If I had a dollar for every time I heard an elder say, "things aren't the way they use to be," I would be a rich man. Well, as I get older I sure know what they meant by that. I am extremely grateful that my parents bought land years ago and kept it for my brother and I. Acreage has inflated in price so much over the years leaving it almost impossible for the average hunter to afford his own. I have seen something in recent years that makes it a little easier though. Below I will explain the trend I have witnessed here in Wisconsin and am sure it is common throughout the Midwest.
Years ago, if a person wanted land they would simply look in real estate books or newspapers. The other method people would utilize is they would approach landowners and let them know they were interested. Another way people would purchase land is they would research who was behind on their taxes and approach the owners to more or less give them a piece of their property in exchange for paying the back taxes. All three of these methods still work today but there is one more trend that is growing. This method is scary as well as an eye opener to what the future holds. It can however, allow a hunter to buy a much smaller property but hold the hunting rights to a much larger plot of land. Which if the hunter has a tight pocketbook, it might be the best option.
Let's say for explanation purposes their is an elderly person who owns a remaining forty acres from a once much larger farm. If this is the case, the remaining land is usually a good peace of hunting property that they might have held on to for that purpose. Now let's say this property consists of twenty-five acres of farm field and fifteen acres woods or cover. What has been happening is "Super Farms" both dairy and agricultural are buying land up left and right. The obvious bidders are the crop farmers but dairy farmers need the land as well. By law dairy farmers need so many acres of land associated with the farm per head of cattle. So simple math would explain that if the dairy farmer wants to expand his milking head, he or she needs more land. So what does this mean for the hunter wanting a parcel to call his own? Well, it means that the price of good hunting land is going up beyond his or her reach. This happens because these "Super Farms" approach the small land owners and offer them an exuberant price for their land "when they are ready." One can not blame these people for selling to the "Super Farms" after they throw the figures out on the table.
There is one factor in these backroom deals that can benefit you the hunter wanting a piece of land. It comes down to how businesses work. See, at the end of the day these "Super Farms" are nothing more than a business. And like any business they are constantly trying to cut overhead. And for our example property I mentioned above; the farmer would be looking to rid himself of the fifteen acres. It isn't that they even want to dump the fifteen acres but that they almost have to. That fifteen acres offers no benefit to the farmer because not only do they have to pay taxes on the land but they also had to buy the land.
So now what do you do as the hunter looking for land? First you start by making sure you are 100% ready to purchase land. Then and only then do you approach the owner of one of the super farms. You approach them with the notion of buying a piece of the wooded property which is useless to his business. You can be picky but make sure you don't waste their time. By all means make sure it is a piece of property you would want, you are buying it and all. But keep in mind these guys are very busy as well. Most of these farmers will give you hunting privileges to the whole property instead of only the part you own. In other words you would have a forty to hunt for the price of 15 acres. This by no means is a fool proof method but rather something that happens more and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment