Price per acre, value from sold comps and an offer at your percentage.
Price a piece of land the way land investors do: per acre, against comparable sales. Enter the asking price and size, add two or three nearby sold comps, and this land price per acre calculator shows the price per acre and per square foot, a value from the comps and an offer at the percentage you choose.
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How to price land per acre
- Price per acre = price ÷ acres. One acre is 43,560 square feet, so you can enter the size either way.
- Find comparable sales: land that actually sold (not listings) in the last year or so, close by, of similar size, with similar road access, utilities and zoning.
- Average the comps' price per acre and multiply by the acres you are pricing. That is the market value estimate.
- Set your offer. Land investors who resell often offer around 25–50% of market value, because land can take a long time to sell and the margin has to cover marketing, closing costs and risk.
Worked example
The calculator opens with 10 acres listed at $60,000: $6,000 an acre, or about $0.14 a square foot.
- Two nearby sales: 8 acres for $45,000 ($5,625/acre) and 12 acres for $70,000 ($5,833/acre), an average of $5,729 an acre.
- At that rate the 10 acres are worth about $57,292, so the asking price is about 4.7% above the comps.
- An offer at 50% of value would be about $28,646.
What moves the price per acre
- Size: bigger tracts usually sell for less per acre than small lots.
- Access: legal road frontage versus a landlocked parcel.
- Utilities and buildability: power, water or a well, septic approval (perc test), and flood zones or wetlands.
- Zoning and use: residential, agricultural, recreational or commercial, and any restrictions.
Adjust your comps for these differences before you trust the average. Read more in how to identify undervalued land and raw land valuation methods.
Frequently asked questions
How many comps do I need?
Three good comps are better than ten poor ones. Use sold land, not listings, as close and as similar as you can find. If only one or two exist, widen the time range before you widen the distance.
Why are land offers so far below market value?
Investors who buy to resell need room for a long holding time, marketing, closing costs and the risk that the land is harder to sell than it looks. Sellers who want a fast, certain sale often accept that trade.
Where do I find sold land prices?
County records (deeds and recorded sale prices, where the state discloses them), the MLS through an agent, and land listing sites that show sold data. Some states do not disclose sale prices, so you may need an agent or appraiser there.
Related calculators and guides
- Seller financing calculator (many land deals are sold on terms)
- Capital gains tax calculator
- 1031 exchange calculator