the cheapest out there is $125,000.00 for the similar size, similar property, area, and you’ve looked everywhere and you’ve come up with at least 10 comps let’s say and this is the cheapest of those 10, I still want to be under that one. So you need to get it at a good price that you can make enough profit and be under that.
Jill DeWit: In this situation, if you’re buying it for $73,000.00 then you’re not going to double your money because you’re not going to be under it. But maybe you’ll be happy making $30,000.00, and that would work.
Steven Butala: Like I said-
Jill DeWit: Buy it for $73,000.00, sell it for $103,000.00. You’re cheaper than everybody else out there. I’m good with that.
Steven Butala: Me too.
Jill DeWit: The second thing is that the property surrounds a trailer. That’s very interesting. So it’s not actually on the property, but nearby, somebody made a mess. You know, how do I think about this? Not too much.
Steven Butala: I read this that somebody’s making a mess on his property.
Jill DeWit: It’s near the road… However, near the road. The property surrounds a trailer that sits on its own two acres-
Steven Butala: [crosstalk 00:03:01]. Oh, I see.
Jill DeWit: And apparently the owner has made a mess.
Steven Butala: Okay.
Jill DeWit: So basically, we have a messy neighbor. You know what? Let’s think about this. Two acres, and it’s 59 acres. Could I find somewhere to position my house on 59 acres so I don’t look at the messy two acres? I probably could.
Steven Butala: Yep.
Jill DeWit: I think I could.
Steven Butala: A bigger question is, what’s this neighborhood like, and does it justify the price?
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: I’m not a big fan of listening to everybody’s personal story before I buy a property.
Jill DeWit: True.
Steven Butala: It’s really about dollars per square foot or dollars per acre, depending on where you’re looking.
Jill DeWit: That’s true.
Steven Butala: It looks like this deal passes all the tests.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: It’s impossible for us to say, “Yeah, you should absolutely buy it,” without really looking at the mapping situation, the flooding situation and all that. But this looks like a darn good deal. The neighbor situation, to directly answer your question, couldn’t care less.
Jill DeWit: Yep, thank you.
Steven Butala: Today’s topic, are land acquisitions seasonal? This is the meat of the show.
Jill DeWit: Back in the day when we started bills together years, and years, and years ago, I remember you had experienced holiday slumps, I think, and things like that. You used to say back in the day that you would almost close down the office for two weeks over Christmas.
Steven Butala: We did close the office down, and every single time we did it… We don’t do that anymore. Every single time we did it, I’m like this is probably the end of my career.
Jill DeWit: Because you didn’t think it would come back.
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Oh my gosh.
Steven Butala: The phones stopped ringing. No one was calling back on the mailers. Everything we were selling on the Internet went dark. [crosstalk 00:04:38].
Jill DeWit: Well, I came along and I’m like, “We’re not doing that.” And you know what? Guess what? In the whole experience of Land Academy, we’ve talked about this several times with our members, most of them do not also, and we’ve all had discussions about this in great detail and our member calls. A lot of people can stand up say, “Yeah, I sold that one on Christmas Eve. I sold that one on Christmas Day. I sold that one the day after Christmas.”
Jill DeWit: So I personally do not see any real tragic holiday depressions. Having said that, there are times that things do slow down. I have totally noticed that. We were just talking about it in June. The kids were getting out school, graduations and things like that. Several of us noticed a little bit of a decline, not like close up shop, but a little bit decline on sales. Big deal. And then it comes right back.
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: When people are going back to school, maybe a little bit of that, but it’s nothing worth closing up shop because it’s funny you say that, and then you’re like… Like we were just talking about, and then you find you’re eating your words, and you sell a property on Christmas. You’re like, “Never mind.” The seasonal part, with the snow, I do know based on your experience that most people when they’re looking at property, they’re not looking to buy the snow blasted tundra that they can’t get to three months out of the year.
Jill DeWit: So when you post a property for sale, even though that’s an accurate description of the property right now and today, those are not the photos I would put on there to show what the property looks like. I would put photos to show what’s possible. So, find some photos of the area. Blue sky, things like that. Of like, “Look how dreamy this is in May,” kind of thing. And, “Look when the flowers are blooming on your gorgeous property.” That’s what I would do.
Steven Butala: Jill’s from California, and let’s face it, she doesn’t understand seasons. I’m from Michigan.
Jill DeWit: That’s [inaudible 00:06:36] right now. What’s the seasons? It’s great and then it’s January, that’s about it.
Steven Butala: It’s 68 where we live in the winter time, and 72 in the summer time. Like, it’s a big change for Jill. Trust me. It’s a huge wardrobe change and a lot of talking about cold and hot.
Jill DeWit: Thank you. What kind of a sweater do I need today? Like a full on windbreaker? Or just a light sweater? Will a jean jacket cut it?
Steven Butala: I’m from Michigan so in the winter it’s 20 below, and in the summer it’s 110 with 100% humidity. Here’s the facts, it’s tougher to sell rural vacant land and infill lots in the winter time because there’s no real development that goes on at that time. For the same reason, we used to track as crazy as it sounds, track the crime rate in Detroit when the weather got good and it just goes through the ceiling.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: So people just get out. They get let out of their cage.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: So yes, I believe that while it’s not going to make or break your career, there’s some seasonal issues that go on with land sells. Not land acquisitions, but land sells.
Jill DeWit: Okay. Hey, I posted this about land acquisitions, so a nice little tip. It’s fun towards the end of the year. It’s easier to get properties. People want to get them off their books, get paid out for the end of the year. Also tax time.
Steven Butala: Yeah, that’s great.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: Actually, Jill that’s actually well said.
Jill DeWit: I had a lot of good things at the end of the year, and I swear between Christmas and New Year’s, that’s it. I really think that I see a lot of sales happening right between them-
Steven Butala: I agree with you.
Jill DeWit: I always used to joke that. Christmas is over. The presents are open. The kids are home. Dad’s hiding in his office looking for property.
Steven Butala: Yeah, or whatever his hobby is.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. Thank you.
Steven Butala: Hey, we know your time’s valuable. Thanks for spending some of it with us today. Join us next time for another interesting episode.
Jill DeWit: And we answer your questions posted on our online community found at LandInvestors.com. It is free.
Steven Butala: You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit: That’s good.
Steven Butala: [inaudible 00:08:44]
Jill DeWit: I think. Let me check. I think I do. Thank you for asking. Oh, yeah. Check this out. Hey, this is not enough of seeing us. You can really see us and meet us, and hang with us, and learn from us in person. Check out LandInvestorsLive.com. It is not sold out. We’re about I think halfway there. Check it out. LandInvestorsLive.com. It’s a live event that we are doing. We do one a year, the first weekend in October. And it’s awesome.
Steven Butala: They always sell out.
Jill DeWit: Yeah, oh it will sell out.
Steven Butala: Every event we’ve ever done, it sells out.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Steven Butala: It’s a blast. We’ve got our advanced members will be there giving presentations on their little niches and stuff. So it’s not just Jill and I. It’s a lot of other people in the industry that really understand this left and right. If you’re serious about your career as a land investor, there’s no other event like this.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: Anywhere in the country.
Jill DeWit: What’s funny about this is we say, and Steven will say here in a minute, “You’re not alone in your real estate ambition,” this is the way to see that you’re not alone.
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Come to a live event. You’ll be filled with a room of people that are really doing this with you, and you’ll learn that you’re not alone. And maybe if you need a business partner, or there’s something missing in your set up, you might meet that person there. It happens all the time.
Steven Butala: Yep.
Jill DeWit: Wherever you’re watching, wherever you’re listening, please subscribe and rate us there.
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