There are two types of lots: lots that are easy to sell and lots that are hard to sell. With lots that are easy to sell, the owner will be bombarded with offers day after day, even without having made any attempt to sell the property. These lots are in prime commercial areas that receive a lot of motorized or pedestrian traffic. Other lots that are relatively easy to sell due to high demand are beach properties - either beachfront properties fronting the ocean, or lots very near the beach.
In most cases, however, selling a lot is hard. It takes a lot of time, usually years. Many people without the experience of selling a lot call us and expect their lot to be sold within a few days or weeks. This is unrealistic. The rule of thumb for selling a lot is, by the time you have totally given up hope of selling it, someone will finally be serious about buying it! Selling a lot in a hurry to raise cash is impossible; with a rush sale you will be lucky to get half of what the lot is really worth.
There are many things you can do to make your lot more saleable. The first is to get it titled. This may cost a lot of money and take a very long time (more than a year) but the amount you will get for your property will be significantly higher and you will recoup your investment many times over. If your property is large, you might also consider subdividing it at the same time, making individual parcels of land more affordable and attractive for buyers.
Try to eliminate problems from your lot. For example, if your lot does not have right of way, negotiate right of way with neighbors, rather than leaving this to the agent or buyer. If your lot does not have an access road, build an access road. If it is not fenced, build a fence. If there are squatters on your property, have these resettled before showing the lot to potential buyers. All of these things take time and money, but it will be worth it. Buyers are not impressed if presented a lot with a lot of problems and a seller who says, "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of that if you buy it."
One other obvious thing to do is to add value to your lot by building something on it. A structure such as a house or apartment complex will make your property far more saleable, and again, you will recoup your initial investment many times over. And in most cases it takes far less time to sell a property with a structure, even including the time it takes to build the structure. If you cannot afford the capital investment, consider taking out a bank loan to build the property - the interest you owe the bank is usually be lower than the added profit you gain if the property is sold.
Last, but not least, price your property affordably. We understand that land is valuable, and that friends or relatives may have told you that your lot is worth a lot of money. But any item for sale, including land, is only as valuable as buyers are willing to pay. Try to research the average market prices per square meter for similar properties. Any lot is saleable as long as the price is right. At Zion Cebu we find that the biggest obstacle to a sale pushing through is usually the price.
In any case, please tell us about your property as early as possible. All lots are entered into our listings database; in most cases, we will not visit the lot unless we have a customer and your lot's specifications fit the requirements. The exception is beach lots and prime residential lots, in which case we will conduct an on-site inspection early. Please either email us or use this form to tell us about your property.
