57 vacant lots, a "bulk deal" and I "sold-em" in two months!

[Robert Dobbs]

Whew! I did it!

I put under contract, a "bulk deal, 48 vacant Florida homesite lots on April 26. I was given until the end of the "bank quarter" (June 28th, 2012), or about two months to complete this transaction:

This deal was called a "step-down contract".

I was allowed to close on a minimum of 12 lots at a time. The original "vacant land contract" was for 48 vacant lots, and was ammended to add another 9 lots to the deal, bringing the total to 57 lots I closed on!

The seller (a bank) suggested this "step-down" technique to me, as they did not want to do the deal my way, via "option to purchase".

The first batch was to be 12 lots (I put 10% down on those 12 lots).

I instead closed on 28 lots on the first batch of lots (as I had these 28 lots sold within two weeks!).

I closed on 12 lots for the second batch.

I closed 17 lots for the 3rd and final batch!

All went smoothly!

The key to this type of transaction is having a way to market all properties within the alloted time frame, per the agreement (the "contract")...

The second key to my success is pricing.

I portray myself as a "land liquidator".

So I make offers, what I call, "well below wholesale bulk deals". And then I sell them wholesale ("below market") to others, working on "thin margins", so I can move them fast!

My monetary risk was an initial 10% "hard deposit" on 12 lots. And my bigger risk was not completing the original deal (48 lots) and losing the trust and confidence of the seller (the bank)...

I was able to sell 26 lots (11 lots, and then 15 lots) to an investment group (they "warehouse" these properties for a "future rainy day-real estate boom"), and 7 lots to another investor of mine (thru his self-directed IRA) and the balance (24 lots) were sold as "singles" or as "doubles" (i.e., 2 adjoining lots) on eBay (as I am a long-time "power seller" and "top-rated" seller there!)...

All-in-all, it was a pretty cool deal, for a few months of hard work.

I "patted myself on the back". Now what?

I need to DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

Bob
Land Rescue League LLC

[Joshua Dorkin]

Robert -
Perhaps you could share with everyone how you put the front end of the deal together? How did you negotiate the deal with the 48 lots in the first place?