Once again as I was driving the dirt roads of Mohave County, another song played that reminded me that “it don’t come easy” being a real estate agent who loves selling vacant land aka as dirt.
Listing vacant land is far more complicated than many realize. For me, my standard of practice is to travel to the parcel. Often this means downloading maps from the county, marking off roads, determining mileage, looking for flood plains and road access. GPS is not a good resource out here in Golden Valley AZ as well as the other unincorporated towns.
Sometimes I will check to see if the vacant land parcel has been listed before and scan for additional information. Once in a while, I actually find doable directions.
However, most the directions lack actual mileage between turns. Out here blocks can be a mile or more away from each other. At the piece of dirt, I locate property markers; determine the existence of any utilities such as power, water, well, septic; take photos and record the mileage from point A to point B and any more points respective to turns.
Once the property is listed, then there are all the calls, texts or emails to be handled regarding the listing. My most recent one was “Are they any horse trails?”
When an offer is received, the real “it don’t come easy” part begins. First, the offer must be check to ensure everything is accurate. Then, I update the competitive market analysis (COMPS) if the offer is less than full price. In this updating process, I review and may have to revise the estimated closing costs for the seller(s) including if the seller(s) is offering buyer’s agent compensation. Then the offer is emailed to the seller(s) for his, her or their review along with the updated COMPS. A phone call is also made to discuss the offer.
On occasion, when the seller(s) lives out of state or there is more than one seller, the buyer’s agent must be informed as to the progress of acceptance. Recently one vacant land listing offer had 4 siblings as the sellers with all being out of state and one often traveling outside of the US. This particular acceptance took nearly 2 weeks. Yes “it don’t come easy” selling real estate. The good news was I had already sold two other vacant land parcels for these siblings and recognized this would be time consuming.
After offer acceptance, the “it don’t come easy” process continues. Sometimes the process is smooth meaning "it comes easy" and other times not so much. Usually the “it don’t come easy” part is due to a communication failure between of the vested parties and/or failure to adhere to the vacant land sales contract.
Outside of the actual vacant land listing and the contract acceptance, there is all that truck maintenance as well as marketing. Historically due to the road conditions, I usually buy new rugged terrain tires every 12-14 months.
Then add in the purchase of frames for the sign as well as the actual signs add to the cost. Lately, a lot of my vacant land signs have been stolen which is quite aggravating to say the least. Yes the "it don't come easy" is ongoing.
For those selling vacant land or buying vacant land, this is an area of real estate that has its own uniqueness. Making sure the real estate agent knows the specific area aka competency is essential. That on the ground knowledge also “it don’t’ come easy.” Many roads are driven, parcels walked, vehicle miles logged and research undertaken to be competent.
Finally, “it don’t come easy” is for the sellers, buyers and agents. Vacant land may take one to two or more years to sell even if the vacant land parcel is priced accordingly. Patience is also a trait that “it don’t come easy.”
P.S. Please consider checking out my Facebook business page, The Grit and Gratitude Agent that will focus on the Dirt Roads in Mohave County as well local real estate, lots of dirt or vacant land parcels as some of the local attractions.
#LetsGetBackToRealConversations #WeDoThingsDifferently #BuyerEducation #RealEstateGuidance #LandOfferPocess #ArizonaRealEstate #TheHelpfulAgent #GoldenValleyAZHomesAndLand #KingmanHomesAndLand
Leanne M Smith, The Grit and Gratitude Agent Who Goes the Extra Mile Because Life Begins Where the Pavement Ends.
Feature Photo Courtesy of Leanne M Smith
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