Is Flipping Rural Land Still A Good Strategy In 2025?

This is episode number 2216. Jill and I are talking about, is flipping rural land still a good strategy in 2025? When is it not? How many times have you said this sentence in your life? “Land keeps food on the table.” To me, I can’t count the times.

I was just thinking earlier as we’re in the kitchen, just having lunch, and I was thinking we all need to remember there’s a calm before the storm. Every time I think, “That’s it. It’s over. This failed. No one’s going to call me. The phone or the mail was a bust,” whatever, the next thing my phone’s blowing up and all this stuff is happening. I truly, in my soul, believe, and again, you especially, can back this up with experience, that there’s lulls and then watch what happens. I just have a feeling that I don’t know how many months from now it’s going to be, but we’re going to go, “I wish I would’ve bought more of that.”

Absolutely. Totally agree. I’m watching prices come down, especially with houses. Watching prices go down. The last twelve months have been just hilarious. What did you say? Jill and I were in a bunch of small mountain towns over the summer. One town in particular, we thought, was grossly overpriced. It wasn’t.

It was at the time.

It was still living in post-COVID prices. We made a bunch of price offers that we thought were very reasonable on property that had no debt and they laughed at us. In every case, they laughed at us and I’m glad they didn’t accept our offers now.

Me too. Now they’re like, “I should have taken that.” Now they’re on the market and sitting there for prices lower than what we offered or right about what we offered. I’m like, “I tried to tell you that,” and like you said, I’m relieved.

Each day on the show, we answer a question from our Land Academy Member Discord Forum and take a deep dive in land-related topics by your request.

Specific Use Property: Buying Land For Development

Steve wrote, “Does anyone have experience with purchasing land for the development of trailer park storage facilities or purchasing land to sell to someone who’s developing them? Thanks in advance.”

Pick me. I do. I have a lot of experience with this. It’s what we call a specific-use property. Jill and I have done probably three deals together and i’ve done a couple of deals before her where this turned out great. It’s risky. You’re buying a piece of property that is pre-zoned for whatever the use is, that somebody, a long time ago, some urban planner or whoever decided that they want trailer parks over here in this part of the city, or they want hotels over here or whatever it was at. It may or may not apply to real-world times anymore. If it makes sense, you can buy it, but it’s the same old story. You have to find a seller who, for some reason, want or need to sell the property.

Jill and I did a specific use deal a few years ago in Ohio. It was right off a freeway, a motel like a La Quinta or a Red Roof Inn, if they even have those anymore, or a Holiday Inn. I’m sure they don’t have those anymore. That type of motel where you pull off the freeway and you check in and then leave early in the morning. We sold it to a person who was developing that kind of stuff. I think it was a buy for $200,000, sell for $700,000 or $800,000. We made a ton of money on it.

Excuse me, by the way. Are we done with this question? I would like to draw attention to something funny.

Yes, something not topic-related. Go, Jill.

Are you done answering the question?

Yeah.

Okay, good. Let’s just go back here. What’s going on in your world that you don’t even know that there are still Holiday Inns?

I don’t know. Can you name some?

There are Holiday Inns.

There are?

Yes. It’s not gone.

I’ve never haven’t seen a Holiday Inn in years. It’s not on Expedia.

Maybe that’s not where you stay, fancy pants.

This is an exact sentence out of my mouth. If I had my way, Jill, I would be parking right in front of a motel long-term and enjoying this place in San Diego.

Steven’s perfect hotel experience is not a hotel, it’s a motel. Not only can we park our door and back right up to it, we back up with a truck camper.

When is it not appropriate to buy that property? The answer is never. Share on X

Yes, that’s it.

That is his dream.

Don’t tell me about this.

I’m sorry. I went the wrong way. Excuse me. Holiday Inn is too high for what you’re trying to do. You’re looking for the Lazy 8 Motel because it used to be $8.

Leave the light on for you, that place.

All right. I went the wrong direction. I did put us at a really nice place. That was fun. Rooftop bar. You know you spent too much on a hotel room when they said, “By the way, you have $125 to spend at the bar,” that’s no problem, “And then you have $80 for breakfast every day.” Great.

It’s free. That’s when Jill comes running back to the room or whatever, saying, “We got all this stuff for free.” I’m like, “Okay.”

I also came back with a class of champagne from check in. He’s like, “Oh no.” They don’t do that at your Super 8.

This is why I don’t know that there are Holiday Inns that exist anymore, Jill, because since the day we met, we have never looked for one again.

“Vending machine in the corner, lady. Go get your own quarters.”

Depending on who you are, you either understand this or you’re vomiting in your mouth right now. All right. Where are we?

Our topic is, is flipping rural land still a good idea or a good strategy in 2025?

When is it not? When have you had a bad experience flipping rural land?

Not in the years with you or and in the many years you’ve been doing it. Let’s think about this for a moment. As you said, it’s true. I have long been saying, and this is before Land Academy Days, especially before Land Academy, you were looking for the next greatest and best thing to try to try to do something different than flipping land. All the while we’re doing it, we’re buying and selling land. It’s funding all these ideas. It’s putting food on the table. It’s paying all our bills. It’s keeping our kids clothed and in school, all of that. It was always land. I think one of the revelations that you and I had before we launched Land Academy was why are we trying to kick land to the curb or make it better?

It doesn’t need to be improved upon. It’s always great. It continues to be. I think right now, people are paying attention because they’re like, “I don’t know. Things are slower. You guys just told the whole story about all these properties on the market. We see them too. Shoot. Why would I buy a bunch of land and have that sit there?” You know what? It’s because it’s going to change.

Jack talked about it. He talked about the cycles. It’s going to change. It’s proven. This is not the first cycle. This is one of many cycles that it just keeps going. The earth revolves or it keeps spinning. It’s not going to one day stop. As I said too, based on experience, just me my years of experience, there’s times I go, “It’s a little slower than normal.” I never worry because I watch it, but I know that it’s like, there’s times I go, “When’s my mail going to hit? What did they think about this one,” and then, there goes my phone. It’s going to come back. I really think 2026 is probably a good estimate. I’m going to go, “If I had bought 30 of those that I didn’t want to buy, I’d wish I had them now.”

The Peril Of Paying Too Much: Sticking To Your Buy Price

Here’s my mic drop to end this topic. Would you buy a property between $110,000 to $120,000? That’s a retail value. That’s what properties have traded for in the last twelve months in that area. You’re happy with $110,000 to $120,000. Your target is to sell it for $60,000. You’re going to buy it for $30,000. When is it not appropriate to buy that property? The answer is never.

Here’s what happens. Here’s how things go sideways, especially with new people. It’s worth $110,000 to $120,000. Got it. You know what? Everybody gets that. Everybody gets that point. I don’t care how new you are. I’m very sure I can sell it for $60,000 to $70,000, maybe a little less if times are rough. Everyone gets that, then I’m going to buy it for $30,000. This is where it all goes sideways. What happens with a lot of people who are new in the business is, “I just did a mailer. I just spent $10,000 doing a mailer. I’ve got to do a deal.” $30,000 becomes $60,000. She doesn’t want to sell it for $30,000. How about $40,000?

She’s not a real seller.

I’m going to pay $65,000 for it. That’s where this goes sideways. Here’s what should happen. You have 10 deals that you’re looking at that the seller has shown an interest in selling the property. You’re going to find 1 or 2 people out of 10 so it takes a lot of mail, a lot of talking on the phone, and instead of just one property comes back. You start to justify why and you’re going to spend more. You get into real trouble there. The topic shouldn’t be, is it a good strategy in 2025? It’s an amazing strategy in 2025, as always. Ask anybody. When has anybody ever said this, “You shouldn’t be buying land?” No one’s ever said that in the history of humanity.

That’s true. We should end it on that.

What this is, you shouldn’t be paying too much for it.

That’s it. We understand.

Join us again where Jill and I talk about the easiest way to fund your land deals without using your own money. You are not alone in your real estate ambition. We are Jack and Jill. Information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.