The land listing presentation: what to show a landowner
Show the landowner their own land first: your read of it, the buyer, the price and the sales behind it, the marketing plan with examples and the launch date.
By Jordan Johnson, Founder, Kedron Co.Updated 7 min read
A land listing presentation should be mostly about the seller's property: your read of the land, who will buy it, the price range and the sales behind it, the marketing plan with real examples, and the timeline to launch. Leave a one-page plan behind, because the family decides after you've driven away.
Start with their land, not your firm
The listing presentation has changed. Richard Thompson of United Country described it for the REALTORS Land Institute (August 2020): "Not long ago a listing presentation was 75% about the agent and their company, and 25% about the seller's property. Today its 25% about the agent and their company and 75% about the seller's property."
A landowner sitting at their own kitchen table already knows the ground. What they don't know is how you see it, who you think will buy it, and what you'll do to reach that buyer. Show them that, specifically, and your credentials come through in the details. If you've done the first conversation with the landowner well, you already have what you need to make the presentation about their property.
The order of the presentation
Keep it to about an hour. This order works because each part sets up the next.
| # | Section | Time | What the landowner should walk away knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What we heard | 5 min | You listened: their timeline, family, goals and concerns |
| 2 | Your read of the property | 10 min | What the land is, what it does best, and what a buyer will question |
| 3 | Who will buy it | 5 min | The buyer, where they live and what they'll want to see |
| 4 | Price range and the sales behind it | 15 min | A range, the comparable sales, and why |
| 5 | The marketing plan | 15 min | Exactly what you'll produce and where it will run, with examples |
| 6 | Launch timeline and reporting | 5 min | When it goes live and how often they hear from you |
| 7 | Terms and next steps | 5 min | Commission, fees, contract length and what happens next |
Save terms for the end. By then, they're judging the price of a plan they've seen, not a number in the abstract.
What goes in each section
1. What we heard
Repeat back, in two or three sentences, what matters to them: "You want it closed before the lease decision on September 1. Your sister in Denver needs to see it without flying in. You'd rather not have strangers driving the lane in November." Get these right and they know you listened.
2. Your read of the property
Walk the property before this meeting and bring what you found:
- An aerial map with the boundary, access, acreage by use (tillable, timber, CRP, wetland) and building sites.
- What the land does best: the bedding cover on the north slopes, the creek bottom, the tillable income, the view from the ridge.
- What a buyer will question: a narrow easement, wet ground in spring, an enrollment the buyer inherits. Name these yourself. The owner already knows them, and hearing them from you shows you'll handle them straight.
3. Who will buy it
Name the buyer. A local farmer adding acres. A hunter from the Twin Cities, Chicago or Milwaukee who can't visit until opener. An investor who wants the income. A family looking for a building site. Each buyer changes the price, the marketing and the season you launch.
4. Price range and the sales behind it
Show the comparable sales, per acre, with the date, the acreage and how the land compares. Explain what makes this property worth more or less. If the owner's number is above your range, say so here, plainly, with the sales on the table. How to tell a landowner their land is overpriced walks through that part.
5. The marketing plan
This is the part the landowner will hold up against every other agent's plan. Don't say "professional photos and drone." Say what you'll shoot and show a past listing where you did it.
A useful benchmark: Land.com's Anatomy of a Perfect Land Listing (July 2026) says buyers judge a listing first by its title and primary image, and it calls for photos that tell the property's whole story, video or a virtual tour where it helps, and a clear map. Treat that as the floor. Your plan should list:
- Ground photos: the access, the field edges, the timber, the water, the building site, each in good light.
- Aerial photos and video: boundary, acreage and how the parcel sits against roads, water and neighbors.
- A film tour: the property the way a buyer would walk it, for the buyer who can't come until opener.
- A 3D model or detailed map: so a remote buyer can see the terrain and the access routes.
- Listing copy: use, access and numbers first.
- Where it runs: which listing sites, your email list, social channels and any paid reach, by name.
- Follow-up: how fast you respond to an inquiry and who does it.
Then show examples. A film tour from a past listing, played on a tablet at the table, does more than any slide about your commitment to marketing. If you don't have that work yet and want it for each listing under your name, that's what the 3-Day Listing Launch System provides. If you ask the seller to pay for part of the launch, seller-paid marketing fees on land listings covers how to present and contract it.
In Wisconsin, it's worth saying out loud: the standard WB-3 Vacant Land Listing Contract commits the firm to "use reasonable efforts to market the Property" (Wisconsin DSPS, WB-3, mandatory 8-15-24). Your written plan tells the owner what those reasonable efforts actually are.
6. Launch timeline and reporting
Give a date. "Photos and aerial the first week of October, film the same week, live by the 15th" beats "we'll get it up fast."
Show how you'll report. Land.com gives agents listing statistics including searches, views, emails, flyer downloads and inquiries, and the report can be printed or emailed to the client. Promise a schedule, such as every two weeks, and what it will include: activity, inquiries, showings, feedback and your recommendation.
7. Terms and next steps
State your commission and any fees plainly, the length of the listing, and what happens if it doesn't sell. Then ask for the listing. If they need time, set the date you'll follow up.
What to leave out
- Awards and firm history slides. One sentence about who you are is enough.
- Market charts that aren't about their county. A national land value chart doesn't help price 80 acres in Buffalo County.
- Marketing you won't actually do. If it's in the plan, it happens.
- Guarantees on price or days on market. No one can give them honestly.
- Tax or legal advice. Name the question (a 1031 exchange, a CRP transfer, an easement) and send them to their accountant, attorney or FSA office.
Template: the one-page marketing plan leave-behind
Families decide together, often after you leave. The one-page plan is what gets passed across the table and mailed to the sibling in another state. It's a fill-in template: replace each dotted field with your own details, keep it to one page, and put your name and number at the bottom.
Property name, acres acres, township, county County, state
The property. Two sentences: what it is, what it does best, the access.
The buyer we're marketing to. One sentence: who, where they live, what they'll want to see.
Price range. $low to $high, based on number sales in county since date. Recommended list price: $price.
What we'll produce
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Ground photos | Number photos: access, field edges, timber, water, building site |
| Aerial photos and video | Boundary, acreage, neighbors and roads |
| Film tour | Length, the property as a buyer would walk it |
| 3D model or map | Terrain, access routes, stand or building sites |
| Listing copy | Use, access and numbers first |
Where it will run. Listing sites by name, email list size, if you know it, social channels, paid reach, if any.
Timeline. Signed by date. Shoot the week of date. Live on date.
How you'll hear from us. A written report every two weeks with views, inquiries, showings, feedback and our recommendation. Every inquiry answered within time.
Terms. Commission rate. Marketing fee amount, if any. Listing term months.
Your name, firm, phone, email
After the presentation
Send a thank-you and a copy of the one-page plan by email that day, so the family member who wasn't at the table sees the same thing. If you left without a signature, call on the date you said you would. More on this part of the business is in the winning listings library.
