All Forum Posts by: Seth Williams

Wow! That sounds like a great deal @Alicia Prokos! Hats off to you!

Hey @David VanSteenkiste! Here are some things to think about:

Zoning: You can typically construct billboards in commercial, industrial, and sometimes agricultural areas, but almost never in areas zoned for residential (so, the fact that your lot is zoned commercial is a good thing).

Keep in mind, though, commercial zoning isn't the only issue you'll need to pay attention to. There are federal, state, and even city ordinances that govern the use of outdoor advertising (how big they can be, how far from the road they need to be, whether they're allowed at all, etc). Get your state ordinance and the ordinance for the city your property is in (hint: if your property isn’t situated within a city, it will typically go by the state’s ordinance).

Traffic Count: I'm not sure what kind of traffic is going by this property of yours, but the most ideal billboard locations are on roads with traffic of at least 10,000 cars per day. If you aren't sure what the traffic count is, you can get road maps and traffic count maps from the state department of transportation (or just do a google search for traffic counts by county or city and you'll probably find something). More traffic = more money. This will tell you which roads to focus on (they will be mostly interstates and county roads).

Spacing Between Signs: The federal ordinance requires that there should be at least 250 feet of space between a proposed sign location and any other existing billboards (or 500 feet spacing from at-grade intersections), so check the neighboring properties to see if there are any existing billboards already there.

In a lot of states, there will be more restrictive spacing requirements than the federal ordinance, and many cities will be even more restrictive than the state. Some states might require 500 feet between signs, others may require 800+ feet.

Distance from Road: For federally funded roads in non-rural areas, the sign location should be within 660 feet of the road. This is another common area where states and cities can be more restrictive than the federal rules. Figure out what the spacing away from the road needs to be in the state/city where you’re looking, and make sure the property provides the space needed to make a billboard location work.

Moratoriums: I'm not sure what Arizona's situation is, but check to see if there are any moratoriums on new billboards. I looked into this in Michigan a couple of years ago and found that the entire state has a "cap and replace" rule in effect right now (you can't build a new billboard unless you take another one down somewhere else), which makes it much harder to place new billboards for the time being. States like Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, and Maine don't allow billboards at all.

You could also try calling an outdoor advertising company like Lamar, Viacom, Clear Chanel, or CBS Outdoor to see if they have a presence in Arizona. If they do, they can probably look at your property and tell you pretty quickly whether it's a good billboard candidate or not.

Good luck!

Hey @Arturo Paturzo - welcome to the forum! Did you have any particular questions about the land business vs the house business? They definitely both have their pros and cons. I've always found land to be a simpler business model overall with fewer moving pieces, but there are still plenty of challenges and obstacles to overcome. I certainly wouldn't call it easy.

Based on your profile, it looks like you're in Italy (is that right)? I'm curious what led you to consider land in the U.S. in the first place? It's always interesting to hear what path people are coming from.

Great to see you entering the realm of vacant land, Brian! I'm excited to see where it takes you. :)

If that's the objective, there are even more questions to answer - not just about whether the property is suitable for building - but also if the projected cash flow will be sufficient to cover the cost of new construction. There's also the other moving pieces that come up with any kind of new construction (cost overruns, adhering to timelines, finding a good general contractor, etc), so it sounds like a pretty big decision with lots of things to look at.

In my market, build-to-rent properties rarely make sense, even in today's real estate climate, but I know of others who are making it work in markets where the rent prices are higher.

If he feels compelled to buy it, just make sure he understands why he's buying it.

Is there a plan in mind? Does he want to build something on it, or just add to the existing footprint of his yard and control what's going on behind the house? Either motive is fine, but if the goal is to develop, alter, subdivide, or improve the land in some way, a lot of questions need to be answered about the feasibility of doing so. 

On the other hand, if he just wants to control the property and keep anyone else from building something ugly next door, that's a lot simpler... but it also won't be a big value-add investment.

Hi @Kate C. - I'm not sure if links are allowed here these days, but this blog post really does speak to your question.

1. You don't need an agent to buy or sell land (I almost never use them), but depending on your level of comfort with the process, it might not hurt if you can find one who specializes in land transactions (hint: most agents deal with homes and dwellings, and these are not necessarily the most qualified people to advise you on vacant land transactions - as land deals have their own unique set of issues).

2. I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here, but most conventional lenders will only participate in a land deal if you have an immediate plan to develop it (which it sounds like you do).

3. Yep. I would check with the zoning and planning department to verify that your intended use is allowed, and won't come up against any local restrictions. This isn't the only factor that can affect the feasibility of your plans for the property, but it's a big one.

4. If it were me, I'd probably look for a good general contractor to help with this. If you're serious about building, you might want to find a local surveyor too. They can help you understand exactly where the boundaries of the property are and verify that there's enough room to build what you have in mind.

There can be other issues to watch out for too (wetlands, flood zones, perc test, access to utilities, the physical attributes of the land, etc), as I explain in the blog post mentioned above.

Are we talking about a gas fireplace or wood fireplace?

And more importantly, is this a fireplace that only serves an ornamental feature (like in my house, 90% of the heat goes straight up the chimney and doesn't do hardly anything compared to the forced air heat) or is it a serious wood-burning furnace that can largely replace a gas furnace in some or all of the house?

I don't have any data to offer from an appraisal perspective, but just practically speaking, it seems like an actual gas furnace alternative would be a bigger selling point than a fireplace that just sits in the corner and looks nice.

Hey @Dave Rupe! I've got a lot of respect for Jack. His material played a huge role in my early days of figuring out the land business and I know he's still putting out helpful content.

It's been a lot of years since I've seen Jack's course, so I can't say firsthand what it looks like today, but from what I remember of it, it was enough to get me through my first few deals and get my bearings until I felt confident enough to put my own spin on the process.

I think you'll find that most of the land investing courses out there (the ones that teach the flipping method) will explain a very similar model. I've been through most of them, and I think they agree on at least 80% of how the business ought to be run. The biggest differences I've noticed have to do with:

• Where to get the list for your direct mail marketing - from a data service or directly from the county (my course teaches both ways and the pros and cons of each)
• What kind of mail piece to send out - postcards/neutral letters or blind offers (my course explains both, includes several mail templates for both strategies and explains the pros and cons of each)

There are other subtle differences too with things like:

• What kind of pricing framework to use when sending offers
• What kind of software and services to use
• When the due diligence should be done during the process
• How deep the due diligence research should go

Just to clarify @Amy Aziz's point, the postcard approach is one of the direct mail strategies out there, but definitely not the only one I do (like anything, there are some scenarios when it makes sense and other scenarios when it doesn't). Most of my mail campaigns have been blind offers in recent years (because it makes a lot of sense when you have a bigger marketing budget and less time to interact with leads, it's a lot more scalable in that respect) and my course has a lot of videos, templates, tutorials, and even interviews with other land investors on different ways to implement that approach.

Outside of the basic software and services I recommend (you don't have to follow my recommendations at all - I just point you to the things I've had a good experience with), there is nothing else you have to pay for outside of the course. I don't hold anything back or hide the actual information behind another paywall. We also have free group coaching calls each month and a private forum that I stay regularly involved with, so if you do get stuck, you can get help from me or others in the community.

Hope that helps!

Hi @Christopher Newton - sure thing! I can't post any links here, so feel free to send me a PM and I'll send you some information on what I've got.