Welcome to the August 2023 Income Report.
In this report, I’m going to show you in detail how I brought in over $548,000 in revenue in August in my land flipping business.
I’m breaking down each deal I did and all the other important numbers of our business, like revenue, gross profit, and much more.
And, if you’ve never heard of land flipping, I will show you why I think it is the biggest opportunity in the real estate investing space.
It’s much easier than flipping homes, and you can be very successful without using any of your own money to buy these properties. I’ll even show you how to do this in detail.
I’m a big fan of the land flipping model of real estate investing. As you’ll see, it can be very lucrative and also rewarding.
We resold our first property using this model in March of 2021, and we’ve been growing rapidly ever since.
We dive deep into land flipping in our real estate investing podcast, Turning Profit. You can find us on YouTube and other major podcast platforms.
Before we get into the report, I invite you to join our Land Conquest land flipping community.
This online community is not your typical “group.” It’s an actual community of people interested in land flipping. We’ve got brand new investors and experienced investors generating $1 Million plus per year.
The community is built around a brand new and FREE training program that will show you exactly how to flip land the way we do it. This high-quality training program has hundreds of hours invested in it, presented in a unique and fun way.
To join, go to LandConquest.com and click any of the orange buttons to start an epic journey that could change your life!
So why in the world would I publish a report like this for the whole world to see?
I’ve got three big reasons for doing this:
#1 – Motivate ourselves to improve our business (nothing like putting it out there to the public to drive progress).
#2 – Motivate you! You’ll see what’s possible and learn valuable lessons (at my expense) that will allow you to become a better real estate investor yourself.
#3 – Gain exposure for our new Land Flipping Community.
We also like connecting with other investors or lenders with similar goals. You can find us on social media on Instagram, YouTube, X (Twitter), TikTok, or by email.
Before we get into the numbers, here’s a simplified explanation of how this business works
- We send letters (actual offers) to landowners.
- Some landowners respond and are interested in selling.
- We come to an agreement on the price and work towards closing the deal.
- In the meantime, we research the property in depth by sending out a photographer, calling the county/city, getting an opinion from a local broker, and many other little things on our checklist.
- Assuming everything looks good, we complete the purchase with our own cash through a reputable attorney/title/escrow company.
- After closing, we will sometimes make minor improvements to the property, such as brush clearing, perk test, surveying, or other things.
- We list the property using a local broker to market it to the MLS, their buyer’s list, and neighboring landowners.
- We negotiate a deal when a buyer steps forward.
- We complete the sale at the negotiated time.
- Rinse and repeat!
A couple of other notes:
- We buy these properties all over the country and rarely see them in person
- Purchase prices on the properties range from $4k to $476k
That’s about it! It’s really just buying and selling land.
The main thing that makes this business work is that we buy aggressively so we can resell it for an attractive price to buyers. That allows us to sell quickly. We can negotiate good purchase prices because we pay cash and will close quickly.
Now that you know the basics, let’s dig into the numbers.
Here are the August 2023 statistics:
August was a good month by some standards in our business, but we also fell short in a couple of major categories.
The revenue for August was $548,659. This is slightly above average for the year.
I’m constantly pushing to generate as much revenue as possible. I was originally planning to get to $10 million in revenue in 2023, but unless we have a few blockbuster months to close out the year, I don’t know that it is going to happen.
Although over $500,000 per month sounds great, it’s short of my goals.
Gross profit for August was $135,479. This was a little bit below our monthly average.
In reality, profit is much more important than revenue. I’d like to see this figure higher, but I guess I’ll take it.
We sold seven properties in August. That’s a solid figure. This is a significant improvement from the two deals we sold in July.
I’m shooting for ten deals per month at this stage of the game.
The average days in inventory shot up this month to 168 days. This is the average number of days the properties we sold this month were in our inventory.
I’m not concerned, though. This figure was skewed because we held some of these sales for an abnormally long time. In hindsight, based on what I know now, I would have managed these properties differently (or not purchased them at all).
Keep reading to see the details of the individual deals we sold.
This is a business of continuous improvement. I learn from my mistakes on every deal. This also includes marketing strategies, like pricing, due diligence, and much more.
In August, we sent out 42,660 offer letters to landowners. This is low for us.
I’ve sent as many as 100,000 offers in a month, but I have been trying to balance the quantity of mail with the list quality. This is an ongoing process as well.
In the future, we’ll experiment with adding additional lead-generation tactics in our land flipping business.
I’ll share everything I’ve learned here, on our YouTube channel, and in our Land Conquest community.
Deal by Deal Breakdown:
In this section, I break down each deal. The goal of this is to show you how deals vary, lessons learned, and what is possible in this business.
These are all the deals that closed in August 2023. We purchased the property (normally in a previous month) and then resold the property to a new buyer in August.
*** Identifiable details of these properties have been altered slightly to protect the anonymity of the parties to these transactions.
Purchase Price = The amount we paid for a property, including closing costs
Revenue: This is the amount we received after paying commissions and closing costs
Gross Profit = Revenue – Purchase Price – Property Specific Expenses
Days in Inventory = # of days we owned the property
Return on Investment = Gross Profit /Purchase Price
Deal #01 notes:
I made some big mistakes on this land flip that cost me.
This property was originally intended to be a 2nd phase of a residential subdivision. It was on the back end of a 1980s vintage community.
This was a desirable community with decent home prices. There was sewer, water, electricity service, and access on both ends of the property.
The original owner/developer still owned the land and responded to our direct mail offer. We worked out a deal, and closing costs were a little over $76,000.
There was an old approved subdivision of the land on file with the city. I assumed it would be easy to get this updated.
I planned to get the subdivision updated and then resell the property for a large profit. After closing the purchase, I started talking to engineering firms (the first big mistake). They explained the process, which could take up to 6 months and would likely cost as much as I paid for the property. Plus, they told me there is no way they could get the same density approved based on the new standards.
I started crunching the numbers, and I decided to market and resell the property as-is and let a developer buy it and go through the process.
I found a local agent who supposedly had great connections with the local builders and developers and signed a six-month listing agreement for $199,900.
This agent didn’t do a great job at all. He notified me that his listing was live, and then I saw that he only had 1 photo in the listing (and it was a crappy one). It took him weeks to get four more substandard images added.
Ultimately, he was all talk. We gradually reduced the price every month, and he didn’t get the job done. His listing expired, and I moved on to an agent who sold other properties for me in the area.
He got the job done. We had to reduce the property to $99,000, and then we went under contract at $92,000.
Thankfully, the transaction went smoothly, and the property sale closed 339 days after we bought it.
Our gross profit on this deal was only $4,333, which is a huge disappointment considering the purchase price and the long hold time.
I learned big lessons about due diligence and better screening my agents on this deal, so I don’t consider it a loss.
Deal #02 notes:
This land flip made us a 49% return in less than five months. Here’s the story.
This property was huge! It was 57 acres of open ground. We bought this property as a package deal with two other properties for a pretty aggressive price.
This property cost us $50,214 with all closing costs to buy it.
The big downside with this property was that it was recently “timbered.” This means that it used to be fully wooded. The previous owner sold the trees to a timber company that came in and cut down all of the trees.
Sometimes, these timber companies destroy the land by creating big ruts and unsightly stumps. In this case, they did an excellent job of ensuring the land was left in good condition. It was just completely barren when we bought it.
After closing, we listed the property with a local land broker at $119,900.
We had some interest in this property initially but no offers. We gradually reduced the price on this property until we got down to $89,900.
An offer came in for $85,000 cash. This was less than I originally thought we’d get, but it left us with a solid profit, so I accepted the deal.
After the dust settled, we ended up with a gross profit of $24,655.
The hold time was 147 days, a little less than five months.
The return on investment was a respectable 49%.
This was a good deal overall. In hindsight, I would have priced the property at $99,900 out of the gate, which would have likely gotten us a much quicker sale and maybe a higher price.
Deal #03 notes:
We doubled our money in 95 days on this land flip. Here’s how we did it.
This deal started when we sent an offer letter to the owner of a 5+ acre piece of land in the rural south.
He called to let us know he would accept our original offer of $18,000.
The property is mostly an open field with some trees along the backside. It was located on a paved road and had no real negatives.
We closed the purchase through a title company after finishing our research.
After closing, we hired a soil scientist to do a perk test on the property, and it passed.
We listed the property with a local land broker for $49,900.
After a few weeks, we got a solid offer for $49,000, and we accepted.
The deal closed without any drama, and here are the numbers:
Purchase Price: $19,378
List Price: $49,900
Contract Price: $49,000
Revenue after selling expenses: $43,274
Gross Profit: $23,146
Return on Investment: 119%
Hold Time: 95 days
This was an excellent deal all around. We more than doubled our money in just over three months!
Deal #04 notes:
We made over $27k profit on this 30-acre land flip. Here’s how we did it.
This deal happened because the seller responded to our direct mail offer letter.
When they called in, they wanted a little bit more for the property than what we offered. I looked closer at the deal and realized I had room to come up a little higher on our offer to put the value together.
The best use for this property is recreational. Some of the property was in the FEMA flood zone because it was next to a stream.
This fully wooded property had no negative. The access was great because it was on a paved road outside a small town.
We closed the purchase as planned and immediately listed the property with a local land broker without making any improvements.
It sat on the market for a little while with no offers, so we gradually reduced the price until we received an offer. After some negotiation, we settled on a price that worked for both sides.
Closing went well, and this turned out to be a solid land flip. Here are the numbers:
Purchase price with closing costs: $56,681
List Price: $99,900
Contract Price: $94,900
Revenue after selling expenses: $84,960
Gross Profit: $27,529
Return on Investment: 48.5%
Hold Time: 137 days
We held this property a little longer than I like, but in hindsight, we probably listed the property too high initially.
Overall, this deal turned out great, and I would do a deal like this every single time.
Deal #05 notes:
Here’s a land flip that didn’t work out as planned. Here’s what happened.
This 120+ acre property deal came to us because we sent an offer to the previous owner. They called in and told us they wanted to accept our offer.
The price for the property was pretty aggressive because it was just over $1,000 per acre. All of the comps we were finding were over $2,000 per acre. So, we thought there was plenty of room for profit.
The only problem? There was very little sales activity in this area. Many of the sales comps were on the market for a long time before they sold.
I knew this going into the deal, but we had enough room to price it aggressively below the comps to force a quick sale.
We closed on this property through a title company as soon as we finished our research.
The only negative we discovered was the dirt road easement access wasn’t in the best shape, and there were some ruts in the road. I felt this was fine, so I didn’t do anything about it.
We listed it with a local land broker for $219,900. There was some interest but no offers.
We gradually reduced the property because our buyer wasn’t stepping up.
There were a few large rains while we were listed, and the road worsened. The feedback we got from potential buyers was that they didn’t like the access road.
We decided to get some bids to get the road fixed. A buyer stepped forward with a cash offer as we were doing this. After a bit of negotiation, we settled on a price.
Here are the numbers of the deal:
Purchase price with closing costs: $129,255
List Price $189,900 (reduced from $219,900)
Contract Price: $175,000
Revenue after selling expenses: $155,696
Gross Profit: $25,690
Return on Investment: 19.88%
Hold Time: 249 days
I ended up profiting over $25,000 on this deal, but I had to spend nearly $130,000 of our money to make it happen.
It still wasn’t bad, but I would like to see a better return for that amount of money committed.
What did I learn? I have to be more aggressive with my pricing in areas with very little sales activity. Also, I should have done some repairs on the road from the beginning.
Deal #06 notes:
This land flip made me a 34% return in only 43 days. Here’s the story.
This deal came to us in a brand new way than what we’ve done in the past. It was the very first Partner with Pete deal that closed.
Another investor from our community was looking for a funding partner, and we were happy to fund and sell this property.
We’re now funding deals for other investors, and when it resells, we split the profits 50/50.
This 5-acre property was in a nice area with many quality properties on the same street. It was flat, partially wooded, and overall it looked great.
We listed this property with a local broker. We decided to try a price that was a little high because the market is pretty hot in this area.
After about a week, we got a solid cash offer, and after some negotiation, we settled on a price slightly higher than we originally projected.
The closing went well, and this ended up being an excellent land flip.
Here are the numbers of the deal:
Purchase price with closing costs: $49,452
List Price $120,000
Contract Price: $97,000
Revenue after selling expenses: $84,997
Gross Profit: $17,272 to us (and $17,272 to our investor partner that brought the deal)
Return on Investment: 34.93%
Hold Time: 43 days
This is a great example of how the PartnerwithPete.com program works. We funded (paid for) the deal, used our team to handle the whole process, and after the property sold, each side made a considerable profit.
I interviewed the investor who brought us this deal and published it on our YouTube channel. Watch the video here.
Get all the details of our unique Partner with Pete program here.
Deal #07 notes:
We made a 149% return on investment on this 9-acre land flip! Here’s how we did it.
This property was purchased in a package deal with two other large properties. Because of this package deal, we got a pretty good price.
This 9-acre parcel was recently “timbered” and now had no trees. It was pretty much a blank canvas for a new owner.
After we closed the purchase, we initially listed this property for $49,900 with a local land broker.
A buyer soon stepped forward with a strong offer for $45,000. But, this offer was contingent upon a soil test. Unfortunately, the soil test failed for a conventional septic system.
Ultimately, this buyer backed out after an extremely long time under contract.
Due to the failed soil test, we relisted this property at a lower price.
It took some time, but we got another offer and worked out a deal.
Here are the numbers:
Purchase price with closing costs: $8,602
List Price $29,900 (after reductions)
Contract Price: $25,000
Revenue after selling expenses: $22,205
Gross Profit: $12,852
Return on Investment: 149%
Hold Time: 169 days
This land flip worked out great and generated a massive 149% return on investment. The hold time was higher than we like, but I’ll still take this deal any time!
Year to Date 2023:
2023 Year to Date (YTD) Statistics
2023 is shaping up to be a good year. So far, we’ve exceeded our revenue and profit totals for all of 2022.
We now stand at $3,988,154 in revenue for the year through the end of August.
That’s an average of $498,519 of revenue per month. This is not where I want to be, but it is still considerable progress from last year.
Our gross profit so far is $1,421,045. That’s an average of $177,630 gross profit per month.
This is probably the most important metric that we track. The higher we can push this figure, the faster we can grow.
Last year, we averaged $127,787 gross profit per month, so we are well ahead of last year’s results.
We’ve resold 57 properties so far this year. That’s an average of 7.125 per month.
Last year, we sold 69 for the whole year, 5.75 deals per month.
We’re selling about 23% more properties per month in 2023.
Our average profit per deal is now at $24,930. That’s up from last year’s average of $22,223 per deal.
The average days in inventory now stands at 107 days. This is lower than where we were earlier this year but still higher than our target of 90 days.
Speed is vital in this business. The faster we can move our inventory, the more profitable we will be.
Last year, we averaged 75.54 days in inventory. The market has cooled in many areas, but we are also focused on doing larger deals that take a little longer. I still think an average of 90 days is attainable by the end of the year.
The returns detailed above are very substantial. That is especially true when considering the hold time and annualizing the Return on Investment.
- Acres: 30.28
- Purchase Price with closing costs: $56,681.47
- Revenue after expenses: $84,960.66
- Gross Profit: $27,529.19
- Days in inventory: 137
- Return on Investment: 48.57%
Let’s use Deal #4 as an example.
The return on investment was 48.57%, which is a solid return for almost any short-term investment. What really makes this special, though, is the fact that we only held this property for 137 days (well above our average). When you do the math and annualize this return (if you were to keep this money invested for the whole year), the annualized return on investment would be 129%!!
Where are you going to find returns like that?
You’re crushing it if you’re getting a steady 10% a year in the stock market.
But if 10% a year is crushing it, what is 129% per year?
How can you do the same thing as an investor and get these kinds of returns?
The first thing you’ve got to do is start learning.
It’s not rocket science, but it’s also not as basic as it seems.
Here’s a short list of some of the basics you’ve got to learn to make this land flipping model work:
- How the business model itself works
- How to get the leads coming in
- Where are the best regions to find deals?
- How to evaluate properties. What makes a good property and what makes a property not desirable
- What software and tools to use to give yourself an unfair advantage
- How to talk with property owners that want to sell
- How to navigate the escrow/title process in multiple different states to buy a property
- How to find the best on-the-ground partners in each location
- How to find a buyer for your property in a short amount of time for a good price
- How to negotiate with sellers and buyers.
- How to build a team so you’re not doing everything yourself
- How to put a business system in place to automate processes and keep your business organized
I know what you may think, that this all sounds great, but I don’t have the cash to buy and sell these properties.
Don’t worry; this is the easiest “problem” to solve.
I have a program called Partner with Pete (partnerwithpete.com). If you find a deal, I’ll pay for it to complete the purchase.
In fact, my team and I will take it from there, complete all the research, find an agent to sell it for us, and lots of other necessary parts of the process.
When the property sells, we split the profits 50/50. Simple!
No credit check, qualifications, experience, or anything else is needed. You just bring the deal, and we’ll split the profits!
Get all the details here: PartnerwithPete.com.
If you want to find deals and flip land as a part-time investment strategy or a full-fledged business, you must learn how to do it. I can help you with that for free!
I’ve just released an extensive land flipping training program I’m giving away from inside my Land Conquest land flipping community.
This training would cost thousands elsewhere, but I’m giving it away for free.
Here’s what community members are saying about it:
You can also find a bunch of free content on our YouTube channel and our podcast about land flipping and real estate investing.
Just as a disclaimer, investing money comes with risk. Research any investments heavily before putting any of your money at risk. Risking more than you can afford to lose is never a good idea.
You can also check out this page that features other podcasts and outlets where I’ve been interviewed and talk about land flipping. I’ve appeared on over 50 podcasts and am booked for many more in the coming months.
Want to benefit passively from my land flipping business? I’m looking for private money lenders who want to earn 12%+ on their money secured by these deeply discounted properties we’re buying. If you have funds over $250,000 available, check out the program details on this page.
We know that the figures in this report may seem unattainable at first glance, but this did not just “happen” overnight. Like any business, we made progress and improvements over time to get to our current income level.
It will only happen if you take the first steps to get started!
That wraps up the August 2023 Income Report. Sign up here to be notified the minute a new report is published.
P.P.S. In case you missed it, here are the links to my past income reports:
- July 2023 Income Report $183,448.49
- June 2023 Income Report $729,254.91
- May 2023 Income Report $453,064
- April 2023 Income Report $207,164
- March 2023 Income Report $674,265
- February 2023 Income Report $464,159
- January 2023 Income Report $728,137.29
- 2022 Year in Review Report $3,474,800.60
- December 2022 Income Report $256,473.60
- November 2022 Income Report $440,368.81
- October 2022 Income Report $275,462.13
- September 2022 Income Report $281,160.95
- August 2022 Income Report $322,223.92
- July 2022 Income Report $495,885.83
- June 2022 Income Report $178,831.06
- May 2022 Income Report $208,782.57
- April 2022 Income Report $264,322.07
- March 2022 Income Report $479,193.91
- February 2022 Income Report $67,143.23
- January 2022 Income Report $204,952
- 2021 Year in Review Report
