What counts as a red flag, and what does not?
Short answer: a red flag is a behavior that stops you from checking something you have a right to check. A low offer alone is not one. A buyer who will not explain the offer is.
A buyer you can trust should be willing to put the basics in writing: who they are, what they are offering, how the closing works and what ends the contract. When a buyer avoids those answers, the issue is rarely the price. It is that you cannot tell what you would be signing. This guide pairs with how to vet a cash land buyer, which covers the positive checks. Use this one for the warning signs.
What should worry me in the first conversation?
Short answer: pressure, vagueness about who the buyer is, and an unwillingness to put terms in writing.
- Pressure and fake deadlines. Phrases such as "this offer expires tonight" with no reason attached. A real offer can have a stated expiry, but the buyer should be able to explain it.
- A buyer who will not name the contracting entity. You need the legal name of the company or person who will sign, and the name of the person authorized to sign for it.
- No written structure. If the price, the timeline and the cancellation terms exist only on a phone call, you cannot compare them or hold anyone to them.
- A buyer who will not say whether they assign. Assigning a contract is lawful when disclosed. Refusing to say is the warning sign. See contract assignment explained.
- A vague meaning of "cash." Ask whether the buyer is paying from its own funds, relying on a partner or relying on a later assignee. The answers are not equivalent.
- Unverifiable reviews. Reviews with no names, dates or parcels, or a website with no company name, address or contact route. Look for something you can independently confirm.
Ask every one of these questions by email, so the answers exist in writing.
What should worry me about money and closing?
Short answer: you should not pay to get an offer, and you should not trust payment instructions that arrive by email without a call to confirm.
- Requests for money up front. Be cautious about any fee you are asked to pay before closing, whether it is called a processing, marketing or deposit fee. If a cost is real, it should appear on the settlement statement from the closing office.
- Changed wire instructions. The Texas Department of Insurance warns that real estate transactions can be a target for wire transfer fraud. It advises getting a contact name, email address and phone number for everyone involved, verifying electronic payment instructions with your title agent, and being wary of any email that asks you to respond immediately or says payment details have been updated.
- A closing outside a licensed title company. If the buyer wants to close at a kitchen table, with its own paperwork, or through a company you cannot look up, slow down.
- A long inspection or diligence period. A long period is not a flaw by itself, but it ties up your land. Read what ends it, whether earnest money is delivered and when, and what happens if the buyer cannot find an assignee. An offer can be reduced or can fall away near the end of a long period, so ask what the buyer must do to keep it.
What is a simple checklist I can keep next to the phone?
Print it, and write the answer beside each line. A "no" or a silence is information.
- Did the buyer give the exact legal name of the contracting party?
- Did they say, in writing, whether they will buy or assign?
- Is the price, closing timeline and cancellation language in a written draft?
- Did they explain what "cash" means in this deal?
- Is the closing office licensed, and did you find it yourself rather than through the buyer?
- Have you been asked for any money before closing?
- Did anyone push you to decide faster than you were comfortable?
- Can you verify at least one prior transaction or reference independently?
- Did someone read the contract with you, or did they discourage a review?
If several of these do not check out, pause. You can always say you need time to have an attorney or title company review the paperwork.
What is different about land buyers in Texas?
Short answer: Texas puts specific disclosure duties on people who sell an option or assign a contract to buy land they do not yet own.
Texas Property Code section 5.0205 says that before entering a contract to sell an option or assign an interest in a contract to purchase real property, a person must disclose in writing to any potential buyer that the person is selling only an option or assigning an interest and does not have legal title, and must disclose to the property owner that the person intends to sell an option or assign an interest in a contract. In other words, the owner must be told in writing if the buyer intends to pass the contract on.
TREC explains the background in Sale of Equitable Interests in Real Estate Clarified. It says that a person who offers a property for sale when they do not own it is engaged in brokerage and must be licensed, and that wholesaling remains legal if these truth-in-advertising rules are followed. If a buyer will not give you the written disclosure, that matters.
For title, the Texas Department of Insurance says you can use any title company you want, and that you should make sure the title agent is licensed by TDI. It lists a help line at 800-252-3439 and a license check on its reports page. See TDI on title insurance.
If something has gone wrong, the Texas Attorney General runs an online process for filing a consumer complaint. Its page says a complaint is open to the public under Texas law, and that the office cannot give legal advice. See file a consumer complaint.
Outside Texas, verify rather than transplant the rule
Short answer: the red flags travel, but the legal disclosure duties do not.
Section 5.0205 is a Texas statute. Other states may require a license, a different disclosure, or nothing specific about assignment. Do not assume the buyer's paperwork meets your state's rules because it looks similar to something from Texas. Instead:
- Find your state real estate regulator and ask whether wholesaling or assignment disclosure rules apply.
- Ask the closing office in the property's state what it requires before it will close.
- Ask your state attorney general's consumer office how to report a problem.
StraightAcre takes inquiries from all 50 states and reviews land in active markets in Texas (Travis, Collin and Harris counties), Florida, Illinois, Alabama, California, Georgia, Washington, Rhode Island and New York. That is not a claim that it buys everywhere. In Illinois and Rhode Island it makes direct purchases only, unless a licensed broker is involved.
What to ask the title company or an attorney
These questions are useful before you sign, and a short attorney consultation can be worth having if a contract is unusual.
- Is this closing office licensed, and who holds the funds?
- Who is the buyer on the contract, and can the contract be assigned without my consent?
- What happens to my earnest money or deposit, if any, if the buyer cancels?
- Does the contract match what the buyer told me on the phone?
- How will I receive my proceeds, and how will you confirm payment instructions with me directly?
Call the title company yourself, using a phone number you found independently, rather than the number in the buyer's email.
What a buyer (including StraightAcre) will want to see
A serious buyer will ask for documents, and that is a good sign. Expect to provide:
- Parcel identifier, legal description and deed
- Property tax notices and any lien or payoff information
- Proof of authority to sign, for an estate, trust or company
- Any survey, plat or access document you hold
In return, you should see the buyer's legal name, a written explanation of whether they buy directly or assign, and a closing through a licensed title or escrow company. StraightAcre tells you in writing before you sign whether it is buying directly or assigning, closes through a licensed title or escrow company in the property's state, and its free parcel review is a preliminary public-record summary, not an appraisal, survey, title opinion or approval to build.
This guide is general education, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Sources and further reading
Related guides
Start with a free written parcel review
Send the county, parcel ID, ownership information, and any known tax or title issues. We review whether the property fits our current acquisition criteria and tell you in writing whether we would buy directly or assign the contract. An inquiry is not a binding offer or a promise to purchase.
Request my free parcel review