The traditional way to value land is through the use of comparable sales. But what do you do when there are no comparable sales, an inability to secure financing and even fewer buyers? Many banks are requiring appraisals and requesting “Broker Price Opinions”. A BPO is what the broker believes is a reasonable price the property will sell for based on several factors related to the current market. The true market value is what a ready, willing and able buyer will pay that a seller not under duress is willing to accept. As a land broker, we try to evaluate the property based on the assets on the property, recent comparable sales of similar … [Read more...]
Land
Are You Paying The Right Amount of Rural Property Taxes?
Rural landowners have options to reduce their tax liability. Review your information at the tax assessor office to be certain what you pay taxes on is correct. Things to look for are correct acreage, structures, improvements and tax covenants. The tax assessor’s office does a remarkable job managing a huge amount of data. However, there are errors that go undetected and it is the landowner’s responsibility to verify their information. I worked on one property about 100 acres short and another 100 acres over what the tax assessor was using for acreage. Some of the older plats are incredibly accurate but sometimes there are inaccuracies. I … [Read more...]
Country Living – How does your garden grow?
There are many reasons to own property. We see a growing interest in people getting back to basics. Organic farming, big gardens, no herbicides, organic fertilizer, fresh eggs and range chickens are some of the reasons people are inquiring about land. One of our clients has some of the last remaining genes of the Piney Woods Cattle and goats brought over by the Spanish settlers. … [Read more...]
A Bright Spot in the Real Estate Market
The hot spot we have been following is agriculture and farmland. We keep in touch with our friends in the Realtors Land Institute (a National Network of Land Specialist) around the country staying current with trends and developments. A recent article published by one of our friends in the mid west states farmland prices have risen 20%! The top five earnings years for the farming industry in the last three decades have occurred since 2004 according to our friends at Martin, Goodrich & Waddell. … [Read more...]
Better Planning and Focus Required in these Uncertain Times
A recent news cast said the problem with the economy and our financial outlook is that we have no direction from our elected officials. We are faced with more government regulation, more spending and growing deficits. There is no way to plan or develop a strategy for the next several years. No one can give us a clear explanation about anything with any certainty, which has caused a lot of anxiety, distrust and sleepless nights. What should we do and where should we invest? It is clear to me that now is a good time to be frugal, develop a strong game plan and remain focused on that plan. … [Read more...]
Buying and Selling Land in a Depressed Market
It goes without saying; we certainly are in a depressed economy with very little consumer confidence. I don’t want to analyze how or why we got here or when recovery will be apparent. Everyone has an opinion of this, but I believe we are at the bottom and we will slowly climb out. What we do want to discuss is strategy for buying and selling land. … [Read more...]