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This third post from the trip I thought I’d show everyone some different photos of rural Real Estate Offices from Johnson City, Texas through Santa Fe, New Mexico and to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. There were a handful of towns in far West Texas and Southern New Mexico where I tried to locate an office and couldn’t even find one. Maybe there is an opportunity there to start one for somebody?

I’ve always wondered how much the type of office makes a difference in a rural real estate business. I’ve seen every kind of office from downtown historic buildings and homes to humble cabins to brand new classy office spaces to trailer homes to primary homes to the back of pickup trucks. Along this trip the ones I was able to capture were on the beaten path cutting through rural towns. After all, what is the one thing that every Real Estate Professional says matters most - location, location, location.

There are two questions I wanted to get your input on as Buyers and Sellers of Rural Real Esate- Keep reading →

The second post I wanted to make resulting from this trip is the For Sale signs along the way. From Fredericksburg, Texas to Roswell, New Mexico I saw only a couple signs on the highway. I didn’t even stop to take a photo to show you because I figured I’d see some others to stop for. I couldn’t believe how scarce they were across this part of the country. Maybe it’s the renewed oil production activity in this area? or the distance it is from any larger cities? or the huge sizes of these ranches that never come on the market? I’m not sure exactly why, but there isn’t much for sale any way you look at it.

There are a couple different pet peeves of mine when it comes to For Sale Signs on land for sale. Read these below and tell us what you think the perfect sign is. If you have a photo of it then email it to us and we’ll put it up for everyone to see.

The first is “Let it be seen!” I’m amazed when I’m driving across the country and see these little 2X2 signs behind some grass 50 yards off the road that someone has to be lucky to even see at all while going 70MPH down the road. If a Buyer does see the sign they have to Keep reading →

Well we made it to Colorado. It was great starting off on I-10 with an 80MPH speed limit. That comes in handy unless you’re trying to take photos along the way and have to pull off onto the shoulder going that fast. It’s quite an amazing drive seeing the dramatic changes in scenery. Around Austin it’s all hills and oak trees with most places being under 500 acres in size. The next big scenery change is after Ozona, Texas when it starts to be lots of flat areas, rolling terrain and occassional cliffs and large hills that makeup massive ranches that contain over 200,000 acres.

Most of this drive in Texas was extremely green with water everywhere due to the daily storms Texas has been having for the last couple months. Once I got up into New Mexico and Colorado it seems to have dried up quite a bit. Everything was the typical July Brown. Outside of Santa Fe the terrain continued to get more and more rugged with incredible reds and oranges in the sides of cliffs.

Keep reading →

The Land Man is heading from Austin, Texas to Pagosa Springs, Colorado tomorrow morning. We’ll be checking out some of the most desolate areas of the United States in west Texas and southern New Mexico on our way up to the Rocky Mountains. There is no telling what we’ll encounter - but if we find it interesting - we’ll post it here. I’m curious to see some of the different properties for sale and how these properties are being marketed to Buyers passing by at 75 MPH. One of my habits is counting Land For Sale signs along the highway that don’t have website addresses listed. I’ve seen a few that were even difficult to read the phone numbers on. We’ll see what we turn up - and we’ll share it with you. Enjoy the ride.

The article below is an interesting one that came out yesterday in Business Week. We have been seeing an increase in the investing in land go on for a few years now. You just don’t see that many people writing about it. There are not many places where land values have not increased in value at percentages greater than the stock market has performed. Historically, when real estate prices gain a good amount of momentum it’s usually because of one main reason pushing it (like oil). This Land Grab is interesting because there are a few different factors affecting it all at once.

We’ve witnessed all of the following reasons that have fueled the great increase of land purchased:
1.) Baby boomers retiring ro rural areas
2.) Second home purchasing for recreational use
3.) Stock market performing poorly
4.) Ethanol production
5.) Increase in the US oil production

All of the reasons lead to one result: supply decreasing which in turn drives demand up even more. Check out the article below. Let us know if you feel the rural real estate market is getting hotter or colder. We just can’t see a slow down.

Up On The Farm from Business Week by Emily Thornton

Here’s the dirt on where the real smart money has been heading lately: It’s going into the ground. Since 2000, the average price of U.S. farmland has zoomed 74%, to a record $1,900 an acre, while the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has risen only 7%. Keep reading →

Over the last few years I’ve seen so much land that has been divided up into smaller parcels. People living in a big city or even on the outskirts that witness all the subdividing of larger tracts of land into new neighborhoods get the perspective that land is being divided up everywhere. After seeing it happen so much you soon start to think there can’t be that many huge tracts of land left.

It amazes me everytime I sort the properties on www.LandsofAmerica.com by ‘Most Popular‘. Looking at the properties this way gives me a great reality check on how there are still millions of acres that make up many massive ranches. Below is just a sample of the ones that are for sale. There is no telling how many are this big and aren’t even on the market. These ranches are so big that I can’t imagine the owners have ever seen 30% of the spread that they own. It’s phenomenal to think about. Browse through some of these listings Keep reading →

If anyone ever tries to sell you anything online and uses the term “HITs”; then you should know that they are trying to trick you. We are almost a decade into the internet era and Real Estate Agents and Brokers are still getting deceived by the term “HITs”. According to Wikipedia “When a webpage is uploaded from a server the number of “Hits” or “Page hits” is equal to the number of files requested, therefore Keep reading →

What a great way to recognize women that are active in the agricultural arena today. Mahindra is giving away $10,000 in scholarship funds to be awarded. The application deadline is July 1, 2007 so don’t delay. Read all about it here…

TOMBALL, TEXAS (May 8, 2007) — Mahindra USA, Inc. today announced its new scholarship program benefiting women in agriculture, “Mahindra Tractors Women in Ag Scholarships.”

Mahindra USA will award ten outstanding women a $1,000 college scholarship for use during the 2007/2008 school year. Scholarship winners will be chosen by a committee based on their interest in agriculture as a career as well as academic performance and leadership.

Graduating high school seniors and current undergraduate students may apply online and view complete details at www.mahindrausa.com/scholarships. Applications are being accepted between now and July 1, 2007.

Keep reading →

Plain and simple - It’s an investment that can also be enjoyed.

Last year my family saved up and finally bought 75 acres just one year ago now. Yesterday we received the tax appraisal value in the mail and Keep reading →

Today there are almost 100,000 acres of land that has been scorched by flames in Georgia. A fire started from an electric wire being hit by a tree. Many people have had to evacuate their homes and the fires have not been put out yet so more damage is on it’s way. Here is an excerpt from the New York Times telling the latest:

Spread of Wildfires Is Feared in Georgia

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 7, 2007
WAYCROSS, Ga., May 6 (AP) — Lightning strikes that started three new fires, gusty winds and continued dry conditions threatened Sunday to spread the wildfires that have already charred 100,000 acres in southeast Georgia.

Officials with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency are also worrying about the impact of the gigantic blaze on the wildlife in the Great Okefenokee Swamp.

The two largest fires, which started when a tree fell on a power line on April 16, are mostly in Ware County and have burned 98,400 acres, or about 153 square miles.

One of the fires is 80 percent contained, and the other 45 percent.

Officials are also worried about Keep reading →