About 15 years ago the best way to market your rural land was either a classified ad in the local paper, signage off the highway or the local pennysaver. Larger companies would use radio or some other direct marketing technique. All of these marketing strategies were slower and more expensive than the options today. I know we all like to complain about inflation but in terms of online marketing we’re in a deflationary environment!
With a little computer knowledge, we https://bubba-land.com/florida/ have at our disposal today the most compelling and powerful marketing platform ever created and it can be accessed from zero cost to less than $50 month.
CONTENT
Before getting started, check out a few sample ads for houses and you’ll notice that they are emphasizing the benefits and amenities of the house. Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle. Raw land is no different. Take a good look at what makes your land compelling. Mountain views? Water? Hunting? Recreational area? Good access? In the path of development? Trees? Then get out the thesaurus and use some colorful adjectives to describe the area and land. Of course, you will need a section for just the facts such as: elevation, access, terrain, deed conveyance, taxes, driving directions, GPS coordinates, sewer, water, utilities, mineral rights, etc. I like to use a simple table outlining all of the basic attributes and facts about the land. It is essential that the potential buyer have easy access to this basic information but it won’t help sell the land. Your language and conviction about the area need to be conveyed to a potential buyer and that is what will sell the property. More information is always better than less. Once you have your content well laid out then you need to add images.
IMAGES & MAPS
Your potential buyer needs to see more than just the words you use to describe the land. They also need to visually connect with the property via high quality maps and pictures of the parcel and surrounding area. You don’t need to have 50 pictures but you do need at least five or so to give the buyer an idea of the terrain, soil and views as well as the road of where they would access the land. You should include a plat map (call the county for a copy), general area map (I like to use Google Earth for maps) and a topographic map is always helpful as well. You can always contact a local surveyor if you need help preparing the maps and getting the GPS coordinates.
PRICING
Raw land prices are currently depressed. Be realistic about pricing. Call the County Assessor for the last two years of comparable sales and price accordingly.
FREE CLASSIFIED ADS
The best place to list free classified ads these days is craigslist.org and backpage.com These are simple no-nonsense interface sites where you can list the property price, description and add images. The big drawback is you have to continue to edit and update your listing to stay on top of the listing system otherwise it will be more difficult for buyers to find you. You can learn more about how to do this through basic Google searches.
PAID AGGREGATOR SITES
There are a few major paid aggregator sites that list land and do all the search engine optimization work for you so when someone Googles “land in California” your listings have a better chance of coming up at the top of the search results page.