Curious about how investing in raw land could help you accomplish your financial goals? In this episode, we’re talking with Mark Podolsky, The Land Geek, the raw land investor who’s completed over 5500 land deals, with an average ROI of over 300% on cash flips, and over 1,000% on the deals he sells with financing terms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMB7SWZLyn8

So if you want to learn from a raw land investor who’s replaced his income and helped many other people do the same … tune in below!

Table of contentsHow Do You Invest in Raw Land?Doing Your Due Diligence with Raw LandWhat Happens Next?How to Make Your Offer IrresistibleRaw Land Creates ValueThe Risks of Raw Land InvestmentsPrivatized Banking and Raw LandAbout Mark PodolskyLinks

How Do You Invest in Raw Land?

In our interview, Mark starts us out with a case study, using Bruce as a hypothetical. In this instance, Bruce lives in St. Louis, yet owns 10 acres of land in Texas. He also owes $200 of back taxes. He’s advertising two things here: no emotional attachment to that raw land, and there’s some sort of financial distress.

You, as the raw land investor, would look at the comparable sales on his 10-acre parcel for the last 12-18 months. Then, you take the lowest comp divided by four, giving you what Warren Buffett would call a 300% margin of safety. Then you’ll send an actual offer. Pretend the lowest comp is $10,000. You would send an offer of $2,500. Chances are, Bruce will accept the offer, because it’s better than nothing.

In Mark’s case, 3 out of 5 people typically accept his offers. Then it’s time to do his due diligence.

Doing Your Due Diligence with Raw Land

When Mark Podolsky talks about due diligence, here’s what he means:

Does “Bruce” still own the property?Are the back taxes only $200?What’s the ingress and egress?Are there any breaks in the title's chain?Are there liens or encumbrances?Is there legal access?What are the neighbors doing?How far is the property from other services?What are the roads like?What is compelling about the property?

It’s crucial that before you make an investment on a property, you know all the important factors. You can also enlist help: Mark himself outsources this step to his team in the Philippines, because they are connected to an American title company. It’s not costly either. For larger investments, working with an American title company directly is beneficial. Or you can even outsource through Craigslist.

Taking the time or spending the resources to vet your land thoroughly will pay off in the long run.

What Happens Next?

The trick to raw land investments, after you vet the property, is to sell in 30 days or fewer. Then, you can make it cash flow similarly to a rental property, and be ready to invest in the next plot of land. So who do you sell to?

Fortunately, with raw land, you have built-in buyers: the neighbors. Intrinsically, the neighbors are going to have an interest in this land more than anyone else to start.  They may want it to protect their privacy, or to build out their estate. Giving them the first pass can often have a huge payout.

Should that not pan out, you have several other options to find buyers. Start with your buyer's list, then you can start looking online:

CraigslistFacebook Marketplace (or buy/sell groups)Land sale websites

How to Make Your Offer Irresistible

How you package and sell the land makes the offer irresistible. You ask for a $2,500 down payment and recoup your investment. Then, Mark recommends this: a monthly payment of $449 over 84 months at 9% interest.

This way, you have a onetime sale, earn your capital back, and then you have monthly cash flow without renters, renovations, or rehabs. Because you’re not dealing with tenants, you’re also exempt from Dodd Frank, RESPA, and the SAFE Act.

[13:28] “The game we play is, can we create enough of these land notes, where our passive income exceeds our fixed expense,