He Used Handwritten Mailers to Close 19 Land Deals

In this episode of The Real Estate Investing Podcast, Ron Apke interviews Nick Ums for the third time to catch up on how his land business has evolved over the last couple years. Nick shares how he officially started his LLC in June of 2024 and immediately gained momentum after landing his first deal during his very first month in the business.

Since then, he’s steadily grown from doing a few smaller deals into handling larger projects, subdivides, and land improvement opportunities. A major focus of the conversation is Nick’s unique approach to direct mail, including how switching to handwritten “home mailers” completely changed his business.

He explains how creating mail that actually gets opened has helped him stand out from other investors and generate more inbound interest from sellers. Nick also talks about why he still operates as a one-man business without VAs, how he organizes everything with a simple spreadsheet, and why learning every part of the business yourself early on is so important.

Nick and Ron dive into the mindset required to succeed in land investing, especially the importance of becoming a strong problem solver and communicator. Nick shares how he’s now focusing more on larger acreage deals, subdivides, and eventually mobile home projects that can create affordable housing opportunities while adding more value to the land. He also opens up about some of the challenges he’s faced, including complicated title situations involving multiple heirs, failed soil tests, and navigating county approvals for rezoning and subdivisions.

One of the biggest themes of the episode is persistence, Nick explains how some of his most profitable deals are the ones that took the longest and required the most problem solving to get across the finish line. It’s a great conversation about staying consistent, taking calculated risks, and building a land business by continuously learning and adapting along the way.

Watch the full episode to hear Nick’s full journey, his handwritten mail strategy, and how he’s transitioning into larger land projects and development opportunities.