I’m Steven Jack Butala.

I’m Jill DeWit, and this is the Land Academy Show.

This is episode number 2194. Jill and I talk about what the land and house seller profile looks like in mid-2025.

I’ve been talking to people. I have a lot to share.

Before we get into this show, right before we turn the camera and the mic on, Jill was explaining to me if she could theoretically go anywhere in the world next week, where would you go?

You threw out Paris, and I said no. What was your second one? I can’t remember what you said.

Singapore.

I’m like, “No.” I do want to go, but I want to go somewhere and be on a Mediterranean island, like in Greece, chilling by the pool and being a little bit pampered.

What does pampered mean? I have a lot of questions because we can go do this tomorrow.

This is what pampered means.

Vacation Dream Discussion

I’d like to know what a good trip is for you.

Good morning, Ms. DeWit. Your massage is all set for 11:00. Great, thank you. When you’re done, do you want your lunch by the pool like you did yesterday? Yes, I do.

That’s not what I want ever, by anybody.

That’s what makes you great, Jack.

This isn’t about me. What else? How long would you stay there? What would you do? Would you go to a movie? Would you go to a museum?

No. I’d be reading a book, enjoying this stuff, but there’d be a dress-up dinner in town and an amazing fish, all broiled in an amazing Mediterranean salad, a Greek salad.

Would you buy a new outfit for this?

It would just be the most adorable sundress and sandals.

Sometimes, I don’t know who you are, Jill.

A big floppy hat and a cute purse, a woven purse.

This is never going to end, right?

Let’s just go back. I can go into that great detail. I bet you can if I asked you to tell me about the next motorcycle or tell me about something you want for your artillery that you haven’t found and you want to collect.

What I would do next week, if you weren’t around, or maybe with you, but I don’t know, is this the place to have this meeting?

Anyway, what would you do next week?

I’d take the truck camper. I would put my 1 or 2 favorite fishing rods in it. I’d probably go to Greer, Arizona, or Alpine, which is the central eastern part of the state, where there are a bunch of lakes that I haven’t seen in a lot of years and maybe book a spot. I would ask 3 or 4 of my guy friends who have control of their time, who are about my age. They would all say no because it’s short notice. I know this. I would put the small motorcycle on the front of the truck camper and both of my electric bikes on the back of the truck. I would just pack all the equipment and go have a blast.

Again, that’s your version of cute sandals, sundress. What are you eating, by the way?

I’ll go to Walmart.

There we go.

Either that, or even better yet, if there’s any type of transportation, or if it’s close enough to a restaurant or a bar, I would probably seek that out.

Is there any whiskey involved?

Yes.

See?

There can’t be any driving, so I would have to figure that out. I would probably figure out a bicycle scenario there.

You would have that figured out, even if you’re just drinking whiskey by a campfire.

That would happen for sure. That might be better.

There we go. I’m glad we got that. See, so you have your own version of it.

I would never run out of stuff to do things like that, ever. Earlier, we were talking about getting on an airplane and a whole scenario because I have a little short list of stuff. We’re pretty much effectively retired about what you would do in an international setting. There are three things that I think you do when you go to Paris, or I don’t care.

We’ll get to the topic in a few minutes.

We will talk about land eventually. You either eat or drink, Jill covered that in her little fantasy, sightseeing.

I did not have that in there.

Let me put dress up here. You either eat or drink, I don’t care who you are, you go sightseeing, or you sit in your hotel room. If you’re lucky and you’re with the right person, you might roll some activities in there. Activities may include renting a boat, renting a Vespa, maybe, if you’re in Europe, or anywhere, riding bikes, socializing, which is what Jill wants to do, or taking some classes.

I want to see the locals. Dress up is not in there, I have to say. I normally just pack what works. A couple of shorts, jeans, tops, and something for a nice dinner out. That’s it. It’s not about a wardrobe.

You’re from Phoenix, going to get on an international flight to Tokyo. Describe what happens when you leave the front door of the house.

I enjoy every minute of it.

No, come on.

No, it’s getting too long. I want to get to the show. We can save it.

We’ll talk about it.

All week, we came up with some topics around talking to sellers right now because the landscape is changing. Those of you who know me know what I’m talking about here. Anyway, that’s a little sub thing. The landscape is changing, and you have to change your conversation. We’re going to get to that in a little bit. Here are the topics. We’re talking about what the land and house seller profile looks like in mid-2025. We’re almost there, everyone. Tuesday, how to target land sellers who are most likely to sell below market value. There are a few other nuances that I know that Jack is looking at. Three, what I’m doing differently right now is the first three questions I ask a land seller on the phone. I have changed our script. You need to know this.

There's a ton of property on the market, clearly indicating it's a buyer's market. Share on X

This is unique to this time right now.

It’s not forever. It’s just what’s going on right now. Thursday, how long does it take to flip a property in mid-2025? Friday, we’re going to talk about the profile of the perfect land and house flip in 2025. What do these look like now? We all know numbers are all over the place. There are a lot of things for sale. What do I do, and what does it look like?

Each day on the show, we answer a question from our Land Academy member Discord forum. We take a deep dive into a topic at your request.

Mark wrote, “Has anyone ever done a land sale with a buyer who was using an FHA loan? If so, any issues or concerns to consider? I know it’s not a deal, but the price and the other terms are solid. It would be a good ROI. Although it had only been on the market for three weeks with some other interest, it’s the first offer. I am familiar with FHA requirements and the process for home buyers, but not for first-time lot acquisition. I assume it’s a lot more of a purchase/construction loan. Thanks in advance.” Can I add one point? I want to make this, and I know you have a lot to say. One thing I would say, Mark, no matter what Jack comes out with, no matter what comes out of Jack’s mouth.

That’s her nice way of saying, “Don’t listen to him.”

No, I do agree with that. I am always sure I’m going to agree with everything that you say. My only little note, just to make you feel at ease, is when you lock in on a first offer and you’re not comfortable, have it written in. You’re allowed to take backup offers. That would be my one thing to consider, just to solve it all right there.

Don’t take it off the market.

If you love this offer, depending on how Jack tells you all about that, you can say, “I’m happy to accept your offer. I want it written in, though. I’m still going to keep it on the market. I want to get other offers. If I get a cash offer at/or above what you and I locked in, I get to offer it to you. You’ll get the first right of refusal. Otherwise, I get to pivot over here,” and then everybody breathes. Go ahead.

Bear in mind, we’ve done almost 16,000 APN exchanges, acquisitions, and sales. We’ve never done an FHA loan as a seller because they suck as a seller. The minute we heard, “This is an FHA-backed loan,” we said no. They’re complicated. My question is, “Why, seller, are you pursuing this piece of dirt with an FHA loan?” Usually, the answer is, “Because I’m going to build a house on it.” What FHA loves to do is roll in the deal.

FHA, by the way, is an insurance. It’s the Federal Housing Administration’s way of insuring a loan from a bank. This person went to a regular bank, and then the bank probably said, “You should get FHA insurance on this, and it’s cheaper.” The down payment is less. The bank accepts that because they know if you default on the loan, they get paid. It’s a federally-backed insurance-backed loan. It reduces the risk. The bank can say, “I’ll take less down and maybe even a better interest rate because I know if the worst thing happens, we’re going to get paid.” Some people would say, “You don’t have it right, Jack?”

I have never heard of an FHA land acquisition-only deal. It’s always rolled in with construction-to-perm. There are three components: land acquisition, the construction loan, and then they refi all of that into one permanent loan. They have cooks. This is the federal government, by the way. Someone is going to look at every step of the way that you’re doing this construction. It’s a mess.

To which I say, Mark, aren’t you glad you listened to me and said, “You’re going to get the first right refusal? While you had six weeks of your busy work behind the scenes, I just got a cash offer at full price. If you can’t match it, I’m going to take that offer.”

We're in a unique situation right now. There's no need to make abrupt changes—ride out the storm unless selling is absolutely necessary. Share on X

You had a piece of dirt on the market for three weeks with your sayings, with a bunch of interest, and an offer. I would say, “No, thank you.”

That way it works.

Changing Seller Profile In Mid-2025

It sounds like you’re going to sell it, is my point, and there’s some interest. Our topic, what the land and house seller profile looks like in mid-2025. What’s happening right now that’s very unique is somewhat the beginning of a potential real estate recession. We certainly have a ton of property on the market, more than I’ve seen since the mid-2010s.

You mean not as permanent personally. We’re talking the country.

The country. There’s a ton of property in the market, which is a clear indication that it’s a buyer’s market. Buyers, meaning you and us, so we expect a deal. We expect an amazing deal. The seller profile for us is somebody who’s experiencing a life event, an economic event, or some type of event that’s other than, maybe you should just move down the street. They’re looking to discount or deeply discount the value of their property to sell it to somebody like us in exchange for an amazing amount of convenience, meaning we can close in three weeks, two days, or whatever you want. We’re cash buyers, and we will happily buy your piece of land or your house for X. The profile of a seller right now is somebody who is experiencing a life event.

I agree with you. That’s what I’ve been watching, seeing, and experiencing, because no one right now is like, “Now is the time to put the house on the market.” No. I’m sure there are outliers. There are always exceptions. I think in most areas, that’s not the case. Interest rates are not spectacular, compared to what they have been recently. Just the climate right now, that’s not what’s going on. No one is going to be like, “Now is the time. Let’s cash in post-COVID.” That was the time everybody was doing it.

That’s the difference for me, too. In post-COVID, everybody says, “Great, I can work wherever I want.” People were making all those changes, and it was making these prices artificially go crazy. I think what’s happening now, we talk about this all the time, and Jack pointed this out, is that there’s a little bit of market correction happening in some areas. Things are chipping down.

Never before in the sixteen years I’ve been doing it with you, Jack, have I gotten so many Zillow notifications where they say, value today, value a year ago, predicted value, and with an arrow pointing down. It might even just be 1%, but there’s a little chip down on some of these areas. I’m like, “This is amazing.” What that means to me is that this is not the time to go, “We’re going to cash in, baby.” That’s not what’s happening. The people who are putting their houses up there are like, “I know it’s not the best time, but we have to.”

We’re in a very unique circumstance right now, between now and the end of the year. That’s what this whole week is about. Jill and I are going to talk about capitalizing on that in your real estate business.

I cannot wait to see what the summer looks like for us, not for the planet. It’s not the time. I feel bad, and I hope that you are in a good situation with your house, and you don’t have to make any abrupt changes. Don’t sell your house right now, ride the storm, unless you have to. For a business perspective, there’s going to be some amazing deals coming our way, even better than what we’ve been doing for the first part of 2025.

Join us in the next episode, where we will discuss how to target land sellers who are most likely to sell their land below market value. You are not alone in your real estate ambition. We are Jack and Jill, information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.