29 Reviews From Our Community
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I have purchased two properties through land central, both are a little over one acre each. If you do not receive a recorded deed from said county where property was purchased, then you have a problem. If you purchase a property and someone shows up at the exact same time to view the property...that is suspect in and of itself. I have referred this company to several coworkers and friends and will continue to do so.
these people >Angie are thieves <<<< they sold me a piece of land in Alaska and when I showed up at the lot on may 1st I met another man who this scammer angie had sold my lot to also I asked him to sho me his contract my was dated some time before his so he jumped on the phone and called these scammers came back and started to laugh and said the gave him a smaller lot for a lesser amount .
I made payments for ofer a year and then I called landcenteral and told them that I was going to be missing a payment but would make it up on the following month
Angie said that I wouldn't be allowed this option and then said the land would be foreclosed on me I never received any noticed from her or the company this was like 3 years ago and I been sitting here waiting for their response which has so far been O So i'll be out to the lot when the builders show up and let the know that I'm going to sue them and land central in court some one owes me forall the damn work and lost time I put in to the lot clearing it not to mention the hardship I have been placed in
What a scam boyfriend put a down payment on a so called property we went and viewed the dump in Pasco County. Which is full of garbage and poison ivy my boyfriend tried contacting landcentral.com to get his money back since Pasco says the property is not cleared. They will not return his money or phone calls. They need to view the crap before they sucker another person
I have started purchase with them 3 different times...
Twice I found out, the property just wouldn't fit my needs, and I let them go back....
They say the 3rd time is the charm, and for me, it was...
I wanted a place to put a "Tiny House" and zoning for these are harsh,
you might as well build big..lol
Yet, through LC I found an acre in a resort type setting. It's my taxable lot, I can have a Tiny House" and small out buildings.
I also got "most cool access" to a ready made resort with pool, hot tub, campground, lodge, ect.... Perfect..
I will finally pay this off in a few months...
It took me a decade to find my "dream place"
and Land Central's way of doing business helped me make it happen!
I will retire in style,
thank you Land Central/Angela
First of all, most of y'all AIN'T smart enough to read my review!!!
Back in 2010, I was working at Godaddy.com in customer service. I took a phone call from a customer who said he was a FRIEND of the OWNER of LandCentral.com. We had some time while fixing website issues. He told me that that his friend makes more than $100,000/month from running landcentral.com. Basically the way it works is the owner (either he or his employees) of Landcentral.com goes to county deed auction where a parcel of land is sold for as little as $50 or less.
Landcentral puts up the land for sale at 20 - 40 times the cost, but it is in effect a LAY-AWAY deal where customer makes monthly payments until paid in full and the deed is finally transferred. The kicker is that more than 70% of land goes back to Landcentral.com when the customer stops making payment and Landcental.com keeps their payment made thus far and RESELLS the same inventory, as if they are selling air. That is the real secret sauce of the recipe.
The owner makes bucket load of money bc majority of time, same piece of land is being sold again and again, eventually when customer stops making payment (and later I found out there are very good reasons why people stopped making payment) and money keeps flowing in, while the many customers lose out, except afew customers who say they got a good piece of land. As to why customer stops making payment? The land being sold are JUNK plenty of times.
I was curious and thought maybe I can buy some of these land for my retirement portfolio, so I went to Cochise County tax deed auction, the same auction that Landcental goes to buy their land. I bought some-24 parcels for $2100. I had a conversation with a planning and zoning official and it turns out many of the land that is sold is J-u-n-k and NOT BUILD-ABLE.
Some are landlocked, or too small to meet the requirement for county building construction code, not flat enough to build, or way out there with no support from county electricity, water or sewage. I ask the same official why the county even bothers selling these defective parcels. He smiled back and said nothing. Some counties are running a scam, as they make money again and again on these tax deed auctions, when land comes back to them as buyer stops making tax payment on defective parcels.
I went to another county auction in New Mexico in the City of Los Lunas, hopping to find better parcels, and the County was running the same scam - game where the local government sells junk land for revenue, knowing well that it will come back into their inventory to resell again and again.
Landcentral is running a similar game as they profit from the same parcel over and over when buyers finally make a visit to the land and find out their land is a junk and stop making payment. If you doubt my words, I dare you to email Landcentral, and ask how many of the 10,000 land transactions they claim they have done involve the same parcels they sold. I bet you get no answer or confusing answers, as they sold the same land over and over. I felt sick as I stared at yet another example of a corrupt and unjust society - where gov and business work together to defraud citizens.
Now going back to the conversation with the friend of the owner, he said he was the "BEST friend" of the owner of Landcental. And yes, the BEST Friend of the owner said the owner makes boat load of money because he keeps selling the same land over and over again when customers stop making payments. So, there it is folks - that is the inside scoop from the horse's mouth.
Now there must be some decent parcels sold by LC since there are some customers giving positive reviews. How would you know if you got a good one? I suggest you check with LC bf buying whether they visited the land themselves. I kid you not, LC and many like minded businesses rarely perform site inspections or much research, and have little idea about the true condition of the land.
Do you notice something STRANGE about the PHOTOs in the listings? Most of them fit into a pattern, don't they? There is one shot from bird's eye view looking down, probably borrowed from google earth. Then there is a pic that looks very generic with label -- "General Area Photo". Then there is a pic with very nondescript road with messy bushes that has the label -- property is located 5 miles down the road. And finally there is usually a picture taken from sky with the label -- x miles from some known local landmark.
Put it in another way if you visited the site yourself and did the site inspection in person, would you end up with these generic & taken from sky photos??? Also if you click on a number of listings on the website, do the pictures begin to look alike; or are your eyes playing trick on you? Maybe it's just me and I need to get my eyes checked.
All these photos seem to have two things in common: 1) they are aerial photos taken from sky, from satellite or air plane and they probably came from internet, 2) when there is a picture taken from the ground, it is usually so nondescript and lacking detail that photo could have come from any number of locations. And if the site inspection was never done or done so haphazardly that seller ended up with only generic photos, how would the seller know the exact condition of the land?
Actually Landcentral do not conduct on-site inspection to find out condition of the land, as a standard practice. I have evidence for this, including a screen shot of chat session with an employee, but if you look at the photos yourself, WITHOUT a beer in your hand, you will begin to see noticeable patterns.
If you scroll below all the way down to Q&A, you will see a reference to a chat session with an employee named Angela who says, Landcentral conducts "LIGHT research" instead of site inspections. So if the seller never visited the land and only relied on google earth images and conducted only "LIGHT research" of County records - How can they claim "the land is MOSTLY FLAT"? as it says on plenty of their listings.
If the land has brushes or trash that need to be cleared that is a minor issue, but have you tried to build a cabin on a land that is not FLAT, where water collects when it rains. This is why people should not buy land until they visit and verify with their own eyes. But if I had to buy land site unseen, I would insist on a written promise (like an affidavit) by the seller confirming that he visited the land and is attesting to the condition of the land, including and especially the FLATNESS. FLATNESS of the land is too expensive to correct and without it, can you even camp on it when it rains?
Have you heard the saying - when something sounds too good to be true, it is because IT IS too good to be true. In my opinion, based on research and the conversation with the "Best Friend", Landcentral sells DREAM, not bona fide land parcels, much of the time. They should change their name from LandCentral.com to DreamCentral.com
FYI, Owner of LC says in response "I have never purchased a single property at the Cochise County tax auction and I have never purchased a single property at the Cochise County tax auction. I think you must have our website confused with someone else??"
Only person confused is the owner of LC, as to what is truthful and what is a LIE.
No? Why are there properties for sale on LC's website that lists properties in Cochise County as of 2/27/2017, and according to archive.org (organization that takes snapshot of websites over the years) , LC's old website sold parcels from Cochise County, as evidenced by: http://web.archive.org/web/20090627032438/http://www.landcentral.com/land-for-sale/arizona/cochise
The bottom line is LC promises the moon to the would be sucker buyers but their own TERMS & CONDITIONS ( http://www.landcentral.com/terms-conditions ) clearly states that:
--------- "Seller DOES NOT guarantee the suitability of property for any specific purpose and DOES NOT guarantee zoning" and further states
---------"Buyer(s) acknowledges having inspected the property and investigated its suitability for any given purpose prior to purchasing, including availability of access and utilities or LACK THEREOF, and hereby accepts the property AS-IS."
So the seller is guaranteeing diddly-squat, and the Buyer is assuming most of the risk. They are guaranteeing virtually nothing when it comes to legalese and actual terms in the contract, which is what you are stuck with. If the nuts and bolts in your head are still not rusty, I dare you to read the OBLIGATIONS section of LC's Terms & Conditions: http://www.landcentral.com/terms-conditions
They got you by the balls and some....don't they?
If you ever have a disagreement with them, you don't have much to lean on. Once you make a mouse click on their website, and give them your down payment/document fee, don't they have the legal right to keep that money? When you put a check mark next to terms & conditions and submit your credit card payment on their website, aren't you agreeing to abide by the legal wording on their terms & conditions?
What is laughable is that LC's website has a "FORECLOSURE land for sale" section on their website. It is another layer of a sophisticated MIND CON game, as it denotes that the parcels are such great deal and discounted as they are "foreclosure" properties. The parcels were lay-away deals to begin with, and when customers decided to stop making payments for obvious reasons, LC would "foreclose" on them and relist the parcel for another quick profit.
How do you foreclose on properties that was a lay-away deal and never transferred title to begin with? If LC was being honest, the Foreclosure section on LC,s website should be relabeled as "LAND for SALE as ANOTHER CUSTOMER STOPS MAKING PAYMENT".
Everything goes buttery smooth until you visit the land. Of course the transaction is fast and smooth, when the seller buys land for a pennies on the dollar to resell to the dim witted folks who buys blindly and impulsively with a keyboard stroke on a website. If the buyer has no time to visit the land, at least they can find a local real estate office located in the same county as the parcel using google and ask for a realtor opinion of value.
Since the APN identifying the property is listed on the website, any potential buyer can ask a local realtor what the resell value of the property is. But plenty of people will buy the dream, then have a rude awakening, and complain to LC, and LC is <BANKING ON THE FACT> that you did not do your DUE DILIGENCE and they already have your deposit and perhaps some payments;you can't sue over $2500 or your deposit - in practical terms (An Attorney will want probably 10k to start the work), so you are left embarrassed and drinking away your sorrows hopping to forget yet another life's confirmation that you are two cents shy of a dollar.
In reality unscrupulous business such as LC has many victims out there who did not raise their hand in protest. They are too embarrassed to speak out about the loss of a few hundred dollars deposits or a year worth of monthly land payments after they visit the land, only to discover the ugly truth of these properties. The lost sum is too small to sue across interstate but nonetheless the loss is deeply felt as it takes away from legitimate family spending. Many of the victims are also uneducated and not internet savvy. Truth be told, I am willing to bet majority of buyers are men.
It takes at most an one hour of research - by making phone calls and going over internet - but many people are too lazy and stupid, so they fall for the scam.
LandCentral can be summed up in three words: DREAM, APPROVED, FAST. That's how they get ya. Be wise and focus on these three words instead: DUE DILIGENCE DUMMY. The triple Ds will save you an embarrassment and your hard earned paycheck.
Like I said, there is a SUCKER born everyday, so I am SURE some of you will read this and STILL fall for the scam, as some of the same people voted for Hillary in 2016 will be talked into voting for Chelsea in coming years. Some of you will be surfing the web late at night with a bottle of beer in one hand and keyboard on the other, and fall for the scam, after which you will tell your wife/girlfriend how you got APPROVED, and what a genius you are for buying your DREAM land at a discount, whereas the only thing discounted is your IQ and your common sense. Go Chelsea for President 2020!!! Enjoy your "DREAM" land;-)
Well, however there is a silver lining to the experience??? Landcentral sells dreams and hope and we all need dreams and hope. For about $2500, anyone of us can be a proud owner of piece of land from LC;hopefully it turns out to be a good one and not a junk, and with no back taxes. How do you survive the mundane existence of American middle class life with dwindling income and endless daily tasks we call our jobs? The answer may just be having hope in your heart; having a picture in your mind of a beautiful piece of land where you can build a log cabin next a beautiful river can be just the ticket for your mundane existence.
I did what I can to warn you guys so that you will exercise some caution and do your homework before buying. If it works out and some of you pick up a decent piece of land, more power to you and congratulations. We all need some hope, and a "DREAM Land" from LC may just be your ticket to your hope and dream. Besides plenty of customers say LC is Fast and Smooth. And it can be a great conversation piece at neighborhood BBQs;-)
And if you had the patience and diligence to read this far, through this long winded review - congratz; you are the type of person who usually don't fall prey to various scams our society has to offer everyday. There are very few of you out there on this planet, so you should be proud. Good luck out there consumers!
I am the owner of LandCentral. I wish you would have called us before you bought a bunch of bad properties at a tax auction. At least we would have been able to help you go through the list and identify which ones were worth buying, and which were not. Often, there is a reason the old owner didn’t pay the taxes.
There are a few parts of your review that are accurate, but the majority of what you mentioned is not even remotely true. For example, I have never been to the Cochise County tax auction, and I have never purchased a single property at the Cochise County tax auction. I think you must have our website confused with someone else??
When we sell a property to a buyer, we want them to get value for the hard earned money they are paying for the land. We certainly don’t want them to stop making payments. But what happens sometimes is the buyer has some circumstance in their life that causes them to have to stop paying on the property. A car repair, the loss of their job, a health issue, etc. These things don’t have anything to do with the land they bought. It’s something that happened in their life, that causes them to need to stop making their monthly payments. Sometimes, their dreams or circumstances change, and the property no longer meets their needs. But we do everything we can to help, and we are flexible and understanding, knowing everyone needs some help at one time or another.
Also, we don’t sell landlocked parcels, or properties that are too small to build. Sure, we have made a few mistakes over the nearly 20-years we have been doing this, but when we make a mistake, we own up to it and fix it, and we make it right with the customer. We are not perfect, and we don’t claim to be, so when we do make the rare mistake, we fix it.
As I read your review, I am reminded that you are not a customer. You have never bought a property from us, you never even called us or spoke to us or asked any questions, nor have you ever done any business with us at all. You claim to have had a conversation (six years ago?) with someone who “claimed to be my best friend” and then you attempted to duplicate our business model. You thought this looked easy, and when you didn’t do very good research, and you bought a bunch of poor quality properties at a tax sale. Once you figured out that you had made a mistake and couldn’t re-sell them for a profit, you decided to go online and bash us because you didn’t do your homework on a bunch of properties that have absolutely nothing to do with us whatsoever.
We spend lots of time and money researching the properties we sell. We want the buyer to know they’re buying a quality property that will meet their needs. We don’t want someone to buy a property to build a home on, and learn down the road it’s not buildable. So we do the research in advance, so we can tell our customers what the approved uses of the property are. Some properties are ideal for building a home on, some are well suited just for camping, hunting or fishing, and some aren’t very well suited for anything (as you learned in Cochise County). We’re serving our customers by doing the research and presenting the facts. Then they can choose if a property meets their needs or not.
And regarding your comments about site inspections, I have personally been to hundreds and hundreds of our properties. Maybe (probably) even thousands of them. I personally looked at over 100 properties last month alone. I’m proud of what we sell. And I’m proud of how we help people realize their dreams of property ownership. I’m proud of how we treat our customers with respect and dignity when they need a little help on their monthly payments.
I am sorry that you had a bad experience trying this on your own, and I am sorry that you think there is a “sucker born every day”.
Not bad at all.
LandCentral made it possible to invest in property that I had dreamed about for awhile. All of the transactions were handled quickly and professionally. I couldn't had a better experience in purchasing a great investment for the future. Thank you LandCentral!!
I feel that I was Accepted and Approved and my decisions were good. LandCentral is a Top of the Line Business. So Speedy and Fast. I'M Elated. Thank you LandCentral.
It was a good deal
My wife and I are very pleased with our purchase! Thanks to Megan for her help in making this purchase with ease. Megan is gr8 and very pleasant in her job at going above and beyond to see to her customers needs!
When I ran across land central and saw what they were offering , I was skeptical , so I steered away for a while . But the thought of owning my own land was something that I always wanted to do and I didn't have the best of credit history , so on my 5th time looking at the website and the land for sale I decided to go for it and went for some California land!! At first I felt as if I made a mistake but quickly had revieved the needed paperwork in the mail, along with pictures, directions, and a history of the county and city and area of where my newly purchased land was! When ever I called with questions or concerns I was quickly answered with the utmost customer service and professionalism.just two weeks ago and 4 years later I have paid off my land and I am very happy and satisfied with land central , I want to extend my gratitude to land central and all who were involved with my purchase ,Thank you so very much for helping to make my desicion to purchase land one of the best choices I ever made , everything went smooth and easy ! You rock !!! I am currently searching your site for another land purchase ..
Megan was very helpful with my seach for property.
Although I just today financed land from Land Central,my honest opinion is that they are legit. Angela is smart,intuitive,knowledgeable. She was courteous and nice to talk to. I am impressed with the other staff also. I didn't experience any pressure sales tactics which are a turn off.They answer your questions and don't blow you off. If you want a good deal and good people to finance through...these guys are it!!!
Buying property from LandCentral has been very well served. They follow through with their paperwork and you DO RECEIVE your title with a grant deed at the end of the contract.
They have proven themselves to be a legitimate company and follow the rules!
Easy Fast
I will give a true comment once I have completed the process for the desired land purchase.
One of the best service, I asa Vet as ever had made me feel special. That one of the reasons i purchase another property from this outstanding established ment.
Very Helpful service!
Everyone I have worked in email and talked in person are very nice and have good attitude to help. Especially for my recent purchase, Megan just like a angel! I am very happy with the speedy service and help I got from her. Thank you!
I have nothing but fabulous things to say. Not only was the purchase initially that quick and easy, but when I was injured in a car accident an lost income, they worked with me to make my payments, and a few days ago, I paid off my land. Also I purchased a second piece and was able to quick turn that into something else as I was not satisfied...They will work with you. It's land, and who doesn't want land??? I can only say if you are looking for land to invest or for personal reasons go to Land Central; get it from them first....I've seen a lot of companies that try to sell land and foreclosed homes as well as commercial land deals...Don't trust them. You can only trust one out there! My next land purchase is going to be????? You guessed it!!!!! Land Central of course. :) And your's should too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me and my wife is thing about this land by 29 pamls i alway wanted to buy some good land i wos reading some of the comments and most of them wos good ones.....thanks
Super fast, bought my land and 2 weeks later, my portfolio was sent over. Only thing I am scared about is I don't have a title yet after 2 months. I just contacted them, and are waiting to hear back.
UPDATE:
I had meant to update this a while back, but kept forgetting. I received my deed in April after my last payment in March. I followed up in April with the County and my name is in their records as well. All in all, an awesome experience.
Purchased our 18 acres via contract for deed, which is how this outfit works. Price for the land was super cheap. Catch with this piece of property, NO legal ROW and NO road/access to property, which is why it was so cheap. Once you pay the land off, they have 30 day to get the deed transfered into your name, registered at the courthouse, and into you hands. Beware though, they have the option to sell the mineral rights any time before passing the deed along to you. IMHO, that's why the land can be cheap and why they make you wait 30 days before sending you the deed. For us, the cost of survey and acquiring legal ROW around 2500 on top of the 17K for 18 acres. This land is mostly flat on top of the mountain... so for us... We hit a home run with this deal. Like previous investers have said, Buyer beware! These folks purchase forclosures, tax deeds, etcc and get the land for pennies on the dollar, make their cut, and still leave some on the bone for you... but again, know what you're getting into. If you think that something should be EASY, think again, unless you're willing to pay top dollar, but that's a whole different story.
I have been looking at the site and have visited a few properties here in WA state for the last year, and have been very disappointed. The properties all have something wrong with them. They are essentially junk parcels. Either the land was undesirable (no power, water, sewer, in the middle of nowhere), or was in a decent area but the land was so steep, or declared a wetland. Be very careful and research the land on the county's auditor/assessor/treasurer's website. It will tell you if the land is residential, wetland, has access to utilities, how much it has been worth over the last decade, and even characteristics of the land (steep, sloped, cliff, etc). Buyer beware!!
I am so surprised when I read some of these reports. Not just because people don't seem to be doing there research, but because people don't seem to be doing there research! Wow, in these times of uncertainty people seem to not be thinking about looking out for the family members who will be left with these trash lots, and who is getting there money, and shame on the people takeing advantage of this fact. Theilr day will come, it just seems it dosen't come fast enought.
Customer Questions & Answers
Votes
The reason why the land is so cheap is because they buy land on auctions and foreclosures..... and then the customers have the change to make a good deal out of it. I bought my piece of land a couple of days ago for $3K (1.51 acres) in Rio Rico, Az. When I look at the land value thru the tax assessor's site I think a made a very good deal. I can only say i had a very good experience with them and I would certainly reccomend them to family and friends (which I already did and now my father-in-law is gonna be my neighbor there in Rio Rico!)
Votes
Hi Theresa, thank you for your comment! You are exactly correct, researching any property you are interested in purchasing is the best way ensure you are happy with your investment. We also offer easy owner financing with no credit check (everyone qualifies!) , low down payments and low monthly payments with NO pre-payment penalty. We want everyone who wishes to buy property to be able to and most importantly be happy with their investment. And please let us know if we can help you in any way with your land search Theresa!
Votes
Hi Jerry! Thank you for your question. We have the know-how to do our own title research when we acquire our properties. We also guarantee a free and clear title on all of our land. You do have the option of purchasing title insurance at your cost on any land you buy from LandCentral. We have worked with hundreds of title companies over our 20 year history and are happy to do whatever makes you feel comfortable and secure in your investment.
Votes
Hi Nancy, thanks for your question! Billybob is right, we do highly recommend that you do your own research with the county (and HOA if applicable) to make sure you can use the property in the way that you would like to. We are happy to help you with your research and direct you to the right County offices before you decide to invest in a property. As for bad reviews, as like any business, we do have some out there but we also have positive reviews on this website as well as several testimonials on LandCentral.com. We would be more than happy to speak with you on the phone about any further questions you have about our company. Our toll free number is 877-257-0231 and we are available Monday-Friday from 7AM-4:30PM PST.
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About LandCentral (from the business)
We've sold over 10,000 pieces of land since we began, and we have successfully navigated the difficult real estate landscape to become experts in vacant land real estate. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff have led the way in creating cutting-edge software to make the purchasing process as easy as possible for you, and we have a wide variety of properties available for purchase across the country.
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