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Sell Land by Owner — How to Do It Properly Yourself
Selling vacant land yourself is genuinely easier than selling a house yourself: no showings, no staging, no inspection repairs. This page is the honest how-to, written by a buyer, including the parts people get wrong. If at the end you decide a direct sale suits you better, we will make an offer — but the guide works whether or not you ever call us.
- A real FSBO walkthrough, not a sales pitch
- The mistakes that cost sellers most
- No commission and no fees
- We pay all closing costs
- Written offer within 24 hours
- Close in as little as 14 to 30 days
★★★★★ 4.9 from 14 verified Google reviews — read them · we buy with our own capital and pay all closing costs
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Selling land yourself, properly
Step one: price it from closed sales, not from listings
The most expensive FSBO mistake is pricing from what other people are asking. Asking prices include hope; closed sales do not. Pull sold comparables within a few miles of your parcel over the last two to three years, and compare like with like: similar acreage, similar access, similar usable ground after wetland and slope.
Then adjust for the things buyers pay for. Frontage on a maintained public road is worth materially more than a deeded easement across a neighbour, which is worth more than no legal access at all. A parcel with a passed perc test or an existing septic permit is worth more than one where the soils are unknown. Corner-to-corner usable ground beats the same acreage with a creek and a wetland through the middle.
Price per acre also falls as acreage rises — ten one-acre lots sell for more in total than a single ten-acre tract in the same area. If you price a large tract at the per-acre rate of small lots, it will sit for a year and you will conclude the market is bad when the pricing was.
Step two: assemble the documents before you advertise
Get a copy of your recorded deed, the parcel number and the county tax record, the county parcel map, and anything else you hold: an old survey, a perc test, a septic permit, a timber cruise, a recorded easement, a plat. Buyers who have to chase basic facts assume the worst and offer accordingly.
Check the deed against reality. Is every owner named on it still alive and available to sign? If a spouse or a sibling died and the deed was never updated, that is a probate step and it takes time, so start it now rather than after you have accepted an offer. Are there liens, an old mortgage that was never released, or delinquent taxes? Those will surface in the buyer’s title search regardless, so find them first.
Take photographs in the right season if you can — leaf-off shots show terrain, leaf-on shows how the place feels. Mark the corners if you know them. A simple annotated aerial with the boundary drawn on it does more for a listing than a dozen photos of trees.
Step three: market it, then close it correctly
For land, the highest-value listing venues are the land-specific marketplaces and the general classifieds, plus a sign on the road if it has frontage. Include the parcel number, the acreage, the county, the access situation, whether power is at the road, the annual tax bill and whether the soils have been tested. Vagueness costs you money: buyers discount for uncertainty.
Expect the enquiries to include investors making low offers and, unfortunately, some scams. Never accept a cheque for more than the price with a request to refund the difference. Never let a buyer pressure you into signing a deed outside a closing. Do not pay upfront fees to anyone promising a buyer.
Close through a licensed title company or a real estate attorney, always. They confirm ownership, check for liens, prepare a deed that is valid in that state, hold the funds, and record the transfer. Preparing your own deed from an internet template is where FSBO land sales genuinely go wrong: an improperly drafted or unrecorded deed can leave the buyer without clean title and you with a lawsuit years later. The few hundred dollars this costs is not the place to save.
FSBO land sale: the five mistakes that cost the most
Pricing off asking prices
Use closed sales. Listings sitting unsold for a year are evidence of the wrong price, not evidence of value.
Ignoring the deed chain
A deceased co-owner or an unreleased mortgage will stop a closing. Find it before you advertise, not after.
Writing your own deed
State-specific requirements are real. Use a title company or attorney; an invalid or unrecorded deed is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Hiding a known problem
Wetlands, failed perc, no legal access — disclose them. Buyers find out anyway, and a discovered problem kills a deal that a disclosed one survives.
Under-describing the parcel
No parcel number, no access detail, no tax figure means every buyer assumes the worst case and offers for it.
Taking money outside closing
Funds belong with a licensed closing agent. Any request to move money another way is a warning sign.
If you would rather not do all that
Three steps, no obligation at any point, and no cost to you at any stage.
One call or one form
Tell us the address or APN and the rough size. You do not need a survey, a plat or the tax bill in front of you — we look all of that up.
We value it properly
We research the parcel ourselves, at our cost, before we quote. We price it off recent sales of similar acreage and adjust for access, soil, flood mapping, timber and shape. No cost to you, no commitment.
Written offer, your decision
You have our number in writing within 24 hours. If you take it, a licensed title company closes it and we cover the standard closing costs — typically 14 to 30 days.
Selling to us vs. listing it
Both are legitimate. Listing can bring a higher gross price if you have time, the tract is easy to finance and you can carry the taxes while it sits. Here is the honest comparison.
| Selling to Dreamify | Listing with an agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are dealing with | A direct cash buyer — we are the ones purchasing | An agent marketing it to someone else |
| Commission | None | Typically 6–10% on land |
| Closing costs | We cover them | Usually split or seller-paid |
| Repairs, survey, clean-up | Not your problem | Often requested by retail buyers |
| Financing risk | None — cash | Land loans fall through often |
| Timeline | As little as 14 to 30 days once title work is back | Land can sit on the market for months |
Land we buy
Land we buy
- Vacant, raw and bare land
- Inherited and heir property, including multiple owners
- Land with back taxes or a delinquent tax bill
- Out-of-state and absentee-owned parcels
- Farm, timber and hunting acreage
- Small residential lots and infill parcels
- Landlocked tracts and parcels with access questions
- Land that failed a perc test
- Tracts tied up in an estate or probate
- Property you inherited and have never seen
What we don’t buy
- Houses, mobile homes and other structures
- Land you do not have the authority to sell
- Parcels where a co-owner has not agreed to sell
- Property already under contract with someone else
If we are not the right buyer for your parcel we will say so on the first call rather than waste your time.
We buy with our own money — here is what we have closed
We are a principal buyer using our own capital, not a lead broker collecting details to sell on. A sample of tracts we have bought and closed:
| Tract | Where we closed it |
|---|---|
| 8.5 acres | Pike County, Mississippi |
| 5.05 acres | Dawson County, Georgia |
| 32.3 acres | Perquimans County, North Carolina |
| 72 acres | Pike County, Mississippi |
| 10.7 acres | Morgan County, Georgia |
| 6.24 acres | Jasper County, Georgia |
A sample of tracts we have bought and closed ourselves. We are a principal buyer, not a broker — every one of these was purchased with our own funds through a licensed closing agent.
What sellers say
Every quote below is a real, verified Google review of Dreamify Properties — 4.9 stars across 14 reviews.
“I had a great experience working with John and Dreamify on the marketing and sale of land in Georgia. John was reasonable, fair, and thorough throughout the transaction, and was very pleasant to work with.”
“John was very communicative & professional. He did what he said he would do!”
Questions we get asked
Can I sell land without a real estate agent?
Yes. Land is the easiest property type to sell by owner — there are no showings or repairs. You take on the pricing, the marketing and the coordination, and you still close through a title company or attorney.
Do I need a lawyer to sell land by owner?
Some states require an attorney to close; everywhere else a licensed title company can do it. Either way, do not prepare and record your own deed from a template.
How long does an FSBO land sale take?
Priced correctly and marketed properly, vacant land commonly takes several months to sell, and rural acreage can take a year or more. Closing itself takes a few weeks once a buyer is under contract.
What paperwork does a land sale need?
A written purchase agreement, the deed, a settlement statement, and any state or local disclosures and transfer tax forms. The closing agent prepares most of it.
How do I avoid scams when selling land myself?
Close through a licensed title company, never refund an overpayment on a cheque, never pay upfront fees for a promised buyer, and do not sign a deed outside a closing.
Is selling to a cash buyer better than FSBO?
It is faster and certain, at a lower gross price. FSBO usually nets more on a desirable tract if you have the time and patience. Both are legitimate; the right answer depends on your parcel.
Other situations we buy in
Sell land without a realtorSell land online
How much is my land worth
Where we buy
Sell land in North CarolinaSell land in South Carolina
Sell land in Virginia
Find out what your your land is worth to a cash buyer
Send the parcel details and we’ll research the property, answer your questions, and put a clear no-obligation offer in writing within 24 hours.