YouTube video by Mark J. Podolsky debunking five common myths about land investing: that land doesn't cash flow (he recommends owner-financing to create monthly payments), that nobody buys remote land (claims strong demand and many sales over 20+ years), that large capital is required to start (states he began with $3,000 and some clients with $500), that environmental liabilities are common (rare; recommends checking epa.gov for superfund sites), and that you must buy locally (he buys nationwide and uses local contractors to verify properties). The video mixes anecdotes, numeric examples (e.g., $2,500 purchase sold with $2,500 down + $249/month at 9% for 84 months), and a call-to-action to his course/website.
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In this video, I want to debunk some of the common land investing myths that a lot of people have brought up as concerns about why would I get in to the land investing business as opposed to rental properties or multifamily things that HGTV or the DIY network talks a lot about. So let's get into it. First of all, the first land myth is that land doesn't cash flow. Now, that's just not true. There are tons of ways to make land cash flow from either land leases to billboards. You can put out a paintball game out there if you want. But there is one favorite way I have of making land cash flow, and this is the one that I teach and the one that I recommend. It's owner financing. So what does that mean? You simply sell the land owner on an easy down payment and then make it a car payment, and then you begin creating cash flow just like a rental home. So, for example, let's say that I bought a property for $2,500 in rural Colorado. Well, the way that I would sell it then is I ask for a down payment of $2,500 and then I would make it a car payment, let's say 249amonth at 9% interest for the next 84 months. So it's a one time sale. I'm going to get my money out on the down payment. Now, I also might go out six to 10 months and then I'll make it a car payment. So I've got 249amonth coming in at 9% interest for the next 84 months. And that's how I'm going to make that land cash flow, just like a rental home. Now, the second myth is, well, who buys this land? Why would anyone buy land in quote unquote, the middle of nowhere? Well, the truth is, there is a lust for land in this country. I've been working in the land investing business for over 20 years. I've done this over 6,000 times. I've never been stuck with a piece of raw land. In fact, I have a saying is there is a pig for every barn. And so even pieces of land where I messed up on due diligence and I bought on the side of the mountain, all those pieces of land have sold. You just have to price it right. The next myth is you're going to need a lot of money to start because we'll read in the financial newspapers or online that the biggest land investors are billionaires. Jeff Bezos, Ted Turner, Warren Buffet. They own a ton of land in this country, but what they're buying is productive farmland. And they're making about an 8% return, which is great for them and diversification for them as well. But the reality is you don't need hardly any money. I personally started with $3,000. I have clients that have started with $500. So you don't need a lot of money. And unlike housing, you don't even need banks or hard money lenders involved. Another big myth is that there's going to be an environmental issue with the land and people just want to avoid it. But the truth is, it's hardly ever an issue. And if you're worried about it, it's really simple to mitigate. Just go to epa.gov and make sure you're not buying what they call a super fun site. This is where a manufacturing company may have spilled some chemicals on the land, and the new owner, if they didn't know about it, would be responsible for the cleanup. And that could cost millions of dollars. So the reality is that when we're buying these pieces of raw land, we're buying in places that don't have any of those issues. We're avoiding New Jersey, Pennsylvania, industrial areas like Pennsylvania, Ohio, because, let's face it, nobody wakes up and says to themselves, boy, I'd like to buy some raw land today in, say, Minnesota, unless you live in Minnesota. So we're focusing on the sunshine states, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Nevada, maybe a little bit in the northwest, Washington, Oregon, Utah, and then of course, Florida. So again, in those areas, it's very, very rare to have any environmental issue. Now, another myth is you have to buy land in your local area. For example, I live in Phoenix, Arizona, but I buy land all over the country. Southwest, Northwest, in Florida. And the truth is, you can buy land from anywhere in the world. You don't even need to be in the United States. And here's how I do it. All I'm going to do is send out offers to people, and when they start accepting the offers, I'm going to do my due diligence and I want to make sure that they own the property. There's been no breaks in the chain of title. There's no liens or encumbrances, etc. But then for around 50 bucks, I'm going to put up a local Craigslist ad and, and have them really just use my property report, have them shoot pictures, videos. I want them to film me in on the roads, what it's the surrounding area like how far from the nearest Walmart, hospitals, services, what are the neighbors doing? Are they dumping on the property, all that, et cetera. And again, my philosophy is I can always make more money. I can't get more time. So I can't tell you the last time I actually physically stomped on on a piece of raw land that I invested in. Those are the myths. Hopefully you found this video valuable. Please like and subscribe. Get our free course on how to double your money in 30 days or less@thelandgeek.com thanks so much. Sam.
