• If you are posting pictures, and they aren't posting in the correct orientation, please flush your browser cache and try again.

    Edge
    Safari/iOS
    Chrome

Heat check…land prices

I'm happy to be well diversified in both land and the market. If i had to guess, the market is weak for at least the next quarter but likely closer to the rest of this year with land prices softening but starting late this year into next year.
 
It's not really pertinent to the thread..."farm land" per se...but one place in which you can find some great land prices is in Northern Maine. Nobody really wants to live there. You'd be amazed at what $40K will buy you. I keep my eye on that market as I'd like to buy a little off-grid deer camp or a parcel on which to build one as I approach retirement.

Northern Maine! People in Northern Maine don’t want to live in Northern Maine.

Joking, but not really. I suppose during the zombie apocalypse it’s a great location, but though otherwise. And without snow the deer hunting is T-U-F-F.

I’m from VT and work up there semi-regularly.
 
Getting up there. This 30 ac property is mostly wooded with 8 ac of tillable. Went for 12K/ac. Probably just be a big house lot for someone.

 
Wow, not often you see a piece that big.
Just think, Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles for 15 million.
 
I’ve bought a couple farms in the last few years for a reasonable price. Both had the same thing in common, it was inherited property and they used agents that don’t market themselves as “land specialists “. Both sold for less than what they could have.

If you let Whitetail Properties and similar companies get the listing, if it’s a good deal, they buy it themselves and it never hits the market. Otherwise they jack it up and there appears to be an endless supply of buyers at top dollar.

I have listings in my area for double of what I paid less than a year ago. There is no way the properties will appraise for asking, but there are plenty of cash buyers that don’t need an appraisal. It’s crazy right now.
 
My buddy’s thinking of buying five acres adjacent to his 8 acres.

They only want $300,000.
 
I’ve bought a couple farms in the last few years for a reasonable price. Both had the same thing in common, it was inherited property and they used agents that don’t market themselves as “land specialists “. Both sold for less than what they could have.

If you let Whitetail Properties and similar companies get the listing, if it’s a good deal, they buy it themselves and it never hits the market. Otherwise they jack it up and there appears to be an endless supply of buyers at top dollar.

I have listings in my area for double of what I paid less than a year ago. There is no way the properties will appraise for asking, but there are plenty of cash buyers that don’t need an appraisal. It’s crazy right now.
But those inflated cash sales impact the valuations on subsequent appraisals.
 
But those inflated cash sales impact the valuations on subsequent appraisals.

For sure. I have a neighboring piece, that is inherited and an out of state owner. I want to contact them and ask if they are interesting in selling. I'd pay appraised value. But I'm holding off on contacting them because all they have to do is pull up Zillow and see these crazy listings for double per acre of what it's going to appraise for.

I get it if you are talking about 20 acres that could be a potential homesite, $10,000-$20,000 an acre isn't really that out the question. But I'm talking about south Alabama pasture/pine plantation. That is more like $3,000-$4,000 an acre type land in the real world. It damn sure isnt $7,500+ an acre land, which is what I've been seeing a lot of lately. The majority of those listings are not selling BTW.
 
Been seeing more frequent "price improvements" on listings than in the past.

Granted maybe they were WAY over priced to begin with.
 
Yeah, if anything prices have been coming down. A neighbor of mine is a Whitetail Properties broker. He is saying there are better deals now than in the last several years, but they typically don't last long. It seems like people are getting a better sense of what their land is worth and the deals are harder to find and the ones that are "over-priced" sit on the market for awhile and then end up coming down in price anyways.
 
I am assuming this is a partnership or cooperative of some kind. I wonder why they are selling now? Who would even be in the market for buying something like this? A few like-minded 1000 acre landowners who are willing to give up autonomy to have more control of a deer herd? I feel like this is out of the price range for all but a handful of people and will almost certainly be broken up.
 
Yeah I had the same thought about it being broken up by necessity. I watched the 7 minute video. They kinda mentioned how the single owner spent 30 yrs piecing it all together. Wasnt made clear if it was an outfitter, but possibly it wasn't?? Maybe Don JR could take a swing at it, haha.
 
I was fortunate to buy a farm in Western Minnesota with good soils 85 CSR type … wet in some spots. For $3200/ac roughly.

Long story, it has CRP, and some crop areas that drown out and the local farmers didn’t want to pay for the dead acres. A good 20 acres were flooded at the time they tried to sell it. This area is flat flat !!

We will just add CRP and restore the wetlands. Not a mature tree on it, but I’m excited to fix it up . It should still be 4-5% return overall (combo of cash rent & CRP) with plenty of options for programs in the future. Good pheasant hunting and waterfowl in the future.

This was an estate, & we made a low ball—45 minutes from my house.IMG_9811.jpegIMG_9806.jpegIMG_9801.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9809.jpeg
    IMG_9809.jpeg
    1.1 MB · Views: 3
I was fortunate to buy a farm in Western Minnesota with good soils 85 CSR type … wet in some spots. For $3200/ac roughly.

Long story, it has CRP, and some crop areas that drown out and the local farmers didn’t want to pay for the dead acres. A good 20 acres were flooded at the time they tried to sell it. This area is flat flat !!

We will just add CRP and restore the wetlands. Not a mature tree on it, but I’m excited to fix it up . It should still be 4-5% return overall (combo of cash rent & CRP) with plenty of options for programs in the future. Good pheasant hunting and waterfowl in the future.

This was an estate, & we made a low ball—45 minutes from my house.View attachment 89305View attachment 89306View attachment 89307
Man that’s exciting. Beautiful dirt.
 
Back
Top