Land For Sale Resources?
Mule Deer
I have a good friend that is looking to purchase a piece of property in Western/Central Kansas for whitetail and turkey. I was wondering what online resources work best for finding properties. I've looked at zillow, trulia and landwatch. I have also looked at whitetail properties and hayden outdoors but feel like they mark them up quite a bit because they are "hunting properties". Any others that you guys would recommend?
“They mark them up”.
I understand your thought process on this, but they are only going to be able to sell these properties for a price that the buyer or seller is willing to give or take. Whitetail Properties, Mossy Oak Properties, etc. definitely cater to hunters, but, in the end, it comes down to the buyer’s or seller’s price point.
Thanks T-roy. Living in MO every time I saw a piece of property with Whitetail Properties or one of the similar companies I always thought it's gotta be marked up because of the name but that's probably not the case.
Are land auctions worth looking at?
400 acres just sold near me in an online auction. It was all connected but they sold it in 8 parcels which would've made it somewhat difficult for 1 person to buy it all because it was a "soft close" and watching it got a little confusing to me. Pretty sure it went to a few different buyers but it sold for an average of right at $2,950/acre which is about $500-1000 less per acre than I thought it would sell for. There wasn't a buyers premium so that made the deals even better. I think auctions can be good but there are a lot of ways you can lose out.
I have a piece for sale on Whitetail Properties now. And they listed it at what I wanted. They are more about volume and turning deals. Unless the seller is unreasonable and tells them he wants it listed at a ridiculous price.
Pick a realtor in the area you want to hunt and ask him/her to keep an eye out for you. The "whitetail" specialists can ask for more per acre by claiming they reach more buyers from out of state but in the end, deer hunters seldom pay any real premium. The sales I've seen over the years that were considerably higher than I thought they should be all went to local farmers who just wanted to add on to what they already had. Bow hunters are notoriously tight and are always looking for a bargain.
These days realtors have access to ALL properties for sale in their area as they are listed on the internet and anyone can pull them up. Try "farmflip" as they specialize in farm property and you can sort based on what you want the property for. They list all properties, not just those that are listed with their group.
Thanks for the ideas guys!
“Are land auctions worth looking at?”
I would say definitely YES! Two of my farms were bought at auction. They were both advertised fairly extensively online, and the deer/turkey hunting potential of both places was highlighted as a selling point. Long story short, I bought one of the farms for considerably less than what similar properties in my general area had sold for, and the second one, I still got bought at very reasonable price, compared to other properties sold in the area. I was definitely in the right place at the right time on the first one, and came out pretty dang good on the other one as well. I live within a mile or two of both.
You can decide when things are too rich for your blood, and quit bidding. If they don’t reach that point, you’re in the catbird seat! Good luck. Owning and working your own land is very satisfying. Not many things more enjoyable, to me at least.
We have purchased and now wood properties with whitetail properties. Both times was willing buyer and seller transaction, Nothing more. They worked with us to get ours under contract and was very impressed.
I am currently looking at 1-200 acre tracts in Southern Ohio and Kentucky. I have sent a boatload of emails, text, and phone calls to realtors. I can tell you it’s not easy to find a knowledgeable or helpful one. I have contacted some of these “land specialist”. So far it has not been all that impressive. Maybe I just expect too much. I am interested in things like stems per acre, invasive species, DPSM, mast producing trees, and soil types. It would be grand to purchase from a local that knows the area, knows a few things about habitat and deer. I found one piece that was just shy of 200 acres that looked nice on the outside and the realtor couldn’t tell me much about it other than “great deer area”. Once I started researching I found that not including the easement 13 property owners touch the tract. I can’t imagine how miserable that could become as properties change hands. I figured it would take me a year or two to find the right piece. It may be more of a challenge finding the right realtor. Not many of them want to walk a property for the amount of time I would like to.
Landwatch is about the best directory for all sellers. As you suspect, hunting property specialists have indeed marked up land causing a dramatic increase in the market. Your best bet is to find small town agents that do not advertise on sites such as Landwatch. I found one and got my place for $1250/acre. A short time later, Whitetail Properties sold my next door neighbor's for $1900/acre.
Maybe having you as a neighbor, increased your neighbor’s land value, Thornton!
If I’m a seller, and based on what you guys claim about them driving prices upward, I’d be using a whitetail realtor every time. Why wouldn’t a seller try to get the very best price they can for their parcel? What am I missing?
I been looking also I got with a realtor told her this is my max price point and I'm looking in these counties she set up an automatic email for me that sends me every listing that meets my standards as soon as it hits the market
This is a really good site for multiple states offerings
The best of Good luck in your pursuit,
Robb
Anyone want to go halfsies on those 5,200 acres in Georgia for $26,000,000
Anyone want to go halfsies on those 5,200 acres in Georgia for $26,000,000
'bou
Some of those New Mexico properties are crazy!
Good luck, Robb
Boo. I'll take 1% of that. Do you think you can raise the other 99% by the end of the year
If you are looking for some ground to hunt I would surely lock in with a broker for the area that knows the hunting.
With all of the land sites these days it is easier than ever for individuals to see what is available and what asking prices are. The problem with these sites is that they only show asking prices. Many of the adds will be updated when sold but will still show the list price and never the actual sale price. At least I don’t remember seeing any showing the sale price and I’ve been in the business for several years.
(Full disclosure here, as I am a realtor), but I agree with those who have said to find a local realtor with land experience, preferably with farm and/or timberland experience and someone who hunts. At any given time, there are landowners out there who don’t want to list their property but will sell if the right buyer/offer comes along, and having an agent who knows the area might help you find a great off market tract.
I also agree with RIT in that a lot of “land specialists”are anything but. Many of them that I run across are actually residential agents who sell an occasional small land lot or farm, so they include “land specialist” on their bio.
And lastly, Boubound, I can probably help you and your partners get that 5200 acres here in Ga for less than $20MM. All you will need is about $5-6MM down to secure a land loan :-)
