◦ Selling land · Spokane County

Selling land in Spokane County? It's a different sale than a house.

A parcel has no kitchen to photograph and no comps next door. The buyer pool is smaller, the questions are technical, and the price depends on things you can't see from the road. This is how a land sale actually works here, from an agent who has listed and sold 26 parcels from Loon Lake and Elk to Greenacres and Liberty Lake.

Why the online estimate is wrong on land

Automated valuations are built on houses. On a parcel they guess from the assessor's number, which is not a market price. Two lots of the same size a mile apart can be worth three times apart depending on road access, whether power is at the property line, whether the ground will take a septic system, what the zoning allows, and whether anyone has ever surveyed the corners. Land is priced by what a buyer can do with it, not by the acre.

What a serious land buyer asks in the first five minutes

• What can I build here? Zoning and minimum lot sizes set what is possible. Know your parcel's zoning designation before you list, and know whether it sits in a critical area such as a wetland, a steep slope, or a floodplain.
• Where does the water come from? Public water at the line, an existing well, or the right to drill one. A well log, if there is one, is worth more than any brochure.
• Will it perc? Most rural parcels need an on-site septic system, and buyers want a site evaluation or an existing permit on file with the health district rather than a promise.
• How do I get to it? County road, private road with a maintenance agreement, or an easement across a neighbor. Recorded access is a selling point. Unrecorded access is a negotiation.
• Is power there? The distance to the nearest transformer is a real number the utility can quote, and buyers will ask for it.
• Where are the corners? A recent survey removes the single most common reason land deals fall apart.

Things to check before you list

• Current-use tax status. If the parcel is enrolled in an open space, farm, or timber tax program, taking it out can trigger back taxes. Ask before the listing goes live, not after the offer.
• Excise tax. Washington's real estate excise tax applies to land the same as to a house. It is a graduated state rate plus a local portion, and the seller normally pays it at closing.
• Financing reality. Many land buyers pay cash or use a land loan with a larger down payment than a home mortgage. That shapes who can buy and how long the sale takes, so the price has to be right for that pool.
• Timelines. Land sits longer than houses. The buyer who wants your exact parcel may not be looking this month. Exposure over time matters more than a weekend of showings.

How Todd sells parcels

Across 273 closed transactions, 26 have been unimproved land, every one of them on the listing side, in Loon Lake, Elk, Deer Park, Greenacres, Liberty Lake, Nine Mile Falls, and Spokane itself, along with 13 manufactured homes on acreage. The approach is the same each time: gather the answers to the questions above before the first buyer asks them, price from what the land can support rather than from the assessor, and put the parcel in front of the builders, investors, and acreage buyers who are actually searching, not just the people who drive by.