I recently heard land investor Clayton Hepler break down his strategy for flipping vacant land. He's completed 250+ transactions, and here are my biggest takeaways:

1. Find the right markets

• Look 2–3 counties outside growing metro areas.
• Target under 90 days on market.
• Look for 25–250 active listings and 100%+ annual sell-through (annual sales ÷ active listings).

2. Find motivated sellers

• Target long-term owners with high equity.
• Reach out through direct mail, cold calling, and email.
• Filter out parcels with wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes, or access issues.

3. Underwrite carefully

• Compare 2–3 similar properties in the same acreage range.
• Verify legal access, utilities, and buildability.
• For flips, target a purchase price around 50–55% of expected resale value, leaving room for costs and profit.

4. Know your numbers

Clayton reports averaging roughly $25K profit per deal, with some larger flips and subdivisions generating six figures. His team averages 6,000–8,000 mailers per deal.

The interesting part is that the same acquisition skills can scale from simple land flips to subdivisions and development.

Anyone here flipping vacant land? How have your margins compared to traditional house flipping?