Joshua Tree Raw Land Buy and Hold

[Michelle Vawer]

Investment Info:

Other buy & hold investment in Westport.

Purchase price: $8,000
Cash invested: $2,000

I purchased 2.5 acres of Raw Land in Joshua Tree, less than ten minute drive from the park and downtown area in 2018.
Purchased via seller financing.
2k down with monthly installments to pay out rest.

Current similar lots are selling for around $65k

I plan to hold long term

Would eventually love to develop something on the land-either an art park or residence.

(Current cost to bring in water line is around $140k or a well starts around 40k with no guarantee of hitting water)

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I had heard of Joshua Tree living In LA. When I first visited I was surprised at how undeveloped it was.
After talking to a local coffee shop worker I learned how many visitors came to the park each year and since then started scoping out properties mostly online.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Online, I actually don’t remember the original site I was on-one of the big ones which led me to a desert land site where one woman who owned a lot of San Bernadino land was selling.

How did you finance this deal?

Seller financing via a note company. I think I put 2k down and paid 300 monthly until I paid out the 8k price. Took a while. And was not super savvy with interest prices at the time, was around 6% interest added on but it was my first deal so you love you learn

How did you add value to the deal?

I did end up having my dad help out, but I made the original payment and about half the remaining. I trusted my instinct that J Tree values would go up. I really just went off the fact that property was super affordable and it was very clearly obvious to me that Joshua Tree could only grow and become more developed because of the beautiful park and proximity to LA/Palm Springs.

What was the outcome?

About 7 x-ed our money in over five years. And still holding.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Honestly I learned so much, I knew nothing. About deeds, about financing costs about trusting when an area will likely rise in value

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Dana Dressel is the lady who owned all that desert land