This is episode number 2210. Jill and I are talking about the one thing that determines whether you succeed in land investing. I love this topic, Jill.

I can take the one thing and narrow it down to one word. Can you?

Maybe. Yes, I can.

I want to play a game. I wrote down my word. When we get to the topic, I want us to do 1, 2, 3, and then we’ll say the word.

By the way, this week is Pretty Good Advice Week. Next week, spoiler alert, is Really Good Advice Week.

This week is So-So Advice. Take it with a grain of salt. Next week is You’ve Got to Do This Advice.

We’ve talked about the biggest regrets from land investors who quit too soon. That was an interesting discussion we had. In this episode, we’re talking about the one thing that determines whether you succeed in land investing. On Wednesday, we will talk about why follow-up can turn rejected offers into land deals. That’s all Jill. On Thursday, we will talk about building a land investing business that survives any market. That’s going on right now. On Friday, we will talk about scaling your land business without burning out, a topic that I love talking about. I’m not a victim of burnout or have been. I’m a causer and the effector of burnout.

You’re not a victim. It doesn’t just happen to you, sir. I’ve seen it. Jack stands there, and things hit him in the face. No, that’s not what’s going on. You’re at your desk, and all this stuff is hitting you in the face.

This is the result of many years of behavior, not just this thing that happened one minute ago. Each day on the show, we answer a question from our Land Academy member Discord forum and take a deep dive into land-related topics at your request.

Understanding Landlocked Vs. Accessible Property Valuation

Vahid wrote, “Let’s say there are two identical parcels next to each other. However, one of them is landlocked. They’re not identical. Generally speaking, all things being equal between the two parcels, other than being landlocked, what is the percentage price difference between the landlocked versus the property with road access? Thanks for your time.”

The number one thing I would say is, what is the cost to get access? If there’s physical access but not legal, great. Anybody has to blade a road’s potential cost, but then I only have to factor in my time and energy. Will someone give me access? Are they going to charge me? What’s going to be the legal costs to get the legal access officially granted, noted in the deeds, and so on? What do you want to say?

I intentionally included this question because it’s one of philosophy, not reality. From a legal standpoint, no two pieces of property. If you’re in real estate or want to be for the rest of your life, I want you to remember this forever because it happens. There are issues that surround this forever in your career. There are no two pieces of property in the eyes of the law that are the same.

That’s very different from many businesses and many lawsuits and all of that. It might look the same, be valued the same, be in the same community, and be the same size. They are not the same in the eyes of the law. With two equal properties, we can stop right there. The real issue here is what’s the percentage of a landlocked property right next to a property that has access? There’s no way you can say it’s worth 75%.

I start with the money. That’s a good point you brought up. The bottom line, Vahid, is how you value one property. It is like, “I’m testing for a reason,” or this came back, and you’re doing your due diligence. “Do I still want to buy this? I’m going to look again because I sent out my mailer a month ago. They’re calling me back now. What is the current price everybody is paying today for these 5-acre properties that are just like this?” That’s what you’re going to do.

The big picture is you’re going to go, “What’s the 5 acres without access in this area seem to be selling for? I can back into it and figure out what price makes sense.” That’s all you’re going to do, but you can’t say 50%. You can’t say, “Take off 25%,” because it is apples and oranges. Just like the different sides of the railroad track. You’ve got to get in and see.

Math is involved in what we do here. There are valuations, averages, and all kinds of ways to turn the apple around and look at it statistically differently. For whatever reason, Land Academy attracts very intelligent people who want to put everything in their own version of a model so that it spits out money. I’m like that. That’s one of the reasons Jill’s a great partner for me because we answer these questions differently. My gut is to say, “Landlocked properties are 32.3% of the value of a property that has solid paved road access. A property that has access that has a dirt road is only 48%. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Paved road gets this, and if you have utilities at the line, you get this.

The net result of that would be that there are a million day traders. Everybody wouldn’t be involved in buying and selling real estate then because it’s easy. “It’s 38.2%.”

You brought up a good point, though. This group is smart. Sometimes, with the questions you guys come up with, I’m like, “I can answer this, but I’ve got to think for just a minute. Let me think about that one. What was the closest I had to this situation? How do I get out of it? Got it.”

To all of these questions that involve land investment, there’s a Jill answer and a Jack answer. They’re very different answers. That’s not bad. It’s good. “How is this going to affect the people I’m trying to do the deal with?” That’s the question that Jill says. “How is this going to affect my bank account?” That’s the Jack answer.

Jill’s answer is also, “How can I make this go my way?” That’s what I’m doing.

The Core Trait That Determines Success In Land Investing

This episode’s topic is the one thing that determines whether you succeed in land investing.

I can sum it up in one word. You said you can, too?

Yes, but it requires an explanation.

Mine is one syllable. How many syllables is yours?

It is one. Maybe it’s the same word.

I wrote mine down, so there’s no cheating. We’re going to do 3, 2, 1, then word.

Okay.

Three, two, one, drive.

It is not like driving a car. It is driving your soul.

What’s yours?

It’s you. We’re saying the same thing.

Mine makes a little more sense. Do you want to go first?

Sure. This is a different and more serious version of what we talked about. You’re going to do great. I want you to think about what you have succeeded at and what you haven’t in life. Were you a good student? Were you good at sports? Are you an amazing parent? Can you cook like nobody’s business? What have you done well and what haven’t you done well? If the answer is, “I’ve never really done anything well,” then you’re not going to do well at this.

If you have succeeded at whatever you put your mind to because failure is just not in your soul, then you’re going to do fantastically at this. That’s what determines how fast you succeed, how many deals you do, how much money you make, and all of that. If you’re extraordinary at it, where you can hire people, manage a staff, and eventually get somebody to run the whole thing for you so that you’re on to the next thing, and always thinking about getting on to the next thing, you are a real entrepreneur.

If you want to sit in your own company, tell people what to do, be a boss, and all that, you’re an operations person. I can go on and on on this. The fact is, whatever you are, you have to be something. You have to be involved when you get up in the morning on whatever you’re trying to accomplish, and you need to know why. You need to know what’s driving you so you can shine.

Know your why and what drives you. That’s how you truly shine. Share on X

Drive, that’s it. What’s interesting, too, is I’ve seen people who don’t have that drive. They’re not passionate about everything in their lives, and they haven’t succeeded with a lot until this point. This was the catalyst that gave them that drive, forward motion, and excitement.

Was it temporary, or was it permanent?

I’ll let you know if they ever back off because I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen a temporary drive, and then something happens. I’ve seen permanent drive like joining a gym or quitting a bad habit, where you’re like, “That’s it. I’m done with it.” I’ve seen people make huge mental life decisions that, “I’m not going to let this fail. This is it.” That’s the whole point here.

I see you like that about everything, not just this. You’re in it, and so am I.

I won’t let it fail. I can’t. There’s too much on the line, and there’s too much opportunity and money to be made. I look at it like, “If I don’t do this, somebody else will. I want it. I’m buying this property.”

You’re going to save yourself a ton of time and heartache if you know who you are, whether you want to be married or not, whether you want to be a parent, or whether you want to own a pizza place. There are no wrong answers at all. We’re all unfortunately raised in an environment in this country where perfection is rewarded. If you get a 4.25 grade point average, then you’re rewarded by everyone.

Perfect attendance as well.

That’s just not the way being an entrepreneur is. You’re rewarded by failing 52 times and then succeeding, and then all anybody cares about is success. In a lot of cases in the environment we’re in, you get criticized for it.

It’s funny you say that. I never had a 4.0 GPA, and I never had perfect attendance.

I had never even approached any of those things, and I was never upset about it.

I’m fine with it, too. 3.85 works for me. I did what I needed to do.

People in my life were very upset about it. I was not upset about it.

I didn’t want perfect attendance. I wanted to have fun.

Me, too.

My poor kids didn’t get perfect attendance. “Do you want to go to Disneyland today?” That’s what we did.

Jill and I sit down for an hour and a half every day, every week, and record all five of these shows. It’s the most we talk the entire week. It’s nice to talk to you, Jill.

Join us in the next episode where we talk about why follow-up can turn rejected offers into land deals.

You are not alone in your real estate ambition. We are Jack and Jill, information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.