Buying land with a Credit Card is possible at times, but surprisingly this isn't always the case. Very few websites will sell land and let the buyer pay with credit card, it's not because your credit is no good to them, but developing a system that allows it can be tough and expensive for the seller. There is also some things the Buyer should consider before using credit card.
2. Buying in Full or Financing - Is your plan to buy this land in full or finance from the land company selling it. Say you found some land, you can pay with credit card and the cost is around $5k. Ask yourself, will the credit card make sense or would using the companies financing option be better.
First if you are using a credit card you will make payments anyway, but you will be paying an APR which sometimes can be around 19% interest or so. If you paid just minimum credit card payments on this over a long period, you can end up paying $2k on top of the $5k for the land. Yes you bought the land in full, you own the deed but you're making payments still.
So, if the land website has financing, compare these APR rates first. Sites like ours, LandZero, has rates as low as 1% and for longer terms they still stay extremely low. Some other companies are higher, so look at the options and which is smarter. Using financing on a company like ours can save you significants amounts of money while giving you time to pay off the land. It would be the same as making payments on a credit card but the interest on top would be significantly different.
3. Penalties on Delinquency - Does the company contact credit agencies if there are payment issues. Chances are they don't but I do know some more expensive land sellers where they do secured loans and work with credit agencies. So if things get rough, you can't pay on the land, you could wreck your credit in an unfortunate situation or even lose something.
Credit card companies can be very harsh, even just for a late payment. You can get charged a late fee, a ding on your credit and it can start adding up fast in rough times. However, a land selling site like ours, where you end up financing, will not report to credit agencies. For one, we own the land outright and approve everyone willing to pay off the land over time. Yes, it ties up our money, most would like the full amount, even us, but its a service to our customers. The worst part of our business is dealing with delinquent payments, late is fixable, but some people will not pay any further and not respond to us. Yes, we have a foreclosure process but it's timely and costs us, plus our land is unsellable during this process. The point is, any lack of payment or completely dropping payments on the land will not effect a single thing with your credit. But doing the same when using credit agencies can hurt your future, things like home purchases and car purchases.
4. Cash advances - Another option is doing a cash advance on your credit card. Say the person or company is not taking credit or financing, but you don't have the cash in the bank. You can often do a cash advance on your credit card. While limits are different with each card, you can deposit cash into your bank and pay back on credit card over time. Thus, allowing you to buy the land in full because there was no other way to do it.
Overall, it's pretty cool you can buy land on credit or even use financing. Land ownership is great, it can increase in value, you can flip it and often learn enough to do homes one day. Starting with some low cost land is not a bad option, in just a years time, we have seen land we sell go up over $10k. Even some in Hawaii that we sold seemed to change value in just two months. So investing in real estate isn't just for the wealthy, many start small and even do so on credit or others people money.
