He Switched to Land… And Built an $8M Pipeline

4 snips

Dec 2, 2025

Mike DeFrancisis, a seasoned land investor and developer, shares his journey from wholesaling to high-profit land deals. He reveals why investing in large parcels offers better margins and a less complex path compared to traditional homebuilding. With an impressive 34-deal pipeline projected to yield $8M in profit, Mike discusses his strategic use of six marketing channels, the importance of entitlements, and hiring the right professionals to scale his operations. His actionable advice is a must for aspiring land investors.

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ANECDOTE

From House Building To Land Flips

Mike stumbled into land after building houses and realized flipping lots returned 2–4x his cost.
That prompted him to pursue larger 5+ acre tracts across North Carolina to scale quickly.

INSIGHT

Margins Make Land Scalable

Land flips yielded much higher percentage margins than building houses despite lower absolute dollars.
Mike realized he could buy many more deals with far less capital, vastly improving scalability.

ADVICE

Build Systems Before You Scale

Commit fully and build systems before scaling a new strategy.
Mike recommends rapidly creating SOPs, teams, and processes to test and scale land marketing.

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Ron Apke welcomes back Mike DeFrancisis to share how he scaled from wholesaling into high-profit land investing by focusing on large parcels, subdivides, and major entitlement projects.

Mike explains why land offers faster deals, bigger margins, and less work, and breaks down his current 34-deal pipeline, projected $8M profit, his entitlement process, six marketing channels, and his best advice for new and scaling land investors.

Join our free land investing community where you can reach out directly to Mike or connect with hundreds of other land investors: https://landinvestingonline.com/pages/discord

What You Will Learn:

- Why land investing beats other real estate strategies

- How Mike scales large parcels, subdivides, and entitlements

- His six top marketing channels for land deals

- How he manages his business and team- Key advice for beginners and growing investors

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SOCIAL

Ron's Instagram 📸: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ronapke/⁠⁠

Dan's Instagram 📸: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/danielapke/⁠

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TIME STAMPS

0:00 – How Mike discovered land flipping
0:55 – Switching from wholesaling to land
1:50 – Early 2–4x land profits
3:05 – Land vs building margins
4:20 – Scaling into larger tracts
5:30 – The “life-changing” land realization
7:00 – Building systems and a team fast
8:05 – Mike’s entrepreneurial roots
13:05 – What land entitlements are
16:00 – How major subdivisions make money
18:05 – Inside his entitlement process
20:15 – 34-deal pipeline & $8M projected profit
22:55 – Using engineers to scale
25:40 – Risk, capital, and deal structure
29:00 – Becoming a true land business CEO
40:45 – His 6 marketing channels
50:55 – Mike’s advice for new land investors