Can You Make Money Buying and Selling Land?

You can make money buying and selling land, but profit is not automatic. The result depends on what you pay, what the parcel can legally be used for, what it costs to hold, and whether a buyer wants it when you are ready to sell.

This article is for an ordinary US buyer who wants to know whether buying land and later reselling it, or earning from it while you own it, can pay off. It covers six ways people try to profit from land. For each one, it explains what it costs, what it can earn and where it goes wrong. It also covers flipping, including its advantages, its risks and the habits that help a first resale succeed.

I write from the view of a land specialist, so I give you my judgment on what to check first and where buyers get caught. I do not promise a return. Land does not rise in price on its own, and a parcel with no legal access or no permitted use can lose money however cheap it looked. Use this to decide whether to try it, and what to verify with the county before you pay anything.

Can you make money on land, and where does the profit come from?

You can make money on land, and the profit comes from two places: selling it for more than your total cost, or earning income from it while you own it. Your total cost is the purchase price plus closing costs, property taxes, insurance, any loan interest and your selling costs. The profit is whatever is left after all of that, not the gap between the buying price and the selling price.

Land is not a sure thing. It does not rise in price on its own, and I tell buyers to plan as if the parcel could sit unsold for a long time. The methods below are the ones that work most often for ordinary buyers, along with what each one asks of you.

1. Buy below market value from a motivated seller and resell

Resale profit starts with the buying price. Sellers who want out quickly, such as heirs who inherited land they will never use or owners tired of paying taxes on a parcel, will often take less than the land would bring on a slow, open sale. You only profit if you can show that the price was actually below market value. Compare it with recent sales of similar nearby parcels, which the county recorder and county assessor can help you find.

2. Make the parcel easier to buy before you sell it

A parcel with problems sells for less, and some of those problems can be fixed or at least explained. A survey that marks the boundaries, a recorded easement that gives legal road access, a passed perc test (a soil test that shows whether the ground can absorb water from a septic system) and written confirmation of the zoning all remove doubts a buyer would otherwise use to lower the price. Spend only where the fix costs less than the value it adds. Some problems, such as a parcel with no legal access that no neighbor will grant, cannot be fixed at any price.

3. Split a large parcel into smaller lots

A buyer with a small budget can afford a smaller lot, and a larger pool of buyers can mean a higher price per acre. Dividing land is regulated, though. Many counties require approval from county planning and zoning, a minimum lot size and legal access to each lot, and some require roads or utilities to be built first. Ask the county before you buy, because the rules decide whether the split is possible at all.

4. Buy land that is behind on property taxes

Tax-delinquent land is a parcel whose owner has not paid the property taxes owed to the county. You can approach the owner directly and offer to buy, or you can buy at a county tax sale, where the county sells the parcel or the tax debt to collect what is owed. Rules differ by state. Some states have a redemption period, which is a window after a tax sale when the former owner can pay what is owed and take the land back. Back taxes and some other liens can stay with the land, and a tax sale does not always give you clear title. Ask the county tax collector how sales work in that county, and confirm title with a title company before you pay.

5. Sell on owner financing

Owner financing (also called seller financing) is a sale where the seller acts as the lender and the buyer pays a down payment and then monthly payments. If you own a parcel and later sell it this way, more people can afford it, and the interest they pay is extra income for you. It also makes you the lender, which means you carry the risk that the buyer stops paying. Rules and taxes for sellers who finance differ by state and by how often you sell, so talk to a real estate attorney and a tax professional first.

6. Hold the land and lease it

Some parcels can bring in income while you wait, through a hunting lease, a grazing or crop lease, or approved camping or storage. Zoning, access and water decide what is allowed. Lease income on many parcels is small compared with the taxes and payments, so I treat it as a way to reduce holding costs, not as the reason to buy.

What land has going for it, and what to watch

Land has no roof to repair, no tenants and no building to heat, so holding costs are lower than for a house. Entry prices can also be low enough that the first purchase is a small one. The risks are just as plain. A parcel can take months or years to sell, and taxes, insurance and loan interest continue the whole time. Overpaying, buying a parcel with no legal access and assuming a use is allowed when the county says otherwise are the usual ways people lose money.

I once bought raw land for $8,000 cash, spent $1,000 on closing costs and two years of taxes, then sold it for $14,000 and paid $800 in selling costs, leaving me a $4,200 profit. The lesson: every extra year of holding adds taxes, and a loan would have added interest, both cutting into your profit.

Tips before you pay for anything

Start with one small parcel, not a large one. Check recent sales of similar parcels before you trust any expected return. Confirm legal access, zoning, septic, flood zone, taxes and title before you pay, and total your yearly holding costs and assume the sale takes longer than you hope. The sections below cover each source of profit, what it costs and what to check.

Does vacant land earn income while you own it?

Unimproved land does not earn income by itself, but some parcels can earn money when you lease it or allow a specific use. Whether yours can depends on zoning, access, water, power and county permits, not on acreage alone.

Zoning is the set of county or city rules that say what you may build or do on a parcel, such as a house, a mobile home, an RV or a camp. Zoning decides which of the uses below are legal on a given parcel, and a use that is common in one county can be banned in the next. When a buyer asks me whether a parcel can pay for itself, I start with the county planning and zoning office, then check legal access, and only then look at the land itself.

Hunting lease

A hunting lease is a written agreement where a hunter or club pays you for the right to hunt your land for a season. It suits wooded or brushy parcels with wildlife and a road a truck can use. The advantage is low effort: the lessee brings the work and often maintains trails. The risk is liability if someone is hurt on your land, so ask your insurance agent whether a vacant-land policy covers a leased hunting use, and put the rules (number of hunters, no overnight camping, gate use) in the lease.

Grazing or crop lease

A grazing or crop lease lets a nearby rancher or farmer pay to run cattle or grow a crop on your parcel. The soil, existing fencing and a water source for livestock decide whether anyone will pay. In some states, land in active agricultural use can qualify for a lower property tax assessment, and the rules differ by state and county, so ask the county assessor before you count on it. The risk is overgrazing or damage to fences, so the lease should say who repairs what.

Timber sale

A timber sale is a payment from a logger for mature trees on your land. It is usually a one-time payment, not a yearly one, and it can lower what a later buyer will pay, because cleared or thinned woods may be worth less to someone who wants shade, privacy or hunting cover. If you are buying with owner financing, read your contract for deed or note first. The seller may restrict cutting trees while you still owe money. Check with a real estate attorney before signing anything with a logger, and ask a state forester or county extension office about local timber rules.

Camping or RV sites

Camping and RV sites earn money when people pay nightly or monthly to park or camp on your parcel. This is the use that most often runs into county rules. Many counties limit how long an RV may stay and require approved water and waste disposal, and the county health department decides what counts as approved. Operating a paid camp on land zoned only for agriculture or residential use can bring fines or a shutdown order. Get the answer from the county in writing before you advertise a single site.

Storage

Storage income comes from a neighbor or local business paying to park a trailer, boat or equipment on a fenced or gated corner of your land. It needs little setup and works best on a parcel with good road access near homes or a small town. Zoning again decides whether it is allowed, and a use that looks harmless can still count as a commercial storage business to the county. Keep the lease short and written, and state that you are not responsible for the stored items.

Utility or solar leases

In a utility or solar lease, a company pays to place equipment such as a cell tower or solar panels on your parcel. These are uncommon, and they depend on where the parcel sits relative to power lines and demand. Leases like this can run for many years and may affect what you can do with the land or who will buy it later. Have a real estate attorney read any such offer before you sign.

What to check before you count on lease income

Legal access comes first. A lessee needs a recorded right to reach the land, and a hunting or grazing lessee will also want to know who maintains the road. Next, ask the county planning and zoning office whether the use is allowed on that parcel and whether it needs a permit. Then put every lease in writing: the term, the payment, who carries insurance, who repairs damage and how either side ends it.

Be realistic about the amounts. On many parcels, lease income is small compared with the monthly payment and property taxes, so it may reduce your holding costs without covering them. Plan the numbers as if the land earns nothing, and treat any lease as extra.

What is the difference between flipping land and wholesaling it?

Flipping land and wholesaling land are two different ways to resell, and the difference is whether you ever own the parcel. Flipping means buying land, taking ownership, and then reselling it, ideally for more than you paid. Wholesaling means assigning a purchase contract, or doing a double closing, to another buyer without holding the land yourself. An assignment is a signed transfer of your right to buy under a contract. A double closing is two back-to-back sales, one from the seller to the wholesaler and one from the wholesaler to the end buyer.

A flipper owns the land, so they carry the taxes, insurance and risk of a slow sale, while a wholesaler holds only a contract and profits only if they find a buyer before it expires. Wholesaling can require a license, disclosure or the seller’s permission to assign depending on your state, so check with a real estate attorney before you sign.

What flipping land has going for it

Flipping land has one real advantage over most other ways of owning property: a vacant parcel has no roof, plumbing or tenants to repair. Holding costs are mostly property taxes, insurance and any loan payments. A parcel can also gain value when you fix a problem the previous owner left alone, such as getting a survey done, confirming a recorded easement for access or showing that the soil passed a perc test. Buyers pay more for a parcel they can check quickly. And when you sell on monthly payments, more people can afford to buy, which widens your pool of buyers.

What can go wrong when you flip

The risks come from the same fact: you own the land until someone else does. I tell buyers to watch for these four:

• A slow sale: land can take months or longer to sell, and taxes, insurance and loan payments run the whole time.
• Overpaying: a price that looks low next to a seller’s asking price can still be above what similar parcels recently sold for in that county.
• A problem you find too late: no legal access, a failed perc test, a flood zone or unpaid taxes can make the parcel hard to sell at any price.
• Financing limits: if you buy under a contract for deed, you do not hold legal title, so you cannot deed the land to your own buyer until the contract is paid off or the seller agrees in writing.

Tips I give first-time buyers who want to resell

In my work as Landapaloozas’ land specialist, the buyers who do best treat resale as a plan B, not the reason to buy. Pick a parcel you would be content to keep, and check access, zoning, septic, flood zone, taxes and title before you pay. Look up recent sales of similar parcels with the county assessor or county recorder, and decide your lowest acceptable resale price before you make an offer. Work out your yearly holding costs and assume the sale takes a year or more.

Most first-time buyers who want to resell are doing neither flipping nor wholesaling as a business. They buy a parcel, own it, and later sell it. That is a slow sale of land you hold, and a quick turnaround is possible but should not be part of your plan. For a deeper look at the ownership side, see Land Flipping for Beginners: Owner Financing Guide.

What decides whether a parcel can be resold at a profit?

A parcel resells at a profit when you buy it at a price below what similar land sells for, and when the next buyer can legally reach it, use it as planned and receive clear title. Price sets your starting margin. Access, zoning, septic, flood risk, taxes and title decide whether you can keep that margin.

How do you know if the price is below market?

A comparable sale (a “comp”) is a recent sale of a similar parcel nearby. Compare your purchase price with comps from the same county, because land values change a lot from one county to the next. The county recorder has the recorded deeds, and the county assessor often shows sale prices and acreage. Local listings of similar parcels help too, but an asking price is not a sale price.

Match the comps on the things that move value: acreage, parcel shape, road frontage, trees, views, water and distance to a town. A flat, square lot on a maintained road does not compare with a steep, narrow strip behind another owner’s land. In my work with buyers, I tell them to find at least a few real sales before they trust any resale number, and to discard any comp that has road access or septic approval that their parcel lacks.

Smaller, well-shaped lots near growing towns tend to attract more buyers and sell faster, because more people can afford them and build on them. Large or oddly shaped parcels usually have fewer buyers, so they wait longer, and you pay holding costs for every month of that wait.

Which checks protect your resale value?

Each check below matches a question the next buyer, or that buyer’s title company, will ask. If you cannot answer it when you buy, you will have to answer it when you sell. A problem you find after you pay shrinks your pool of buyers and gives them a reason to negotiate your price down.

Legal access. A visible dirt road does not prove you may use it. An easement is a recorded legal right to cross or use someone else’s land, and it is what gives a landlocked parcel legal access. Ask the county recorder for the recorded easement, or for a deed showing the parcel touches a public road. Ask who maintains the road too, because a gravel road the county does not maintain can put repair costs on the owners. This is the first thing I check, since a parcel with no legal access is the hardest kind to resell.

Zoning and permitted uses. Zoning is the set of county or city rules that say what you may build or do on a parcel. A buyer who wants a house, a mobile home or an RV needs to know it is allowed. Ask the county planning and zoning office, and get the answer for that specific parcel. A seller’s statement is not a permit.

Septic. Where there is no sewer, a perc test is a soil test that shows whether the ground can absorb water from a septic system. A parcel that fails cannot support a conventional septic system, and many buyers will not touch it. The county health department sets the rules and can tell you who may run the test. Our guide to septic system cost on raw land covers what drives the cost.

Flood zone. Look up the parcel on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. A parcel in a mapped flood hazard area can limit where you may build and can raise insurance costs for the next owner.

Taxes and liens. Ask the county assessor or tax collector whether property taxes are unpaid. Back taxes and recorded liens stay with the land, and a buyer will want them cleared first. This matters most on very cheap parcels, since unpaid taxes are often the reason the price is low.

HOA or POA rules. A homeowners or property owners association (HOA or POA) can limit RVs, mobile homes and building plans, and can charge dues. Ask the seller for the governing documents, and ask whether any dues are unpaid.

Title. Order a title search from a title company to confirm who owns the land and what claims exist against it. Title insurance is a policy that pays for covered losses if a hidden problem with ownership turns up after you buy. A clean, insured title is easier to resell, and most buyers who use a lender or a title company will require it.

What does a very low price usually mean?

A very cheap parcel that fails several of these checks is cheap for a reason. The low price often reflects a cost you will carry, such as a road to build or a septic test to pass, or a problem the next buyer will use to negotiate you down. If a check fails and you still want the parcel, price the fix into your offer before you pay, not after.

What does it cost to own land before you sell it?

Owning land before you resell it costs money in three groups: one-time costs when you buy, holding costs while you wait, and selling costs when a buyer appears. Holding costs are the money you keep paying while you own land and have not yet sold it, such as property taxes, loan interest, insurance and upkeep. Any group can erase a profit, and all of them differ by state and county.

A survey is a measured map by a licensed surveyor that marks the boundaries of a parcel and shows any easements or encroachments. It is a one-time cost, and it sits in the table below with the others.

Selling costs are the ones buyers forget. If you list with an agent, a commission comes out of the sale price. The title company or attorney who closes the sale also charges fees, and your state may add a transfer tax. Ask the county recorder or a title company what applies where the parcel sits.

Our land survey cost guide explains what moves a surveyor’s price, and our page on vacant land insurance covers that line item.

Before I look at an asking price, I get quotes for the table above and add the recurring lines into one yearly figure. Then I ask what happens to my profit if the parcel waits two years instead of six months. A parcel that waits a year costs you that year’s taxes, interest, insurance and upkeep again, so the break-even price rises with every month it sits. If the numbers only work with a fast sale, I treat the parcel as too expensive.

How does owner financing change buying and then selling land?

Owner financing changes how you can resell land because the structure you sign decides who holds legal title while you are still paying. Owner financing (also called seller financing) is a sale where the seller acts as the lender: you pay a down payment, then monthly payments of principal and interest to the seller. It can help you buy a parcel with a small down payment and no bank loan. It also limits what you can do with the land until the loan is paid or the seller agrees.

Owner-financed land sales use two main structures, and the difference is who holds legal title during the loan. When I read a deal that a buyer may want to resell, I check this before I look at the price.

A contract for deed is an owner-financing structure where the seller keeps legal title until the price is paid in full. Because you do not hold title, a person who buys from you cannot receive a deed from you. Your options are to pay the seller off before closing, or to have the seller agree in writing to deliver the deed to your buyer.

The other structure gives you the deed at closing. A promissory note is your written promise to pay, and a deed of trust or a mortgage is the document that ties that promise to the land. The seller holds a lien (a legal claim against the land) until the note is paid. You can sell the parcel, but the seller’s lien must be paid off from your sale proceeds at closing. Read the note for any clause that limits resale or requires payoff when you sell.

Either way, make sure the deed, or the contract for deed or a memorandum of it, is recorded with the county recorder. An unrecorded document is usually valid between you and the seller, but it leaves you exposed to later claims on the land.

Can you earn money by reselling on owner financing yourself?

Owner financing lets you charge a higher price and earn interest, since more buyers can afford monthly payments than a lump sum. But you can only offer it if you hold legal title, either through a deed or a fully paid-off contract for deed. It also makes you the lender: if the buyer stops paying, you must foreclose or declare a forfeiture under your state’s rules, which can take months.

Federal and state lending rules can apply to someone who finances sales, especially when a home is on the land or when a person finances several sales. Whether they reach you depends on the facts and your state, so confirm it with a real estate attorney before you offer terms. A tax professional can explain how the installment method (IRS Publication 537) applies to payments you receive over time.

What should you ask before you sign an owner-financed deal?

• Is there a balloon payment? A balloon payment is one large payment due at the end of a loan whose monthly payments were too small to pay it off, so you must be able to pay it or refinance. If you plan to hold the land for years, find the due date.
• Does the seller still owe on the land? In a wrap-around sale the seller keeps paying their own loan, and most loans have a due-on-sale clause that lets their lender call the loan. A title search shows any existing loan.
• Can you pay it off early without a penalty? If you plan to resell, you will pay the balance at closing. Ask whether the note or contract charges anything for early payoff.
• What happens if you miss payments? The seller forecloses or declares a forfeiture, and you can lose the land and the payments made. Notice periods and remedies vary by state, and several states give contract-for-deed buyers extra protection.

Our guide to land financing options compares these routes with bank loans.

What does a buy, hold and resell look like in dollars?

A buy, hold and resell on owner-financed land makes money only if the sale price is higher than everything you paid in: the down payment, the monthly payments, the interest, your holding costs and your selling costs. The easiest way to see this is to work through one small rural parcel and the payments you would owe the seller.

The parcel costs $20,000, with $2,000 down (10%) and $18,000 financed by the seller at 9% a year over 60 months. The figures below come from that loan.

Example only, with round numbers chosen to show how the payment is worked out. It leaves out property taxes, closing costs and any fees. Real terms depend on the seller and the parcel.

If you made every payment for the full 60 months, you would pay $24,419.00 in total, which is $4,419.00 more than the $20,000 price. That extra amount is interest. A buyer who pays it all and resells at the original $20,000 has lost money before counting a single tax bill. For this deal to profit, the parcel has to sell for more than $24,419.00 plus your other costs, which means you either bought below market value or made the land easier to use and sell.

When I look at a deal like this for a buyer, I start with the “total paid” line, not the purchase price. The price is what the seller advertises. The total paid is what the land costs you, and it is the number a future buyer’s offer has to beat.

How to find your break-even price

Your break-even price is the sale price at which you neither gain nor lose. Add what you have paid the seller, your yearly holding costs for each year you own the parcel, and your selling costs. In this example, holding the land through all 60 months starts the total at $24,419.00. Property taxes, insurance, upkeep and any survey or recording fees go on top of that, and so do selling costs. Any sale price above the full total is profit. A price at the total is zero, and anything below it is a loss. Taxes, insurance and upkeep keep running while the parcel waits for a buyer, so a slow sale pushes the break-even price up.

What happens if you sell before month 60?

If you sell early, the balance still owed to the seller is paid out of your sale proceeds at closing, and only the remainder is yours. Under a contract for deed, you pay off the seller first, because the seller holds legal title until then. Under a deed with a promissory note and deed of trust or mortgage, the seller’s lien is released when the note is paid.

Early in a loan, a large share of each payment goes to interest, so the balance falls more slowly than you might expect. Ask the seller for an amortization schedule, which shows how each payment pays the loan down to zero, so you can read the exact balance for any month. Also ask whether the note allows early payoff without a penalty. Some notes charge one, and it lowers what you keep.

Any resale price or holding cost you plug into this example is your own assumption, not a market figure. Check it against recent sales of similar parcels in the same county, using the county recorder and assessor, before you rely on it.

How is profit from land taxed?

Profit from selling land is generally taxed as a capital gain, and the amount depends on how long you owned the parcel and whether the IRS treats you as someone who sells land as a business. A capital gain is the profit left after you sell land for more than your cost basis. Your cost basis is what you paid for the land plus certain buying costs.

Your cost basis is more than the price on the contract. Some closing costs you paid when you bought can count toward it, and a tax professional can tell you which ones qualify. Keep the settlement statement, the survey invoice and your payment records together from day one. If you bought with owner financing, the basis generally starts from the full agreed price, not only the payments you have made so far. Whether the interest you paid the seller is deductible, or is added to basis, is a question for your CPA.

Holding period and dealer status

Holding period is how long you owned the land before you sold it, and the tax treatment of a gain can differ depending on that length. The IRS also looks at how often you sell. A person who sells one parcel after years of ownership is usually treated differently from a person who buys and sells land regularly. That second kind of seller is generally called a dealer.

Dealer status is decided by facts, such as how many parcels you sell, how often, and whether you improve and market them, not by a label you choose. I tell buyers who plan to resell more than one parcel to ask a CPA about this before the first purchase. Dealer status can change how the profit is taxed and whether other taxes apply, and it is much easier to plan for ahead of time than to fix after several sales.

Resale on owner financing and the installment method

The installment method is a way for a seller who is paid over time to report the gain as the payments arrive, instead of all in the year of sale. If you resell a parcel on owner-financed terms, it may apply to you. The interest part of each payment you receive is reported separately as interest income. IRS Publication 537 explains how the method works. Dealers generally cannot use it, so a buyer who expects to resell several parcels should ask about it first.

Owner financing also affects how you sell. Under a contract for deed you do not hold legal title, so you cannot sell the parcel as owner until you pay off the seller or the seller agrees in writing. Under a deed with a promissory note and deed of trust or mortgage, the seller’s lien is paid from your sale proceeds at closing, and only the rest is your gain in cash.

Other money the land can bring in

Lease income, such as a hunting or grazing lease, is reported separately from any gain when you sell. If you buy a parcel at a county tax sale, your basis and your rights depend on your state’s rules. Some states let the former owner redeem the land by paying what is owed, in which case you may receive interest rather than the parcel. Ask a tax professional how each case is reported before you bid.

This guide gives no tax rates, because they depend on your income, your state and the year of sale. Talk to a CPA or enrolled agent before you buy and again before you sell. The IRS pages on selling property and on Publication 537 are the official place to read the rules yourself.

What should you do first, and what mistakes lose money?

The first step in buying land to resell or hold is to decide who you expect to buy it or what you will use it for, then check access, zoning, septic, flood zone, taxes and title before you pay anything. The mistakes that lose the most money are buying a landlocked parcel, assuming a use is allowed, ignoring back taxes, skipping the survey and counting on a quick sale.

I check legal access first, because a parcel with no recorded right to reach it fails every other test. Here is the order I would follow:

• Name the next buyer or the use. A neighbor, a camper, a person who wants to build and a hunter each need different things from a parcel.
• Look at recent sales of similar parcels nearby. Ask the county assessor or the county recorder’s office how to find them, and set your offer from those sales, not from the asking price.
• Check access, zoning, septic, flood zone, unpaid taxes and title before any payment, using the county offices named earlier in this guide.
• Read the note or contract for deed for a balloon payment, the default terms and the forfeiture terms. A real estate attorney can explain what your state allows.
• Record the deed, or the contract for deed or a memorandum of it, with the county recorder.

Each of the mistakes below has a specific cost, and most of them are visible before you pay.

• A landlocked parcel: without a recorded easement, you may not be able to reach the land legally, and a buyer’s lender or title company may refuse the sale.
• An assumed use: a seller’s statement that you can park an RV or place a mobile home is not a permit. Only the county planning and zoning office can confirm it.
• Back taxes: unpaid property taxes can stay attached to the parcel and become your problem at closing.
• No survey: without a boundary map, you may pay for acres that include a neighbor’s fence or an unmarked easement. What a land survey costs depends on acreage, terrain and tree cover, so ask for a quote early.
• Counting on a quick sale: if the parcel sits for years, taxes, insurance and loan payments keep running, and the break-even price rises.
• Overpaying because the deal looks cheap: a low price on its own proves nothing. If you cannot find recent sales that support your resale price, the profit is a guess.
• Buying a tax-default parcel without knowing your state’s process: a county tax sale may sell a lien or the land itself, and some states give the former owner a redemption period to reclaim it. Title may need more work afterward. Ask the county tax collector how the sale works and have a real estate attorney review it before you bid.

The risks of reselling land are slow sales, carrying costs, overpaying and legal problems that hide until a buyer’s title search finds them. The people who do best are the ones who buy only parcels they could explain to a buyer in two sentences: where the road is, what the county allows, and how water and septic would work. If you cannot say that about a parcel, I would walk away from it.

Check the parcel first, then look at what is for sale

Before you buy land to resell or hold, confirm that the next buyer could legally reach it, use it the way you plan to, and receive clear title. Get those answers from the county recorder, the county planning and zoning office and a title company, not from the seller’s description. Then read the note or contract for deed for a balloon payment and the default terms.

The first thing I look at on any parcel is access, because a parcel with no recorded right to reach it is hard to resell at any price. If the land comes from a tax sale, a tax-default sale or an heir who is selling inherited property, ask a title company to search for liens and competing claims before you pay. Those routes can mean a lower price, and they can also mean more to clear up.

When you are ready to compare real parcels, you can browse owner-financed land for sale on Landapaloozas. Check each listing against the steps above, and ask the seller for the terms in writing before you pay a deposit.

Further reading

• IRS Publication 537, Installment Sales
• IRS Topic 409, Capital Gains and Losses
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center

Last updated: October 20, 2026. This article is general information for people buying or selling land in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules differ by state and county, so confirm the details with the county, a title company or a real estate attorney before you sign.