Sell Your Land Faster with Curb Appeal!
By Ultimate Land Listings, LLC
It’s time to sell your property.
Finally put it on the market for someone to enjoy and so you can cash out on some equity.
What do you do? Where do you start?
Well, first off you need to make sure it’s got the right “curb appeal”.
You’ve heard of it before and you can bet that curb appeal is not only important when trying to sell your house, but can be equally important when trying to sell your land.
Remember first impressions matter! No…first impressions REALLY MATTER!
And in real estate, the first impression is often the only impression that counts! If a prospective buyer does not like the look of your land when they pull up, they will likely turn right around and leave!
It should be your primary goal, then, not only to keep potential buyers from turning around at the gate but to entice them to stay – all with the look of the land itself when they pull up.
So it is imperative, then, to have a clean setting.
You know…..no garbage should be on the property!
This should seem obvious but as a broker I have listed far too many farms and land tracts that were full of garbage to wonder if it really is obvious!
No personal debris or old equipment should be laying about either.
In fact, anything that would need to be moved or would not go with the land upon the sale should probably be moved prior to advertising the land for sale.
It just makes the land show better. And look cleaner.
I recall a hunting property that I listed a few years back in Van Buren county, Iowa. It was a beautiful piece of hunting land to be sure: with lots of deer and turkeys and with great habitat!
The problem was that the owner had several piece of old farming equipment near the entrance – and I do mean OLD farming equipment! This stuff hadn’t been used in probably 50 years or more and looked to be all broken down, rusted, falling apart and buried under all sorts of invading vegetation, as well.
But the owner wanted to keep the equipment and didn’t want it sold with the land.
Sure, it’s easy enough to tell people this and have the owner remove it after an offer is made, but prior to close. The problem is that the appearance of what many potential buyers consider “junk” right at the gate often turns them away from even wanting to look at the property in the first place – even when they know it will be moved.
Mental things matter…
It’s a mental thing really.
And it matters…it really, really, matters!
Just like with a house. You can tell people not to notice the “junk” around the house, that it will be out prior to the sale, but it still has a negative effect.
Not as many people will want to look at house with “things” scattered about and therefore not as many offers will come your way!
That’s not a good thing. You want to keep things clean and refuse free!
Hunting land is just the opposite!
I recall one instance where an owner wanted to sell his 40 acre “hunting property”.
He wanted me to market it to deer hunters, he told me on the phone.
When I arrived to inspect the farm and to get some listing photos, I was surprised to find out that he mowed the place with his Bush Hog mower. And he was smiling from ear to ear!
Sure it looked nice and aesthetically pleasing to many sorts of buyers but probably not to the type of buyer he was seeking. Hunters want to see habitat that game animals require to live in. Hunters want to see food plots, tall native grasses, thick timber, etc.
Hunters don’t often want to see a property you can inspect wearing shorts and flip-flops!
Although the landowner here had great intentions. He wanted the land to look groomed and wanted it easy for prospective buyers to move about and look at.
He forgot what it was that the prospective buyers would be coming to see: hunting land. They didn’t want to see a golf course!
So keep in mind the type of property it is that you are selling before making any hasty decisions.
In the previous example, it was my mistake not to tell the owner in the first place to just leave things be before I arrived.
So it is important to remember who it is that may be looking to buy the land that your a selling.
What are they buying it for?
What do they expect to see when they pull up to the gate?
Always remember: the fewer negative surprises received when potential buyers pull up to view your land the better chance you have of getting them to really look things over.
You want a potential land buyer to see what they expect to see when the pull up!
Other curb appeal items relating to land are simple things like having gates that are working and not all bent up or run down looking.
Also, make sure field access points are passable with appropriate vehicles (if they are meant for vehicular traffic).
Old building or homesteads that may exist on some properties should be maintained with yards mowed and tall weeds pulled or sprayed. Buildings that aren’t habitable or that may be potentially dangerous should probably be demolished and the site appropriately cleaned up before trying to sell the property.
A little about lots….
Now onto lots. (Sorry for the rapid transition there but what is one to do)…
If you are selling a lot, it should be mowed with weeds pulled. It should looked “groomed” when potential buyers pull up. It should look like a place potential buyers may want to walk out into and have a picnic!
Curb appeal for your land?
Yes, as you have read it can be very important!
So don’t forget about it when selling your land!
Don’t say we didn’t tell you so:)
Best of luck with your land sale!