Those 'We Buy Land' Letters: Which Ones Are Real?
Key takeaways
- Most "we buy land" letters come from real businesses that pulled your name and parcel number out of public county records, not from criminals.
- A letter is a marketing piece, not an appraisal and not a binding offer, so the figure printed on it tells you very little about what your land is actually worth.
- The usual risk is not fraud, it is terms: a buyer who ties your parcel up for months with nothing at stake, or who never intended to close on it personally.
- Four checks sort a real buyer from a bad deal: a company you can look up, an offer in writing, a licensed title company or closing attorney handling the closing, and no money ever asked of you.
You never listed the land. You may not have thought about it in years. Then an envelope arrives with your name on it, your parcel number, and a dollar figure someone says they will pay — and the next week another one shows up from a different company.
Most of those letters are real, in the sense that a real company sent them and would really buy your land. What varies enormously is the price, the terms, and whether the sender plans to close on the parcel themselves or hand your signed contract to someone else. A letter is a starting point, not something you owe an answer to.
Why you got a letter about land you never put up for sale
Property ownership is public information. Your county assessor, register of deeds, or appraisal district publishes the owner's name and mailing address, the parcel number, the acreage, the assessed value, and whether the taxes are current. Anyone can pull that data, and companies that buy land pull it by the thousands of records at a time.
From there it is filtering. A buyer looking for vacant land screens for parcels with no structure on them, owners whose mailing address is in a different state from the property, long ownership with no recent sale, and sometimes taxes that have fallen behind. Your parcel matched someone's filter, so you got mail. Getting five letters does not mean your land is suddenly in demand; it means five companies run similar filters. If delinquent taxes are part of why you are getting mail, our guide on what to do when you are behind on property taxes covers the timeline you are actually working against.
Who actually sends "we buy land" letters
Not every sender wants the same thing, and the differences matter more than the letterhead.
| Who sent it | What they want | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| A direct land buyer | To put the parcel under contract and close on it | Price is usually below what a long retail listing might bring, in exchange for speed and no agent fees |
| A wholesaler | To put the parcel under contract and assign that contract to another buyer before closing | Can work out fine, but the person who closes may not be the person you talked to; ask directly |
| A land broker or agent | Your listing, or a buyer they already represent | Expect a commission and a marketing period rather than a quick cash close |
| A neighbor or developer | Your specific parcel because it adjoins theirs or fits a plan | Often the strongest price available, but these are rare and unsolicited |
| A bad actor | A fee, your identity, or a deed signed before you are paid | Uncommon, and easy to spot once you know the red flags below |
The number in the letter is not an appraisal
When a letter names a price, that price was almost always produced from public data alone: acreage, assessed value, and recent sales somewhere in the area. Nobody had walked the parcel, checked whether it has legal road access, pulled the flood or wetland maps, read the zoning, or looked for an easement running through the middle of it. Those are the things that move a land price up or down the most.
That cuts both ways: a low figure may only mean the sender assumed the worst about access, and a high one may shrink once someone looks properly. Treat it as an invitation to a conversation. A real offer names a price, a closing date, who pays the closing costs, and what happens if the title search turns something up — and it arrives in writing. If you are still deciding between a cash sale and a listing, our comparison of selling land without a realtor lays out where each route actually wins.
How to check a buyer before you sign anything
- Look the company up. A real buyer has a company name, a registered entity you can find on your secretary of state's business search, a website that is more than a form, and a phone number a person answers.
- Ask who will be on the deed. "Are you closing on this yourself, or assigning the contract?" Either answer can be workable. A buyer who will not answer it plainly has told you something.
- Get the offer in writing. Price, closing date, who pays what, and any contingencies. Verbal numbers are not offers.
- Find out where the closing happens. It should run through a licensed title company or closing attorney, depending on the state, and you should be able to call that office directly without going through the buyer.
- Ask about earnest money and when it stops being refundable. A deposit that stays fully refundable until the closing date means the buyer has nothing at stake while your parcel sits off the market.
- Read the due-diligence window and the closing date. A short inspection period followed by a firm close is a buyer who intends to buy. A long window with a refundable deposit is closer to a free option on your land.
- Get a rough idea of value first. Pull recent sales of comparable acreage nearby, and know whether your parcel has deeded access. You do not need an appraisal to tell a serious number from a throwaway one.
Red flags, and what a legitimate buyer does instead
| Red flag | What a legitimate buyer does |
|---|---|
| Asks you to pay anything upfront: a processing fee, deed preparation, a "title release," back taxes wired to them | Never asks the seller for money; seller costs come out of the proceeds at closing |
| Wants the deed signed and sent before you are paid | Signs at closing; the closing office records the deed once funds are in place |
| Pressure: the offer expires today, the price drops tomorrow | Leaves the offer on the table and tells you there is no obligation |
| Will not name the closing office, or wants to "handle the paperwork" privately | Names the title company or closing attorney up front and lets you contact them |
| Asks for your Social Security number or bank details by email early on | Sends that to the closing office, not to the buyer, and not over ordinary email |
| No findable company, only a first name and a cell number | Has an entity, an address, and a paper trail |
The documented fraud in vacant land is not usually in the mailbox. In a public service announcement issued June 16, 2026, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center warned about criminals impersonating the owners of vacant parcels in order to sell land they do not own, using forged identification and personal details gathered from public county websites and data brokers. The FBI's suggestions for owners are practical: ask your county recorder, register of deeds, appraisal district, or clerk whether they offer alerts when a document is recorded against your name, and check whether your owner's title policy includes post-policy coverage for forgery. If you own land you rarely visit, those two steps protect you more than ignoring mail does.
What to do when a letter shows up
- Slow down. Nothing in that envelope expires, whatever it says.
- Gather your own facts. The parcel number, the acreage, whether the taxes are current, how the parcel is accessed, and whose names are on the deed. If a name on the deed belongs to someone who has died, sort that out first — our guide to selling inherited land covers what a closing office will need, and a local attorney or your county can confirm what applies in your state.
- Decide which route you want before you negotiate: a listing aimed at the highest price over months, or a cash sale aimed at being done in weeks.
- Collect more than one written offer. If you got five letters, that is five numbers available to you for the cost of five phone calls.
- Compare what you net, not the headline. A listing price minus commission, closing costs, and another year of property taxes can land below a lower cash number.
- Verify the closing office before you sign, and send nothing of value to the buyer directly.
If you are leaning toward a cash sale, our step-by-step walkthrough of how a cash land sale actually runs covers what the closing office checks, what you sign, and when the money lands. Most closings we do take two to four weeks once title is clear, and sellers who live far from the parcel sign through a mobile notary or a mail-away closing rather than traveling.
Where we fit, since we send letters too
King Land Buyers is one of the companies whose envelope may be on your counter. We buy vacant land directly from owners across the country: we research the parcel and make a cash offer, in writing, with no fees, no agents, and no obligation, and every closing runs through a licensed title company or closing attorney, depending on the state. Sellers describe their own closings on video on our seller reviews page. If you would rather skip the mail, you can get a cash offer on your land here.
Common questions
Are "we buy land" letters legitimate?
Usually, yes. The overwhelming majority are sent by real companies that buy land and found your parcel in public county records. Legitimate does not mean the price or the terms are good for you, which is why the written offer and the closing office matter more than the letter.
Why do I keep getting letters about the same parcel?
The same public record that told one company about your land tells all of them, and vacant parcels with out-of-state owners sit near the top of almost every buyer's mailing list. The volume reflects how many companies are mailing, not how valuable your parcel is.
Is the price in the letter what my land is worth?
No. Letter prices are generated from acreage, assessed value, and area sales before anyone has checked access, zoning, wetlands, or easements. Those details can move the real number substantially in either direction. Pull a few recent sales of similar acreage nearby before you treat any letter figure as meaningful.
Should I ever pay a land buyer a fee?
No. A legitimate buyer never asks the seller to send money, for any reason, at any stage. Seller costs, including back taxes and any liens, come out of the proceeds at closing rather than out of your pocket beforehand. A request for an upfront payment is the clearest signal to walk away.
What if the deed is still in a deceased parent's name?
You can still start the conversation, but the estate has to be sorted out before the parcel can transfer, and how that works varies by state. Tell any buyer about it early, since a serious one will want the closing office involved in the question. A local attorney or your county can confirm what your situation requires.
Can I sell if I live out of state and have never seen the parcel?
Yes, and it is common. The closing office handles the title search, and you sign through a mobile notary where you live or through a mail-away closing. You never have to travel to the parcel or to the closing.
Want a real cash offer on your land?
Tell us where the property is and we'll research the parcel and come back with a researched cash offer — no fees, no agents, no obligation. Close in as little as two weeks.
Prefer to talk? Call 801-348-6026.