How to safely sell 11 acres of raw land in North Carolina for maximum value?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: user1068636 Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/166555 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. I own 10-15 acres of undeveloped land in Gaston County, North Carolina that I am thinking to sell for the best possible price while ensuring the transaction is completely legitimate and secure. What steps should I take to determine fair market value and protect myself from scams or predatory buyers throughout the sale process? Should I hire specific professionals (appraiser, real estate attorney, land broker), and if so, in what order? What are the most important due diligence steps and documentation I should require from potential buyers to ensure a safe, legal, and profitable sale?

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: keshlam Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/166560 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. This is probably a duplicate, but: Seller's broker is usually the starting point; they deal with the mechanics of publicizing it, and they can advise you on how to go through the rest of the process. You will need a real estate attorney when you have accepted an offer and are finalizing the terms of sale. In my case I paid mine for some extra time to help me actually understand some of the more obscure parts of the contract; I try not to sign anything until I'm sure I know what I'm signing. Appraiser is usually hired by the buyer. You can have an appraisal done but the buyer's unlikely to trust your appraiser's opinion so that's probably wasted effort. The appraisal that matters is what the potential buyers think it's worth. Profitable: The agent will help you try to get the best price for it that you can, within the time limits that make sense for you, as soon as you can. How much profit there will be depends on the mood of the market. Remember that until you do sell, you are still paying taxes (and whatever maintenance may be required) on the property, so there is some cost to waiting too. There are many books on selling and buying property. They tend to focus more on houses than land, but it's not a bad idea to check a few out from your local library and give 'em a quick read through to better understand the process. Good luck.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: mhoran_psprep Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/166571 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. The answer would be similar to selling a house. You interview multiple agents that specialize in selling vacant property. They should show you their research into the value of the property. This should factor in the current market, and any expected changes due to development plans in that area. They will be able to walk you through the entire process. They may also be able to give you a list of people they work with for the specialized services you would require. You can also pick somebody else for that function. The agent/broker will also have a marketing plan. If you are not local to the property it does get more complex, but they should be able to work with you even if you aren't local to the property. What steps should I take to determine fair market value The multiple agents explaining how they determined the price to list the property, should cover that. while ensuring the transaction is completely legitimate and secure The agent should be local to that area, and your research has shown that their company is legitimate. What are the most important due diligence steps and documentation I should require from potential buyers to ensure a safe, legal, and profitable sale? The agent will help with this. They will have the required language in the local standard contract. They can explain deposits, and the expected time line. They will also explain the expected and unexpected contingencies.