Process · June 10, 2026 · Steven Owen
How to sell raw land to a developer in Austin (step-by-step)
Sell raw land to a developer by leading with what can be built, not the dirt itself. The process is five steps: (1) establish highest and best use through zoning, utility, and entitlement analysis; (2) price it with a residual land model, not just comps; (3) package the vision with a site plan, demographics, and a pro forma; (4) market it directly to active developers and broadly on CoStar/LoopNet/Crexi; and (5) structure terms — feasibility period, extensions, earnest money — that protect you while keeping the deal attractive. Developers buy potential, so the sale is won by showing what's possible.
Step 1 — Establish highest and best use
Before pricing anything, define what the site can become. That means confirming the jurisdiction (city limits, ETJ, or unincorporated county), the zoning or absence of it, utility availability — committed water and a wastewater path are decisive on Austin's growth corridors — and any floodplain or aquifer constraints. A tract released from a city ETJ and served by water at the frontage is a different (and more valuable) product than the same acreage with neither.
Step 2 — Price with a residual model, not just comps
Developers decide what to pay by working backward from the finished project: estimated completed value, minus construction and soft costs, minus their required profit. What remains is the supportable land price. Pricing your tract the same way — rather than anchoring on a per-acre comp — is what makes your number credible to the buyer's own underwriting. (We cover this in depth in how much your development land is worth.)
Step 3 — Package the vision
Raw land sells on imagination backed by evidence. A strong offering memorandum carries a conceptual site plan or yield study, current demographics and growth data, a clear utility and entitlement summary, and a simple pro forma showing the project the land supports. You're not selling acreage; you're handing a developer a head start on their feasibility work.
Step 4 — Market directly to active developers (and broadly)
The fastest path to price is reaching buyers who are already looking. SCORE markets directly into a 1,700+ developer and investor network — multifamily, retail/NNN, and industrial builders — while also listing broadly on CoStar, LoopNet, and Crexi for full exposure. Direct outreach surfaces the buyer who values the site most; broad listing keeps everyone honest on price.
Step 5 — Structure terms that protect you
Land deals live or die in the feasibility period. Negotiate a reasonable due-diligence window, priced extension options that compensate you for time off-market, and meaningful (ideally going-hard) earnest money so a buyer is committed. The right structure keeps the deal attractive to a serious developer while protecting you from being tied up by one who isn't.
Why work with SCORE on a land sale
Most of the value is upstream of the listing: pricing it correctly and packaging it so a developer can say yes. Steven Owen brings an engineering and finance background to the underwriting and has taken corridor and acreage deals to close across the Austin MSA — from a ~200-acre Leander development tract to US-290 frontage and IH-35 commercial sites. You get an agent who can speak to a developer's pro forma and who already has the buyers.
Thinking about selling your land?
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What's my property worth? Book a consultationGeneral information, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Related: Development Land · more Insights.