All Forum Posts by: Matthew Bailey

I’m looking to hire someone for the role of due diligence in my land investing business. This involves making a lot of phone calls and using online resources to check: taxes, access to water/elec/sewer/septic, zoning, wetlands, flood, schedule and review photographers/photos, etc, etc

Is there already a job title for someone who does due diligence for real estate? Underwriter seems to really pertain just to loans (maybe valuation too which this role is not doing), real estate analyst seems to be more about valuation based on profit/loss/commercial style metrics.

This role might not be widely available, just reserved for folks with real estate investing businesses, so there may not be an official job title. But it helps to know if there’s a real name for it. For example, I’m also hiring a transaction coordinator so knowing what that job is called allows me to see similar job descriptions etc and perhaps hire someone with transaction coordinator experience and not reinvent the wheel.

Just curious if there’s a real name for “due diligence person” lol

@Blaine Alger

Yea I mean if it’s a one time thing it shouldn’t be a big deal. You won’t be able to get by asking “what about this lot” over and over because investors are busy. But if you’ve got a one time thing you can probably get their buying criteria. Then go find deals that fit that and wholesale them off.

@Blaine Alger

Hey Blane, go on Zillow, filter for only “new construction” bought/sold call all of those agents/developers/companies and ask them what they need to buy at to make their numbers work.

@James Hamling I am looking for people who have succeeded at building a team so I can follow them and learn about that aspect.  I invest in land and have no intentions of switching to houses, so we're not competitors.  I'm not interested in how they invest in real estate, I'd be interested in how they've built companies required to scale to their size.

My business does about 50 deals/year (vacant land only) so wholesalers and high volume investors who've built teams are logical people to follow (podcasts/blogs/coaching)

@Jerryll Noorden

You’re totally right in that subdivisions often I’ve CCRs which restrict what can be done on the land and you need to read those if you plan to build on the lot. They may have additional setbacks, restrictions on RVs, fences, architectural guidelines, min sqft, etc

That being said some of those things are desirable to some folks. All that means is that a quarter acre lot in the sub can’t be comped to a quarter acre lot outside of the sub. That doesn’t mean land in a subdivision is inherently a bad investment.

I've made plenty of money buying land in subdivisions. All you need to do is mind the yearly HOA (which is less of an issue if you flip it quickly and the land is much more valuable than the HOA payment) and make sure your comps are all within the same subdivision. Also make sure the lots on the market currently don't have long days on market. If folks are buying in that subdivision and properties are trading then there's no reason you can't buy at a discount and flip for a profit. Just make sure when you sell your lot it is the best deal in the sub

@Katie Pellegrin

@Brendan Harrison nailed it. Look up builders via the “new construction” filter on Zillow/Redfin etc. call those folks and find out what their acquisition criteria are. For example they say, “we’re looking for 0.5ac lots in XYZ subdivision/zip code/etc. We need to buy the at 40k to make our numbers work”

Then you go find that lot for whatever price <40k and make the assignment fee at closing, win win.

@Frank Hinck Very cool, just found the podcast I'll listen in!  Thanks for the reply!

I'll check out your PM now, I wouldn't charge anything for a quick look at the comps.  If we went forward with my plan I'd just charge an assignment fee for the difference between your price and what I could negotiate.  I.e. If you said, "I'd pay $X,000 for the land", and I negotiated $Y,000 with the seller, I'd take an X-Y assignment fee.  You'd get the land at the price you were looking for, I'd get whatever I could negotiate.

It's not uncommon for folks to be way out of touch with the value of their land, land is hard to comp.

@Jesse Anthony Buffa

Hey Jesse, you can often get LL land really inexpensively. I’m a land investor and I almost always pass on LL properties unless I can cold call the neighbors and assign the contract to them. Then I “wholesale” it to them. So you likely could get a great price on the land, but as the neighbor you might not want to offer as low as you really should for LL land to avoid burning bridges.

Ultimately it’s not LL to you, you can always grant and easement through your land and sell it no problem. So it being LL is less of a negotiation point for you as it is for an outside buyer. Definitely not a problem for you unless you try to sell it without an easement.

Feel free to PM me, let me know your price point, the parcel numbers involved, and I’ll comp it out. I can cold call the guy/send a letter and make the appropriate offer without him knowing you’re involved. Then if he bites I could assign the contract to you and you purchase the land for an assignment fee, like wholesaling houses.

Worst case I can report back where he’s at price wise and you can pursue it from there.

@T Whitfield

Nice article @Bobby Wallace. I’d suggest you thumb through that for sure. Some of it’s a little overkill IMO but good stuff for sure.

In general, all that’s required to transfer title to land is a deed, signed and notarized by the seller, recorded at the county. I myself am a land investor and I’ve sold plenty of lots outside of a title company. I always buy the land with title insurance and ensure there are no liens or clouds on the title. So when I sell it those concerns are already mitigated. So if you’re dealing with a land investor (if they’re selling outside of title I presume they are) and they’re worth their salt then they bought a property at that price point with title insurance.

You can ask them to share the title report they received when they bought it. If they bought it outside of title then I’d suggest you go with someone willing to close through title. Either buy the property from the investor through title, and if they’re not willing to do that definitely go elsewhere. If the lot was 5k it would be different.