My Unsexy Side Hustle of Buying and Selling Raw Land
One of my weekly rituals perfectly captures my entire business model: opening a huge stack of mail. In one envelope, I’ll find an offer letter I sent out, returned with an angry message scrawled across it. Someone will tell me my $1,100 offer is an insult for a property they claim is worth $35,000. I just laugh and toss it in the trash. That’s just part of the process.
My offer was based on data showing I could sell it on terms for about $4,400, a 300% return that’s pretty standard in this . The next envelope might contain a counteroffer—maybe they’re asking for $1,000 on my initial $750 offer. That’s a possibility. I’ll start my due diligence on the property and can often negotiate back down. The next one might be another insult. You learn to ignore it.
But then, you find the one you’re looking for: a signed acceptance. No notes, no drama, just a signature. That single letter makes the whole routine worth it, because I know it represents at least a few thousand dollars in profit. This is the core of a that can generate serious extra income.
Where the Real Work Begins: County Research
So, how do you find these opportunities? It all starts with solid county research. This is the most critical first step when like this. My approach often sounds backward to beginners: don’t look for quiet counties with zero competition. You actually want to go where everyone else is already active. A busy market means there's a proven demand for land. This is the foundation of building a .
The easiest way to find these hot spots is to browse land listing websites like Landandfarm.com and Landwatch.com. Just spend some time looking around, or even run a simple Google search for something like “Arizona land.” You’ll quickly see which counties have the most listings. This isn’t a one-time task; the market is always shifting, so this research is an ongoing part of the business. This is how you find the most in this niche.
Turning Data Into Offers
Once you’ve picked a promising county, it’s time to get organized. A simple Excel spreadsheet is all you need to track properties currently for sale. I create columns for key data points like town, subdivision, acreage, asking price, and the assessor’s parcel number (APN). It’s crucial to group properties by size—for example, one to two acres, three to five acres, and so on.
After you’ve gathered data on a few dozen properties in a specific size range, add up all the asking prices and divide by the number of properties to find a rough median sale price. Now for the simple formula that powers this entire : take that median price and divide it by four.
If similar one-to-two-acre lots have a median price of $4,000, your offer price becomes $1,000. This strategy builds in what Warren Buffet calls a "margin of safety" and is fundamental to making your money when you . It's one of the most effective because your initial capital outlay is intentionally small.
Finding Motivated Sellers and Cleaning Your List
You’re probably wondering why anyone would accept an offer that’s just 25% of the market rate. The reasons are endless. People inherit land they have no connection to, they owe back taxes, or they’re in a tough financial spot and just need the cash now. Your offer is a fast, simple solution to their problem.
To find these motivated sellers, you need the county’s delinquent tax roll. Just send a polite email to the county treasurer or tax collector and ask for a list of all properties with delinquent taxes, preferably in an Excel format. What you get back will likely be one of the ugliest, most confusing spreadsheets you've ever seen. It’s a wall of messy data, codes, and names. This is where most people give up.
You have to learn how to clean, or "scrub," this list. I highly recommend doing it yourself at least once to understand the process, but this is the perfect task to outsource. You can find Excel experts on platforms like Fiverr or Upwork for just a few dollars an hour. Have them organize the key information into a clean sheet: APN, owner’s name, address, and parcel size. For now, ignore the amount of back taxes owed; that comes later. The goal is to filter out duplicates, other investors, and owners who live outside the country to make the process smoother.
The Engine of Your Business: Mailing Offers
With a clean list, it's time to start mailing. This is the true engine of any in this space. Your offer letter should be direct: this is what I’m offering, sign here if you accept. You are in the offer business, not the negotiation business.
When you're , a manageable goal is what I call “twenty in the box.” Just focus on mailing 20 offers every single day. That adds up to 100 per week, which is a large enough batch to start tracking your response rate. The target is a 3-5% acceptance rate. If your numbers are lower, your offers might be too low, and you can test a higher price the next week.
The single biggest mistake you can make is to stop mailing. Deal flow is the lifeblood. Even when you get busy processing accepted offers, you have to keep the mail going out. If you don't, your pipeline will dry up, and it will feel like you’re starting all over again. Consistency can turn this simple process from a side hustle to a full-time venture. This is how a transition happens.
A common fear is getting stuck with a worthless property. I can tell you that since I started in 2001, every piece of land I’ve ever bought has eventually sold. Some were “clunkers” that didn’t bring in huge profits, but they all sold. The fear of being stuck is largely irrational. You avoid bad deals by doing your due diligence, but only you get a signed offer back. Don’t get bogged down in heavy research upfront. Get offers out the door, and when an acceptance comes in, that’s your signal to dig in and verify the details. It's a fantastic model for and building real wealth.
