Answers · Owner Financing & Alternatives
Can you buy land with no money down?
Almost never through a lender, and rarely wisely through a seller. Institutional land loans want 25–35% down because raw land has no rental income to carry it. The realistic low-cash paths: seller carrybacks behind a loan, cross-collateralizing land you already own, or partner equity — not zero-down listings.
The zero-down offers you'll actually find are payment products from land dealers — small parcels at large markups where "no money down" is priced into every installment. If a $40,000 listing offers $0 down at $399/month for 15 years, run the arithmetic: that's over $70,000 for a parcel that likely comps under $30,000.
Cross-collateralization is the legitimate zero-cash route: if you own other land free and clear, a lender can take both parcels as collateral and fund 100% of the purchase while blended LTV stays under its cap. Farmers expanding onto neighboring ground do this constantly — the equity in the home quarter buys the next one.
VA and USDA programs occasionally reach true zero-down, but only for residential or owner-occupied cases that most investment land can't satisfy. For business-purpose land, plan on real skin in the game — then use structure (seller seconds, cross-collateral, partners) to shrink it.
The Turnrow angle
Turnrow lends to 70% LTV and accepts cross-collateral and disclosed seller seconds — three tools that together can take a cash-tight but asset-rich buyer to closing.
Model your down payment scenarios →
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