Green Hill Land and Timber Blog

What’s in Your Wallet, A Good Land Broker?

What’s in Your Wallet, A Good Land Broker? What should you require from your realtor? Is your representative qualified, capable and motivated? Is your agent representing you, him or herself, or the buyer? Can you trust your realtor to do the right thing for you? Lots of questions need to be answered before you list your property. The old adage, “you get what you pay for”, for the most part, is true. The real estate business has been very interesting since the economic collapse in 2007. Much change has come about as a result of this. As a land broker and forester, I have had to make adjustments like so many others. Competition in our … [Read more...]

Reflections & Projections 2015

Reflections & Projections The year 2014 was a positive one for us with good land and timber sales. We are certainly not at the 2007 volume of sales, but we have experienced good activity. The larger-size land sales ($500,000 & up) have lagged, but smaller tracts have moved very well. All sales are directly related to price and the associated real value. Farmland and timberland are in demand at a price based on the property’s projected return. Recreational properties are still lagging, as discretionary spending for many is in short supply. Interest rates are low and obtaining financing does not seem to be quite as difficult. … [Read more...]

What’s My Land Worth?

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...]

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...]