Russell Ward interviews Ryan Folk President and Founder of LandThink.com and LANDFLIP.com

Date / Time: 1/6/2009 8:00 PM
Call-in Number: (646) 915-8364

Russell welcomes Ryan Folk, President of LandThink.com. Starting with this broadcast LandThink.com will be the ongoing sponsor of each broadcast Russell conducts on various aspects of land. On this live broadcast, Russell and Ryan analyze the various polls that LANDFLIP.com conducts to help investors have a greater understanding about land. LandThink.com is the premier website to get the latest on land trends, news, articles, advice and now Podcasts! Visit BlogTalkRadio.com to learn more »

Asking price: To set or not to set

In earlier articles, I’ve discussed the ways that sellers approach determining the value of their sale property and some of the strategies sellers use in setting an asking price.

A few FSBO sellers frame this question differently. They ask: Am I more advantaged in the current market by setting an asking price or by saying to all buyers, “Make me an offer.”?

Conventional negotiating wisdom argues that whichever side first proposes a price consigns itself to the weaker position. With property listed with a broker, sellers always set a listing (asking) price and terms. If conventional wisdom is true, this means that buyers are always advantaged by having the seller declare a proposed gross sales price.

I have seen non-real-estate negotiations where the conventional wisdom held true…and others where it didn’t.

Parties often negotiate over the value of a service or a one-time purchase of a right, like an easement. Whichever party most values what is at issue between them might be better off letting the other side to mention price first, but not always. Read more »

How does a seller set an asking price?

Once a seller finds his way to a dollar number that he thinks represents the value of his property, he faces a set of decisions about asking price. Should he set an asking price higher than, equal to or less than what he believes is the value of his property?

Part of the seller’s answer will be determined by what he needs to net out of the sale after-tax. This net number factors in all deductions from sale income—transaction costs, taxes (local, state and federal) commissions, fees and expenses.

Another part of the answer is shaped by the seller’s judgment of current market conditions. Where a lot of buyers are chasing a relatively few number of properties, the market will bear a higher price. When few buyers are tire-kicking a lot of sale properties, or not tire-kicking at all, the market price can drift below the true value of the seller’s real estate.

A third factor is the intensity of the seller’s motivation. Desperate sellers may set a too-high asking price to cover their needs even though they doubt that a buyer will come close to it. This is the psychology of hope. It’s why we buy lottery tickets, despite the odds. It doesn’t work very often. Desperate sellers usually do best by setting an asking price that will attract buyer interest in a buyer’s market. Read more »

A New LANDFLIP.com Poll Shows Hunting Land is the Premier Choice for Potential Land Buyers

Despite recent reports of a drop in the number of hunters over the last decade, hunting and recreational land is still the premier land choice for an increasing number of buyers who use LANDFLIP.com to find land deals online and take advantage of the current buyers market.

Atlanta, GA. (PRWEB) December 16, 2008 — For many years, hunting has been a great American tradition and pastime, but according to recent reports, the number of hunters and hunting families has decreased over the last decade. However, despite reports of this trend, hunting and recreational land still remains one of the most sought after land types for potential land buyers. According to a recent LANDFLIP.com poll, 36.8 percent, an overwhelming majority of the respondents, indicated that they are currently searching for hunting and recreational land for purchase. Read more »

How should sellers find the values of their properties and set asking prices?

The seller’s asking price is one step in the sell-buy process that either encourages or discourages buyers from submitting a purchase-offer contract. This article discusses how sellers approach the questions of determining their property’s value and setting an asking price. The next article will discuss how seller’s view asking price tactically.

I’ve found sellers, including myself, setting an asking price for real estate by fixing its value in one of at least several ways.

Seat of the pants. Sellers normally know more about the property they’re selling than any other party. Over time, sellers get a price-feel for how their places compare with others in terms of assets and liabilities. When it comes time to sell, many sellers integrate the information they’ve acquired over the years and intuit their way to a price.

Need. When the economy is lousy, some sellers find themselves pinched for cash and forced to sell real estate. Where the property is secured by a mortgage, the sale price is hoped to be sufficient to pay off the debt, transaction costs, taxes on gain and meet as much of the crisis need as possible. In the best circumstances, the seller will have some profit left; in the worst, sale of the real estate will leave him short of meeting his cash needs. Read more »