Hey everyone, I am a land investor (3 years experience and over 100 transactions to date) who has seen this company in many states but I have never spoken to the owner (even though I called once because I had a lead on a land deal that I thought would fit his inventory and just wanted to wholesale it instead of buy it myself). So, I don't know the guy, or his business, but I do know his niche...land investing.
So I can speak to some of your concerns about the way he conducts business and let you know that's typical of land investors. I can say that as a whole, the land investing niche community handles business slightly different than general real estate investing.
As for the gentleman who was upset he didn't get a deed upon down payment for an owner financed deal. I'm not an attorney and the laws vary state by state, but it is best practice as a land investor to sell your land via land contract and a promissory note signed by all parties. It is only after this note is paid in full and completed that the deed is signed and recorded at the county and the property changes title. Investors do this to protect themselves in the event the note goes into default, they can avoid a judicial foreclose (expensive and time consuming) and just take the property back, and resell it. Alternatively you can get a deed of trust through a title company. The former is investor friendly the latter is buyer friendly. I do not personally sell on owner financing, but if I did, everyone in the land investing niche would advise me to handle it like that.
In the land investing niche it is common to sell properties outside of a title company. Title companies take about 4 weeks and cost about 1k-2k depending where you're at. A lot of the land investor community focuses on volume and land deals below the 5k buy/sell price, so title companies eat up that margin. It is "technically" simple to transfer title to a property, all you need is a properly drafted deed, signed, notarized, and recorded. The issues come in when the investor buys the property and how good they are at doing their own title search and determining a clear chain of title. Most investors use title companies if they are buying for more than 5k and selling for more than 10k. I don't do my own title work anymore, I have when I bought properties for 1k and sold for 3k. There isn't much risk there and it's par for the course for cheap properties being bought/sold with land investors. Like I said, I focus on higher dollar value land now and do it all through a title company. If you are buying a property for more than say 10k, I'd just insist on going through title. You could offer to pay the seller's closing costs, all in you'll pay about 1.5k to close through title. But if the land investor is worth their salt, there should be enough meat on the bone for you to justify that cost, as we try to sell at 70-80% of market value to keep the velocity of money up. Bottom line, lots of investors sell properties "in-house", if the investor has been around for more than a year or two and has a lot of transaction history they likely only buy the properties with easy title work and outsource the rest to title companies, so you're probably fine. I always buy with a title company but still offer "in-house" sales because they save me about 3 weeks of time and $750 of escrow fees. Most of my buyers prefer a title company and I have no issue with that.
As for the properties not being where they were supposed to be I have no excuse for that. I suppose one could say "you should have done you're due diligence," however Land Equities should not have misrepresented the location of the land. I can say that I never meet with sellers to tour properties because I'm selling at a healthy discount so I don't need to hold peoples hands through the process. I have a video on my website explaining landmarks and how to find the properties etc, that does the trick. So him not wanting to walk the property is extremely common. Almost 0% of land investors will meet a buyer at the property, we buy all across the county and it's not a good use of our time.
Lastly, on service, he really should return calls, and get in touch as soon as a down payment is made, or have a better "thanks for paying page". Maybe he's not tech savvy and has no idea there is no "hey thanks for paying we'll call you within 24-48 hours to get everything signed"
My opinion: A lot of your concerns are typical in the land investing niche, but the owner of this company is not doing a good job explaining why things are the way they are. As for his customer service I think there is room for improvement. As for whether or not it's a scam, it's not (probably haha IDK the guy but everything on his site leads me to believe he's just another land investor), if you have a concern just insist on using a title company to close the deal. If you offer to pay for his closing costs and he still says no then walk. If you close with a title company they will give you title insurance and you have nothing to be concerned with. If you ever plan to develop the land and sell it you'll use a title company and they'll do the research then, and if there is an issue in the chain of title then you'll wish you did it on the front end. If the land is less than 5k, it's fine to close outside of title, the cost of title insurance may not justify the risk.
Hope that's been helpful, if you have any questions or concerns with my post, I'd encourage you to read about the niche on REtipster.com. Search the website for owner financing/land contract/deed of trust, and you'll get the same perspective. Or for taking credit cards, or for doing title research/when to use a title company etc.
Hope you find the land you're looking for!
