This blog is based on a real interview with Clayton from the DealMachine Real Estate Investing Podcast, where he breaks down how he built a multi-million-dollar land investing business using simple systems and consistent execution.
Land investing is 10–15 times less competitive than house flipping because rural landowners are rarely marketed to, have fewer pricing tools, and are often more motivated to sell. This creates a lower-cost, lower-friction path to consistent profits.
House flippers and wholesalers target the same seller lists:
These sellers are heavily marketed to and get multiple calls, texts, and mailers every week. In contrast, rural landowners often have no idea what their land is worth, and no one is contacting them.
Unlike urban homeowners who receive dozens of offers, many rural landowners have never been approached by an investor. With limited access to online comps and fewer active buyers, rural land remains one of the least saturated real estate asset classes.
Most rural landowners can’t easily find land comps online. This lack of transparency lets investors who do their homework buy low, price right, and flip land faster, especially in fast-moving counties.
This is the same edge that once made house wholesaling profitable, until competition wiped it out. Now, that edge has shifted to land.
Use Lands of America to find counties where land is selling faster than it’s being listed. If the number of sold properties in the past 12 months is 1.5x or higher than active listings, that’s a strong sell-through rate.
If 918 sold and 409 listed → 224% sell-through = excellent market
Look just outside major cities, these are known as “honey hole” markets. You want rural counties that are close enough for weekend use but far enough to avoid builder and wholesaler competition.
These areas offer:
Clayton recommends avoiding massive counties like Miami-Dade and instead targeting adjacent areas with steady land sales but fewer players.
Land deals can be just as profitable as house flips, without the overhead. With Clayton’s direct mail system, a 10,000-letter campaign produces:
It’s common to earn $15K–$25K per deal consistently, with low operational drag.
The seller demographic (ages 55–75) responds well to physical mail. These owners often prefer tangible, clear messages over cold calls or texts.
Direct mail benefits:
It also allows you to scale with a monthly, fixed budget, building a predictable deal pipeline.
Inconsistency. Most failed investors send one big campaign, get discouraged, and stop. The ones who win treat it like investing: send mail every month, track results, and stay the course.
“Don’t send 15,000 pieces in month one, then drop to 2,000 when it gets quiet,” Clayton warns. “Set a monthly budget and stick with it like you would with dollar-cost averaging.”
Spreading yourself across texting, cold calling, PPC, and direct mail too early dilutes results. Clayton’s rule is:
“Focus on one channel until it makes a million. Then add another.”
For land, that one channel is usually direct mail, because it matches the seller profile and can scale predictably.
House flipping has more variables:
Land deals:
Clayton calls it a “conveyor belt of cash”, you feed the system with consistent marketing and get predictable results.
Yes. Land investing offers lower competition, fewer moving parts, and faster scaling than traditional house flipping.
Many investors average $15,000–$25,000 per deal. With consistent marketing, monthly profits can reach six figures.
Look one to two counties outside major metros in high-activity states like Florida, Texas, and the Southeast.
No. Many investors start with $3K–$6K/month in direct mail, reinvesting profits to grow.
Inconsistency. Most quit too early or spread themselves too thin. The winners commit to one strategy and track their numbers.
Land investing is a powerful, scalable, and overlooked strategy in today’s real estate landscape. By focusing on:
…you can build a 7-figure business with fewer hours, lower risk, and stronger margins than traditional house flipping.
For investors looking for a leaner, data-driven model, rural land investing may be the smartest move you make this year.