Mobridge Reminder, April 27, 2020
Read the full article from the All About Ag Insert of the April 27, 2020 issue of the Mobridge Reminder here, or click on this link: https://www.mobridgetribune.com/pageview/viewer/2020-04-27#page=9
So you’ve made the decision to sell your land. What next? First, congratulations on making the decision! It likely took a fair amount of conversation, research, and soul searching to reach this point.
Now that you’re here, how do you go about putting your land on the market? Look at it this way. If you had a bad knee, you may ask around for a good knee doctor and then call to make an appointment for a consult. This is no different. Ask around for a resource with expertise in selling Ag land and then reach out to them for a conversation to discuss options. An initial conversation comes with no obligations and will give you a feel for their knowledge and experience as well as compatibility with you and your goals.
What can I expect when I contact an Ag real estate broker?
One of the first pieces of information the broker will likely ask for is a legal description. With this information, they can look up the land to understand the next two key pieces of data: location of the land and type of land, such as cropland or pasture. Along with that, they can look up the soils to identify the soil types and productivity indexes. All of these items affect the value of the land.
The softer side of the conversation that will be helpful for the broker is your reason for selling and the timeframe within which you are wanting to work. Those factors will allow them to provide suggestions for the best results based on your objectives. If time is the driver, then price may have to be more flexible. Some marketing approaches will lend themselves to better success in a shorter period of time, such as an auction versus a listing. Maybe there are multiple family members or capital gains tax considerations to consider. Just as a doctor may provide more than one treatment option for a health condition, so are there likely more than one option for marketing a piece of land. It’s best for the provider and the patient (or the broker and the client) to discuss their goals, options and associated tradeoffs in order to come up with the best overall plan for that specific situation. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
One last piece of advice I would offer is to not be afraid to reach out to your broker well in advance of when you think you want to sell. It’s not too soon to start the conversation if you’re thinking of selling sometime within the year. Depending on the season, it may provide them with opportunity to get better photos or even an aerial video of the land while it’s in full color. The broker may have some suggestions for timing or approaches that you hadn’t considered that may shorten or lengthen the timeframe you were thinking for your sale.
As with anything in life, communication can make all the difference. The broker will do their best for you no matter what. But the more time you allow them to create and execute a plan to meet your goals, the better the likelihood of success.
Kristen Gill, Gill Land Company
