For land acquisition teams, one of the biggest challenges is finding opportunities before everyone else does.
Listed deals circulate quickly among developers and brokers. By the time a site reaches the open market, dozens of builders may already be reviewing it. For large homebuilders expanding into competitive markets, relying solely on brokered opportunities simply isn’t enough.
That’s why many teams are shifting toward direct-to-owner outreach and off-market sourcing strategies.
In a recent interview, we spoke with Colin Seal, Land Analyst at Meritage Homes, and Nasser Al-Hafi, Land Acquisition Manager at Meritage Homes, about how their team uses LandTech to streamline prospecting, organise their acquisition pipeline, and contact landowners at scale.
Their experience highlights how the right workflow tools can transform what used to be a slow, manual process into a highly efficient land sourcing engine.
The Challenge: Manual Prospecting Slows Land Teams Down
Before adopting LandTech, prospecting for new sites involved multiple disconnected tools and a lot of manual work.
Land teams would typically begin by identifying potential parcels on a map. From there, information would be exported into spreadsheets before any outreach could begin.
As Colin explains:
“Before LandTech, I’d pick a geographic area on the map, and we’d search for parcels that met our requirements. Then I’d take the address or parcel numbers and put them into Excel.”
This process created friction at nearly every stage of the workflow.
Moving between spreadsheets, mapping software, and internal documents meant that valuable time was lost just keeping information organised.
“Our biggest time drain before using LandTech was having to go between Excel and a map.”
For teams evaluating dozens of opportunities every week, these inefficiencies quickly add up.
A More Efficient Workflow for Site Identification
With LandTech, the Meritage Homes team now manages their entire prospecting workflow inside a single platform.
Instead of exporting data between systems, potential sites can be identified, saved, and organised directly within the platform.
“Our workflow now with LandTech is significantly better. We’re able to find a site, save it to the CRM, set it to whatever stage we need it to be in, and if we have something else come up, we’re able to work on that and come right back to LandTech and pick up right where we left off.”
This continuity allows analysts and acquisition managers to maintain momentum without losing track of opportunities.
It also helps teams prioritise the most promising sites more effectively.
Clearer Pipeline Reviews for Internal Teams
Land acquisition decisions rarely happen in isolation. Opportunities often need to be reviewed internally with senior leadership before moving forward.
Previously, these discussions required switching between multiple tools - spreadsheets, maps, and presentations - just to provide a clear view of a potential site.
Now, LandTech serves as the central reference point during pipeline reviews.
“Now when we use LandTech, our pipeline review starts every time with us pulling up the dashboard, clicking on the ‘sites’ button, and honing in on a geographic area or clicking on the most major or actionable sites we had that week to present to leadership.”
The ability to visualise parcels directly on a map significantly improves internal discussions.
“Being able to have the polygon on the map to show our senior leadership where a parcel is allows them to get an overall view and have an opinion just based off that.”
Instead of piecing together information from different sources, leadership teams can quickly understand the context and potential of each opportunity.
Unlocking Off-Market Opportunities
For builders competing in fast-growing markets, direct outreach to landowners is becoming an increasingly important strategy.
As Nasser explains, relying solely on brokered opportunities limits a team’s ability to expand its pipeline.
“It’s exponentially more important to contact owners directly. Us and all our competitors all see the listed deals that come through. Everyone gets the same deal flow.”
To get ahead, acquisition teams need to identify sites that haven’t yet entered the open market.
“We want to find sites that haven’t been picked over by other brokerage or builder teams. We’re doing a more direct seller approach to find diamonds in the rough.”
However, contacting owners manually can be extremely time-consuming.
Before LandTech, preparing outreach to even a handful of landowners could take most of a working day.
“Before LandTech, that could take us a full business day to do that for four or five sites.”
Automating Direct-to-Owner Outreach
LandTech has significantly streamlined this outreach process.
Instead of manually researching ownership records, identifying mailing addresses, and preparing letters individually, much of the process can now be automated.
“Once we identify a site we like, to then finding the right contact, the right address, who you're going to send the letters to, and the process of actually sending the letter… before LandTech, that could take a full business day.”
Today, the same task takes a fraction of the time.
“With LandTech, from start to finish it takes maybe one to one and a half hours, max.”
This efficiency allows the team to scale their outreach dramatically.
“We can now spend a couple of hours a day sending letters to five to ten owners efficiently and easily.”
By removing manual steps, the team can focus more on evaluating opportunities and building relationships with landowners.
Better Follow-Ups, Better Results
Another advantage of LandTech is the ability to manage follow-ups in an organised way.
Direct outreach rarely results in immediate deals. Relationships often develop over time, making consistent follow-up essential.
“The biggest thing that's changed since we started sending letters through LandTech is the process is a lot more automated. It's allowed us to hit more owners in a much more efficient manner.”
The system also helps track ongoing conversations and outreach efforts.
“We aren’t wasting time writing letters manually, finding addresses, finding the right people. We can get them out there and then have continuous organised follow-ups.”
The result has been a measurable improvement in engagement from landowners.
“We've seen a measurable increase in the amount of letters we've been able to send via LandTech, and also in the responses we're getting back.”
By reaching the right people and maintaining consistent follow-up, the team has increased their chances of securing new opportunities.
Turning Prospecting into Real Opportunities
One example illustrates how this workflow can lead to real deals.
The Meritage team recently targeted a specific sub-market within Tampa for a product they wanted to introduce.
Using LandTech, they were able to identify a promising site and access detailed ownership information.
“Through LandTech, we were able to identify a site and the skip tracing gave us multiple different layers and phone numbers.”
That information enabled the team to establish contact with the ownership group.
“Now we have a regular call with this group, and we're trying to purchase their site. It was all through the tool that LandTech had to offer.”
While not every outreach effort results in a deal, expanding the pipeline in this way dramatically increases the chances of uncovering valuable opportunities.
A More Organised Land Acquisition Process
Beyond prospecting and outreach, LandTech also helps keep the entire acquisition pipeline organised.
From site identification to internal review and ongoing owner contact, the platform provides a central place to manage the process.
As Colin summarises:
“It’s been great for us. We’ve cut down the amount of time we were spending on singular sites, our workflows are significantly more organised now.”
And the overall impact on the team’s daily work is clear.
“It keeps the ball moving and makes our lives easier. It’s a super great system.”
Watch the Full Testimonial
To hear Colin and Nasser explain their workflow in more detail, watch the full video testimonial.
To watch Colin's full testimonial video, go HERE.
To watch Nasser's full testimonial video, go HERE.
See How LandTech Can Transform Your Land Sourcing Workflow
LandTech helps homebuilders, developers, and land acquisition teams:
- Identify high-potential sites faster
- Organise acquisition pipelines in one platform
- Contact landowners directly at scale
- Track outreach and follow-ups efficiently
If you’d like to see how LandTech could support your land acquisition strategy:
Book a demo or get in touch with our team today.
LandTech is the land acquisition platform built exclusively for US homebuilders. To learn more or book a demo, visit landtech.us.
