How To Save Up To Buy Your Own Land | askBAMLand

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Buying land can be a major investment, and the ultimate American dream. However, the journey always starts at the bank and saving your money is crucial.

To save up money to buy land, you’ll need to first knock out lingering debts and assess your liquidity or ability to leverage good credit for a down payment. Then you’ll scope out the perfect piece of land and determine a budget and work backward. Finally you’ll secure a loan for the down payment.

Owning land is having the ultimate freedom in a sense. Saving money to buy land is a matter of will, perseverance, patience, and disciplined money saving. Today, land values are generally increasing and a great place to grow your money for the future. Let’s take a look at how to save up money to buy your slice of heaven.

Key Takeaways

  • Saving up money to buy land is a long game that can be started with a bespoke savings account.
  • Before buying land, it’s a good fiscal strategy to clear debts and assess your credit score.
  • There are many options to finance a land purchase including a land loan or payment plan.

Table of Contents

Why is Buying Land a Good Investment

Not only will you have an asset to leave to future generations, you’ll also enjoy the pleasure of knowing that you earned it with your own hard work and dedication.

Owning your own land will ensure financial stability, as land is one of the most reliable investments you can make. With proper care and maintenance, the value of your land is likely to rise over time. It also offers numerous other advantages, from being able to build a home or business on it to investing in long-term development projects.

Whatever dreams or goals you may have for yourself and your families, saving up money for land will offer a strong foundation for achieving them.

How to Save Up to Buy Your Own Land

Saving up to purchase land can be reached with dedication and patience. Setting budget goals and making investments wise decisions will ensure you have enough saved in the bank to make your land purchase a reality.

Sometimes, people even choose to work part-time jobs to supplement their income and help them reach the goal of owning their own piece of land even sooner. No matter the approach there are a few points to evaluate before you dive into the finances of purchasing land.

What’s Your Credit Score?

Knowing your credit score is an important step when it comes to investing in land. It helps provide insight into your level of financial responsibility and trustworthiness, both of which can be major differentiators when lenders consider financing options. Many credit checks can be done for free through the Federal Trade Commission’s resources.

By understanding what lenders are likely to view as positive or negative on your credit report, you can better make informed decisions on the type and amount of financing that you should accept when buying land. In addition, having a high credit score could help you receive lower interest rates, something that can save you quite a bit of money over the course of the loan.

Eliminate Any Debts You Owe

Eliminating outstanding debts before buying land can be a smart financial decision. This can be achieved by creating a budget and following it closely, in order to identify what payments need to be made for existing debts.

Once the amount that you owe is paid off, you can consider putting your money towards a new real estate purchase. Plus, when debts are no longer looming over your head, you can take advantage of any potential lenders’ offers with a clean financial slate, potentially even leading to gainful interest rates for your new property purchase.

As nice as it may seem to invest in real estate right away, taking care of existing obligations will leave you in much better shape going forward.

Determine A Down Payment

Deciding on a down payment for a land purchase requires careful consideration. Usually, the higher the down payment, the better off you'll be.

The most common percentage for a meaningful down payment is 10-20% of the total cost. To ensure you get the best deal out of your purchase, carefully calculate your spending capabilities beforehand so that you can have an accurate estimate of what you need to put towards the down payment.

Start A Separate Savings Account

If you don't have enough funds available right away, the best idea is to start a separate savings account specifically for this purpose. Whenever you have extra money available, putting it towards your land savings fund will help build up the funds at an accelerated rate.

Seeing the balance of your dedicated account increase will also help inspire you to save more, so that you can move towards your goal sooner.

Plus, depending on how much money you accrue in this account, banks may even be willing to give you a loan for the rest of what you need. When it comes to investing in land, letting your money make money through accumulating interest is a smart move.

Consider a Payment Plan

Additionally, consider a payment plan on the remaining balance after you’ve saved up what you can. Like car payments, land payments can be worked into your budget and create less of a crater in your bank account at the initial stages.

Consider a Land Loan

A land loan is a type of loan specifically used to finance the purchase of bare land or rural property.

Unlike other types of loans, land loans require different criteria that need to be met in order to obtain financing and often come with higher interest rates due to their specialized nature. While higher interest rates may seem like an undesirable option, taking out a land loan might be the best way for you to be able to invest in land.

Land investments offer great potential for appreciation, allowing investors more potential growth than traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Additionally, unlike stocks and other investments, your investment will never go up or down in value because of market under/over performance - it's all your purchasing power when considering land purchases.

What Are the Steps To Buying You Own Land

Whether you are saving up for a piece of property to build your dream home or want to find land to keep pristine as an investment, few people pay cash. Land owners tend to take a strategic approach to buying land.

Research

Learning how taxes and interest rates factor into that is another important step. With continuous saving habits, taking advantage of real estate deals, working extra hours when possible, careful research and planning – anyone can save up enough to buy the piece of land they’ve always dreamed of having.

Decide Where to Buy Land

When deciding on a location for purchasing land, there are several key factors to take into consideration. To begin, researching the area where you would like to purchase your new land is key.

Firstly, it is important to research the area and assess if it has access to amenities such as hospitals, schools, shopping centers, and airports and potential for increase in value alongside the area's economic growth.

Secondly, you should check the local laws and regulations; some local governments may have restrictions that could limit your use of the land.

Furthermore, consider what type of environment will best fit your lifestyle; do you prefer a quiet rural atmosphere or an energetic urban center?

Finally, investigate what nearby development projects are planned in order to anticipate any changes in property value over time. With all these components taken into account when selecting your new piece of earth, you can be assured that you have made a solid investment decision.

Connect with a Real Estate Agent

Buying land is a major investment, using the assistance of someone who is familiar with the area and local real estate market is always a smart move. A good agent will take the time to understand your needs and wishes so they can help you find the best possible deal.

They will also be adept at negotiating and making sure that all of the paperwork is taken care of properly so that your purchase goes smoothly from start to finish. Consult with a few and figure out who you trust most and you’ll be putting your investment in their hands.

About THE AUTHOR

Brittany Melling

Brittany Melling

Brittany has been in the land business since 2020 when the world was starting to shut down. Since then, we’ve sold to dozens of people from ATV weekend warriors to camping enthusiasts to retired truck drivers. Our inventory spans mostly in the western United States. We’ve been trained by experience, land acquisition courses, and hundreds of hours meeting with county assessors and clerks, zoning officials, realtors, and land investors. We’ve answered hundreds of questions from people regarding the buying and use of land.

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