From Inherited Land to Cash: One Seller's Experience with Friendly Acres Land

What You'll Learn:

• What the actual selling process looks like from start to finish

• How one seller decided between listing with a realtor and selling directly

• Real feedback from a landowner who sold to Friendly Acres Land

Note: This story is based on an actual transaction we've completed. Details have been adjusted to protect seller privacy, but the timeline, concerns, and outcomes are real.

Sarah's Story: Inheriting Land She Never Wanted

Sarah Martinez received a letter from Friendly Acres Land in March. She almost threw it away, assuming it was a scam.

"My first thought was, 'Yeah, right. Someone wants to buy land I inherited from my father? What's the catch?'" Sarah told me during our initial phone call.

Sarah had inherited 10 acres of vacant rural land in northern Arizona three years earlier. Her father bought it in the 1980s after being told a golf club was going to be built. That never happened. Sarah never visited the property. She didn't know exactly where it was, other than "somewhere outside Flagstaff." She'd been paying property taxes of about $350 annually—money she could have used elsewhere.

"Every year I'd get the tax bill and think, 'I need to do something about this,'" she explained. "But I never knew where to start."

The First Phone Call: Skepticism and Questions

When Sarah finally called us, she had a list of questions ready.

"Is this a scam? Why do you want my land? What do you know that I don't know."

I appreciated her directness. These are exactly the questions landowners should ask.

I explained our business model: we buy vacant land with cash from our own balance sheet and hold it long-term. We're not wholesalers. We don't flip contracts. We're a small company that purchases land as an investment, and some of it is for my own daughter's future.

"That actually made sense to me," Sarah said later. "The personal story about your daughter made it feel real, not like some corporate operation trying to take advantage of people."

I also told Sarah the hard truth: our offer would be below what she might get if she listed the property with a realtor and waited for a retail buyer.

"I wanted maximum transparency," I told her. "If you have time to wait and want to pursue the highest possible price, you should list it with a realtor. Our offer is for people who value speed and certainty over maximum dollars."

Doing Her Homework

Sarah didn't immediately accept. She spent two weeks researching her options.

She contacted a local realtor who specialized in land sales. The realtor looked at comparable sales and estimated the property might sell for $30,000-$35,000 if listed—but warned that vacant land in that area typically sat on the market for 6-12 months.

"The realtor was honest with me," Sarah said. "She told me that without utilities, and being off a dirt road, it would be tough to sell quickly. She could list it, but there was no guarantee it would ever sell."

The realtor also explained that her commission would be 10% of the sale price, and Sarah would continue paying property taxes the entire time it was listed.

Sarah also tried to research the property herself. She found the parcel on Google Maps, looked at county records, and searched for recent sales of similar land in the area.

"I wanted to know what it was actually worth," she explained. "Not what I hoped it was worth, but what someone would realistically pay for it."

Making the Decision

After her research, Sarah called me back.

"Here's what I figured out," she told me. "If I list with a realtor at $35,000 and it actually sells after two years, I'll pay $3,500 in commission and about $500 more in property taxes plus $1000 in title/escrow fees. So I'd net around $30,000, and that's if it sells, which isn't guaranteed."

Our offer was $22,000.

"That's about $8,000 less than my best-case realtor scenario," Sarah said. "But your offer is guaranteed, it closes in 21 days, and I don't have to think about this property anymore."

Sarah had done exactly what I hoped she would: she educated herself and made a decision based on her priorities, not emotions.

For her, the certainty and speed were worth more than the potential for a higher price two years down the road.

"I realized I'd been paying taxes on land I'd never use for three years already," she said. "How many more years was I going to keep doing that? The $22,000 cash now was better than a maybe-$30,000 in two years."

The Closing Process

Once Sarah accepted our offer, the process was straightforward.

We ordered title work to make sure there were no liens, unpaid taxes, or ownership issues. The title company found everything clean.

We coordinated with a Pioneer Title - a leading title company in Arizona to handle the closing. Sarah didn't need to travel or appear in person—she signed documents electronically and received her funds via wire transfer 20 days after accepting our offer.

"It was shockingly simple," Sarah told me. "You handled everything. I signed a few documents online, and money showed up in my account. That was it."

Sarah's Advice to Other Landowners

After closing, I asked Sarah what advice she'd give to other landowners who received an offer letter.

"Don't automatically assume it's a scam, but also don't automatically accept," she said. "Do your homework. Call the company. Ask questions. Research your property's value. Talk to a realtor if you want. And then decide what matters most to you—maximum money or speed and certainty."

She also appreciated the transparency about our offer being below retail value.

"You never pretended your offer was market value," she said. "You told me upfront that I could probably get more money by listing with a realtor, but it would take time and effort. That honesty made me trust you."

What We Learned From Sarah

Every transaction teaches us something. From Sarah's experience, we were reminded of a few important principles:

Skepticism is healthy. We want sellers to ask questions and do research. Informed sellers make better decisions and have fewer regrets later.

Transparency builds trust. Being honest about our offer being below retail value, and explaining exactly why, helps sellers understand what they're choosing between.

Different sellers have different priorities. For Sarah, speed and certainty outweighed maximum price. For someone else, it might be the opposite. There's no universally "right" answer.

The process matters. Even when sellers accept below-market offers, they want to feel respected and informed throughout the process.

Other Seller Experiences

Sarah's story isn't unique. We've worked with dozens of sellers in similar situations:

• A seller in Texas who inherited land from his father and had been paying taxes for a decade without ever visiting the property

• A couple in Nevada who bought land 20 years ago for retirement but changed their plans and wanted to free up capital

• A seller in New Mexico who needed cash quickly for medical bills and couldn't afford to wait for a traditional sale
  

Each had different circumstances, but they all valued the certainty and simplicity of a direct cash sale over the uncertainty of listing on the open market.

You can read reviews from actual sellers on our Google Business page. We're proud of our 5.0 star rating based on real transactions with real people.

Is This Right for You?

Sarah's story might resonate with you, or your situation might be completely different.

If you've been putting off dealing with inherited or unwanted land, if you value speed over maximum price, and if you want a simple process with no surprises, a direct sale might make sense.

If you have time to wait, want to pursue the highest possible price, and are comfortable with the listing process, working with a realtor might be your better option.

Either way, we're here to answer questions. You can reach out to discuss your specific situation, ask about our process, or simply get more information before making any decisions.

We do what we say we'll do. That's been our approach from the beginning, and it's why sellers like Sarah trust us with their transactions.

Ready to discuss your property? Contact us at joshua@friendlyacresland.com or call the number on your offer letter. We're happy to answer any questions, walk you through our process, or simply provide information to help you make the best decision for your situation.