5 Best Land and Lot Loans in Missouri

The Show Me State has a lot to offer across what the United States Census Bureau has defined as 68,746 square miles of land, including great national parks, fun metro areas, rural homes and good, ol’ fashioned midwestern values. 

While life can be sweet in Missouri, it’s not necessarily the best time for many to buy a home.  With the value per acre of land in Missouri at $7232.70, per the New Estimates of Value of Land of the United States, Missourians might like to consider a very interesting alternative— a land loan. 

Also known as lot loans, these mortgage loans let you purchase land but don’t require that you use the money to build a home or business as a Missouri construction loan might. With a land loan, you can just secure the property you want and then build when you’re ready. 

The pros and cons of a land loan in Missouri

Let’s assume you’re a first-time homeowner and that you want to save up a 20% down payment for a home. According to the mortgage calculator you use when you start saving, you qualify for a mortgage of up to $300,000. However, saving the required $30,000 will take you about three years. 

If, over the space of those three years, the price of property increases by 12% year on year, by the time you’re ready to start looking, the home that once cost $300,000 now costs over $420,000. So you don’t have the down payment you need, can’t cover closing costs and you don’t meet eligibility requirements for the mortgage you need. 

One option is to scale back your plans and settle for something smaller that has less of what you want and need. 

Or, you could use the money you have now to secure a land loan, buy your dream lot, and save to build your dream home in a few years’ time instead. 

That’s the big “pro” of going with a Missouri lot loan. That does sometimes come at a cost, however. You will still need to put a down payment, but it won’t be as big as the down payment on a built home. You may also have a higher interest rate on a land loan, since it exposes a lender to more risks. 

5 Best Missouri land and lot loan lenders

If you’re ready to learn more about the best land loan lenders in Missouri, here are the top options we’ve found through our research.

1. First Community Credit Union

First Community Credit Union is the largest in Missouri and a top 10 financial institution in the region. Having served the region for 85 years, it has nearly $3 billion in assets and 350,000 members. It offers land purchase loans for home construction in Missouri and Illinois with competitive rates.

To get you the best information, we contacted First Community Credit Union for more details on their land loans and here are the key features and terms:

• Available for construction projects but a build is not required.
• 2-Year Balloon Land Loan
• Amortization 15 years
• Maximum loan value 75%
• Escrow is required for taxes
• 90-day free lock in
• 3 and 5-Year Balloon Land Loan
• Amortization 15 years
• Maximum loan value 75%
• Escrow is required for taxes
• 120-day free lock in
• Local decisions made in the St. Louis area

When you’re ready to connect with a loan officer, use our form to quickly match with land and lot loan programs based on your specific circumstances.

2. FCS Financial

With over 100 years of agricultural lending experience, FCS Financial is a notable player in the market, including for loans for hunting and recreational land, having offered over $5 billion in rural loans throughout its lifetime. The organization supports the future of farming and gives back to communities annually.

We contacted someone at FCS Financial to discuss their hunting and recreational loan program and this is what we found out:

• Loans available for small acreage or unlimited acreage for hunting or recreation.
• Offers down payment and monthly payment options to coincide with farm or non-farm revenue.
• Option to use wage income and income from land for the loan amount (split note).
• Ability to use collateral toward down payment.

When you’re ready to connect with a loan officer, use our form to quickly match with land and lot loan programs based on your specific circumstances.

3. The Missouri Bank

Started in 1939, The Missouri Bank came about as an independently owned and operated community bank to serve Warren, Pettis, Boone, Gasconade, and St. Charles counties. The Missouri Bank offers a number of products and services, including vacant land and lot loans for the purchase of property for any need.

We reached out to The Missouri Bank to discuss land loan details, which you can read about below:

• Vacant land loans available
• Minimum down payment of 20% required
• Recreational property loans available
• Hunting property loans available
• Can finance large acreage tracts for agricultural land

When you’re ready to connect with a loan officer, use our form to quickly match with land and lot loan programs based on your specific circumstances.

4. Land Loan Specialists

Land Loan Specialists offer all types of land loans for 30 acres or more, including for Missouri farmer loans, ranches, and recreational loans. It also offers land loans in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, Idaho, South Dakota, New Mexico, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana for qualified borrowers.

We reached out to Land Loan Specialists to discuss land loan details, which you can read about below:

• Specializes in providing Missouri farm loans, Missouri ranch loans and Missouri recreational land loans.
• Only focuses on land loans.
• Loan programs have a wide range of products from a low variable rate to a full 30 year fixed rate.

When you’re ready to connect with a loan officer, use our form to quickly match with land and lot loan programs based on your specific circumstances.

5. Community Bank of Raymore

Founded in 2006, Community Bank of Pleasant Hill is a locally owned community bank that acquired First Trust of MidAmerica in 2012 that has grown to serve the community. The community bank offers Midwest residents access to competitive home equity loans, refinancing and land and lot loans designed for residential use and development.

We reached out to Community Bank of Raymore to discuss land loan details, which you can read about below:

• Local decision-making and processing in Cass County
• Repayment terms designed around borrower
• No prepayment penalty
• All loan applications subject to credit score approval

When you’re ready to connect with a loan officer, use our form to quickly match with land and lot loan programs based on your specific circumstances.

How are Missouri land loans different from other home loans?

Land loans are just for the purchase of the land. They come in different types: raw land loans are for land that has no infrastructure. Improved and unimproved land loans are for parcels with some infrastructure, such as water or gas. 

A land loan is different from a construction loan because it is for the land and the land alone. You aren’t obligated to build on the land and can schedule your eventual construction on your own terms. 

Land loans are also different from farm loans, which would, of course, require that you use your purchased land for agricultural purposes. A land loan, in short, gives you the most freedom with your land. Build in 6 months or 6 years— it’s all down to your requirements and your budget.     

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