Jonathan Goode- Land for Sale in West Alabama

How Alabama Property Tax is Calculated

According to the Alabama Department of Revenue, Amendment 373 of Alabama's Constitution, "provides that all real and personal business property will be assessed at 20% of its fair market value". So if your business owns a property that has a fair market value of $100,000, it will be assessed at $20,000 ($100,000 x 0.20= $20,000). 

To calculate the annual ad valorem ("according to value") tax, one must multiply the millage rate by the  assessed value. For instance, if your business owned some land with a fair market value of $100,000 in Perry County, property taxes would be assessed at $20,000. The millage rate of $0.047 would be multiplied by the $20,000 assessed value for an annual total ad valorem tax liability of $940.

Assessment rates for individual owners can be as low as 10%, depending on the classification of the property. Much rural land in Alabama is Class III, which is defined as "All agricultural, forest and single family, owner occupied residential property, including owner occupied residential manufactured homes located on land owned by the manufactured home owner, and historic buildings and sites".

This means your personal land in the scenario above that had a fair market value of $100,000 would be assessed at 10%, or $10,000. Your ad valorem tax liability would be reduced to only $470. This is extremely cheap compared with other states. MSN.com has an interactive map that lets you compare the property tax levels by state.

Alabama Timberland Taxes

Alabama timberland has a special tax of $0.10 per acre. Additionally, property taxes for timberland (agricultural Class III) are calculated on current use values.

Alabama is unique in that tax calculations are made based on the current use of the property and not fair market value. Fair Market Value is defined as "The estimated price at which the property would bring at a fair voluntary sale." Current Use Value is defined as "The value of eligible taxable property based on the use being made of that property on October 1 of any taxable year; provided, that no consideration shall be taken of the prospective value such property might have if it were put to some other possible use."

Allowing rural land taxes to be calculated on Current Use Value and not Market Value saves most landowners considerable money on property tax. This way, you are paying for what your land is actually used for, and not the highest and best use (HBU). Basing taxes on HBU or market value would force many owners to pay substantially more in taxes or sell their land.

Alabama offers some of the best hunting land, farmland, timberland and recreational properties in the nation. West Alabama has some of the highest quality, low-priced land with the lowest property tax rate in the country. If you are interested in buying or selling rural land in Alabama, please contact me to see how I can be helpful.

Alabama Department of Revenue Website

Alabama landowners can find useful information about property taxes on their rural land on the Alabama Department of Revenue website. This site can also be helpful for those considering purchasing hunting land, timberland, or farms in Alabama. The links below will steer you to answers to tax questions that landowners commonly ask.

 Millage Rates- This link offers a break down of millage rates for every county in the state, including the municipality millage rates.

County Appraisals and Assessments- This interactive map links to all Alabama County Appraisal and Assessment offices with online records. The counties typically use Emapsplus, Flagship GIS, or Delta Computer Systems. All but 13 Alabama counties have some tax assessor information available online.

Land and Tax Delinquent Property- For anyone considering buying a property at a tax sale, you should first consult this page about Alabama's guidelines on tax delinquent properties. Alabama has a 3-year right of redemption, so investors need to be certain about what they are purchasing before jumping into one of those deals.

 Tax Assessor Mapping- If you have ever wondered how tax assessor maps are derived or how a parcel number is generated, here is a link to some faq's about those maps.

Alabama has some of the cheapest land and lowest property taxes in the nation, making this a great place to own some rural property. If you are considering purchasing rural land in Alabama, please contact me and let me know how I can be helpful.

Alabama has the lowest property taxes in the nation according to a 2009 report from the Washington-based Tax Foundation. 

The report was based on information gathered in fiscal year 2007. According to the report, Alabama landowners paid an average of only $455 of property taxes, ranking us #50 in revenue generated by states through property taxes. (This information is also cited in an October 2008, article on Landreport.com).

Low property tax is one very good reason to invest in rural land in Alabama. If you were considering a piece of rural land in Perry County, where I live, you would be looking at a low millage rate of 47 mills. That means for every $1,000 of assessed value, you would only owe $47.00 in annual property taxes. (Assessed value is very different from fair market value.) If you owned a piece of property that was assessed at $100,000, you would owe $4700 in taxes.

How Alabama Property Tax is Calculated

According to the Alabama Department of Revenue, Amendment 373 of Alabama's Constitution, "provides that all real and personal business property will be assessed at 20% of its fair market value". So if your business owns a property that has a fair market value of $100,000, it will be assessed at $20,000 ($100,000 x 0.20= $20,000). 

To calculate the annual ad valorem ("according to value") tax, one must multiply the millage rate by the  assessed value. For instance, if your business owned some land with a fair market value of $100,000 in Perry County, property taxes would be assessed at $20,000. The millage rate of $0.047 would be multiplied by the $20,000 assessed value for an annual total ad valorem tax liability of $940.

Assessment rates for individual owners can be as low as 10%, depending on the classification of the property. Much rural land in Alabama is Class III, which is defined as "All agricultural, forest and single family, owner occupied residential property, including owner occupied residential manufactured homes located on land owned by the manufactured home owner, and historic buildings and sites".

This means your personal land in the scenario above that had a fair market value of $100,000 would be assessed at 10%, or $10,000. Your ad valorem tax liability would be reduced to only $470. This is extremely cheap compared with other states. MSN.com has an interactive map that lets you compare the property tax levels by state.

Alabama Timberland Taxes

Alabama timberland has a special tax of $0.10 per acre. Additionally, property taxes for timberland (agricultural Class III) are calculated on current use values.

Alabama is unique in that tax calculations are made based on the current use of the property and not fair market value. Fair Market Value is defined as "The estimated price at which the property would bring at a fair voluntary sale." Current Use Value is defined as "The value of eligible taxable property based on the use being made of that property on October 1 of any taxable year; provided, that no consideration shall be taken of the prospective value such property might have if it were put to some other possible use."

Allowing rural land taxes to be calculated on Current Use Value and not Market Value saves most landowners considerable money on property tax. This way, you are paying for what your land is actually used for, and not the highest and best use (HBU). Basing taxes on HBU or market value would force many owners to pay substantially more in taxes or sell their land.

Alabama Department of Revenue Website

The ADOR website offers lots of helpful information for landowners pertaining to understanding and calculating property taxes.

 Millage Rates- This link offers a break down of millage rates for every county in the state, including the municipality millage rates.

County Appraisals and Assessments- This interactive map links to all Alabama County Appraisal and Assessment offices with online records. The counties typically use Emapsplus, Flagship GIS, or Delta Computer Systems. All but 13 Alabama counties have some tax assessor information available online.

Land and Tax Delinquent Property- For anyone considering buying a property at a tax sale, you should first consult this page about Alabama's guidelines on tax delinquent properties. Alabama has a 3-year right of redemption, so investors need to be certain about what they are purchasing before jumping into one of those deals.

 Tax Assessor Mapping- If you have ever wondered how tax assessor maps are derived or how a parcel number is generated, here is a link to some faq's about those maps.

Alabama has some of the cheapest land and lowest property taxes in the nation, making this a great place to own some rural property. If you are considering purchasing rural land in Alabama, please contact me and let me know how I can be helpful.

I was walking the boundaries of a 78 acre tract of land I have for sale in Perry County, Alabama and found this amazing witness tree.

A few days ago, my friend Robert King, an agent with AlaLandCo, posted an article that talked about witness trees and arborglyphs in Bankhead National Forest. It is striking that I read that article and found this tree in the same week.

The 78 acre hunting tract joins the Talladega National Forest on several sides. As I was walking the east boundary of the property, I came across this large tree, which I take for a tulip poplar (I am not a forester).  The tree was so large that I had to reach around it twice just to measure its girth.

A witness tree is one that has been marked in some way to indicate the location of a property boundary, some significant land mark, or cultural event. A tree that bears drawings from Native Americans or others is called an arborglyph. In the picture above you will notice that someone made marks in the tree with an axe or other sharp instrument. The tree bears many markings. Some other trees that have been culturally modified are called "trail trees". These trees have a sharp curve in them, that usually point in a specific direction or indicate that water or shelter is close by.

Witness trees are becoming increasingly rare, particularly in West Alabama. Alabama has an active logging industry, and the sheer age of these trees means that we are losing more and more of these historical artifacts as time passes.

I suppose it is inevitable that many of these trees will be lost to disease, storms, logging, or old age, but everyone who is interested should have the opportunity to see how forest boundaries were marked before the advent of modern survey equipment, barbed wire, and the gps.

This particular witness tree is located about 500' off the north side of Perry County Road 23, along the Talladega National Forest boundary. If you would like more information about the location of this tree or land for sale bordering the Talladega National Forest, please contact me.

I strongly believe that owning land that joins a National Forest or management area is a great investment. They are some of the best neighbors you can have. Please call me for all of your rural Alabama land needs.

Professional Rodeo returns to Marion, Alabama for the 15th Annual Marion Rodeo taking place June 11-12, 2010.

This rodeo will be sanctioned by the Professional Cowboy Association, with the stock being provided by 3R Rodeo Company from Jemison, Alabama.

Activities for children (8 years and younger) begin at 6:30 pm on Friday, and the main event kicks off at 7:30 pm.

The proceeds of this event will honor the memory of long-time resident of Perry County, John Wayne Friday who passed away in 2009.

Come join the fun and the fierce competition at the 15th Annual Marion Rodeo. The event will be held at the rodeo complex on Highway 14.

In order to get the best deal when investing in rural land, you need to be able to act quickly when an opportunity presents itself. Being able to decide on the spot whether a property is the right investment can mean the difference between making tens of thousands of dollars and missing out completely.

In the last week I dealt with an investor that missed out on a prime opportunity and also spoke with another one that hit a home run and doubled his money in a few weeks.

A few weeks ago an agent informed me about a new listing on some hunting land in Perry County, Alabama. It was priced as a wholesale buy, so I went the next day to preview the tract. On the way I called a buyer I had been working with for a year to let him know he should be ready to move if this tract was good. As I walked the land, I was impressed with the mature timber and potential the tract offered. This was a no-brainer as an investment. My buyer looked at the tract and 2 days later made an offer. He tried a low-ball offer to "just see" what they would say. The sellers finally countered back 2 days later at full price. My buyer waited a day and agreed to their terms. Over the next 36 hours it all fell apart. The sellers decided they needed $40,000 more than they were offering the property for originally. Due to some behind-the-scenes advice from a relative the sellers decided they were pricing their land too low. I firmly believe that if we had made a full-price offer on the spot, we would have been able to close the deal. Had we not taken a week to come to terms, I believe we would have been able to flip that property quickly and make a tidy profit.

The investor that made money previewed a relatively small timber tract that happened to be loaded with mature timber. He negotiated a price of $1000 per acre for the tract. The timber value alone on the tract was worth more than double what he paid for the land, and he sold the land to an adjoining owner after he cleared the timber. They only held the property long enough to harvest the trees and then sold the tract. After all was tallied they got a 100% return on their initial investment. He was able to do so well because he saw an opportunity and acted quickly to secure the deal.

The moral of this story is: Prepare yourself so that when an investment opportunity arises you can quickly evaluate and act on it. Here are a few things you can do to help you be ready when the right deal comes along.

1. Educate yourself about the Rural Land Market. Browse land listing websites, talk with a land agent, get comparable sales information from lenders. The key is finding out what people are currently willing to pay for land in your area.

2. Clearly outline your investment objectives. Is your desire to turn a profit quickly or achieve a maximum return? My personal philosophy in this market is: "Buy low, sell low." If an investor is seeking to make gains in the short-term, the tract needs to be priced lower than competing properties. If the objective is to maximize profits, then an investor needs to be able to buy and sit on the asset until it appreciates.

3. Identify your target market. Who would be interested in a property of this type? What do potential buyers expect when looking at rural land? Is a tract set up for hunting, timber, horseback riding? Does the property offer power, utilities, trails, road frontage, easements, surveyed boundaries, a water feature, or food plots? The presence or absence of these features affects pricing, and should be factored into your decision to invest. Assess the features and who would be interested in purchasing land like that.

There are many other components to making good investment decisions and many ways to make money buying and selling rural land. If you look long enough and know what to search for, the right opportunity will eventually present itself. By doing your homework on the front end and staying current on the rural land market you can increase your chances of being ready to pull the trigger when the right ones come along.

If you would like more information about what is happening now in the rural land market in West Alabama, please feel free to contact me.

At AlaLandCo, we have retreat properties, timberland, hunting land, and acreage that borders US Forest Service owned land in the Talladega National Forest.   If you are looking for land for sale in the Talladega National Forests you will want to look at the property for sale in the counties listed at the bottom of this article. 

Most people who are not from Alabama do not know that the Talladega National Forest (TNF) has three seperate districts and is located in two distinct portions of the state.  The Talladega and Shoal Creek Districts of the TNF are located in East Alabama along the southern terminous of the Appalachian Mountains.  The Oakmulgee District is located in West Central Alabama along the fertile Blackbelt region of the state.  The two forests are very distinct in nature, but offer many of the same characteristics land owners are looking for.  Most are looking for a degree of seclusion, privacy, and protection that living in an area around a National Forest can provide.  Some are looking for recreational opportunities like hunting and horseback riding.  There are multiple opportunites for hiking, driving, and enjoying the Talladega National Forest.

The Talladega and Shoal Creek Districts are within easy reach of the Alabama cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and Anniston.  It's location along I-20 also makes it easily accessible from the Atlanta, Georgia Metro Area and other places in West Georgia.  The Oakmulgee District is just south of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa and northwest of Montgomery.  It's located just a short drive from the I-20/59 corridor and the I-65 corridor.

• Land For Sale in the Talladega and Shoal Creek Districts of the Talladega National Forest (East Alabama)                                                                                                                         Clay County, Alabama Cleburne County, Alabama Talladega County, Alabama

• Land For Sale in the Oakmulgee District of the Talladega National Forest (West Central Alabama) Bibb County, Alabama Perry County, Alabama

Information provided by Robert King, an agent with AlaLandCo in east central Alabama.

Alabama's hunting lands and farms are beckoning landowners to come do the summertime work required to make a property productive and look its best. By exercising a little care you can take the sting out of your time in the outdoors.

Alabama is home to some of the best deer and turkey hunting in the Southeast. Our state also has the right climate and habitat for some little creatures that would like to leave their mark on you. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you and your family are enjoying time outside.

1. Insect Repellent- Using a powerful repellant can offer protection from menaces like gnats and mosquitoes. It can also repel some serious threats such as ticks which carry Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Spraying sleeves, hats, hands, face, and particularly pants cuffs is essential to reducing exposure to insect bites.

2. Watch for Wasps- Wasps and bees usually try to construct their nests in "low traffic" areas that will remain undisturbed. The honey bees in the picture above found a hollow knot in a cedar tree to call home. Invariably I accidentally stumble on a few of these nests every season, and that has made me a little more wary. Look for nests in common places such as eaves of houses, fences, under decks, tables, patio chairs, swing sets, swimming pool slides, shrubbery, old pallets, and windows.

One place guaranteed to draw wasps is a lock on a gate that is hooded to prevent people from cutting the lock with bolt cutters. This configuration requires you to reach your hand up into the enclosed area and use the key to open your lock. Spray this area with wasp spray before reaching up into it. I have encountered many wasp nests when opening gates. Don't make the same mistake I have.

3. Watch your Step- Our state is home to fire ants, which make their nests in mounds on the ground. These nests pop up in open fields after rains, and are home to thousands of little biters. If you are working on your land or previewing a piece of rural land to buy, wear closed-toes shoes or even better, boots.

Yellow jackets make their home in nests underground. Usually people find these nests when mowing the lawn or cutting hay. You can identify the area of a nest by watching the yellow jackets fly in and out of a small hole in the ground that serves as the entrance to the nest. Yellow jackets are particularly aggressive, so pay attention to ones that are hovering just above the ground and look for their hole. They all return to the nest in the evening, so that is a great time to treat the nest to kill all of the wasps.

4. In the event of a sting or bite- Wasps, bees, and fire ants all belong to the order Hymenoptera. Many of the members of this order have the ability to sting. The chemical that causes the sting to hurt so bad  is formic acid. An insect bite usually causes swelling, pain, redness, cursing, and in extreme cases, can lead to anaphylaxis.

If stung or bitten, usually taking a Benadryl can help reduce the effects. It is important not to squeeze the area to try to remove the stinger as this can actually cause a stinger to inject more venom into the wound. Use a credit card to scrape the surface and remove the stinger. Sting-b-gone can be effective at reducing the pain, but if none is available I have had a farmer put chewing tobacco on a red wasp sting, and it soothed the area immediately.  If you experience constricting airways or a quickened pulse you should seek medical attention immediately as these are symptoms of anaphylatic shock.

Alabama land is great, and offers many activities to enjoy outdoors. Using some preventive measures can help you take the sting out of your time in the woods.

Before buying rural land in Alabama, there are several types of maps you should acquire to help you evaluate property to determine its suitability for your needs.

1. Plat Map- Alabama utilizes the Public Land Survey System which divides the state and various counties into townships, ranges, and sections. The plat map further identifies the various landowners of the properties in these geographical divisions. Each township is usually 36 square miles, with a section representing one square mile. Each section is made up of 640 acres. Therefore, the 80 acre tract in the aerial map below is 1/2 mile long and 1/4 mile wide.

Plat books are generally county specific, and are available at your local USDA or NRCS office.

2. Aerial Map- Once you know where the property is located, and you can identify the shape on a plat map, then you can draw the boundary lines on a satellite image. (I use mapcard.com to draw this type of may.) An aerial map can help you identify internal roads, adjoining property owners lands, timber stands, proximity to public roads, fields, water, and so forth.

3. Topographical Map- Often called a "topo" map, these drawings show the countours of the earth's surface. Many topo maps use the same PLSS system as a plat book, and there are lines drawn at various intervals (10, 20, 50 or 100 feet) to show elevation changes over an area.

Topo maps can be used to identify flood-prone areas, lake sites, homesites, roadbeds, and good hunting locations. These maps usually identify public roads, watercourses, and existing structures as well. Topographical maps are essential for determining suitability for construction on a property.

 4. Survey Map- Having a current survey on a prospective property is a tremendous help during the due dilligence phase. This is the best way to verify exact acreage of the parcel you are considering. The survey map will show the property corners, pertinent landmarks, existing structures, roads, utilities, and other useful information.

In addition, the survey will bear the legal description as written by a registered surveyor, and is usually going to be extremely accurate. The description on the survey is generally what will be recorded into the deed at the time of transfer of the property.

Surveys are usually the most expensive types of maps to acquire, but are by far the most accurate method of ensuring acreages and boundaries.

Other important maps to consider include: timber stand maps, flood plain maps, soil surveys, and county tax assessor maps. All of these maps offer specific information about your subject property, and should be considered before making a purchase. Obviously google maps is a helpful program for gathering all kinds of information about the surrounding area and for obtaining driving directions. I am partial to using an Alabama Gazetteer for finding places that are off the beaten path, and for choosing lesser-known roads to get you there.

This list of maps is not comprehensive, but will give you a good start on evaluating a prospective property. If you are in the market for a hunting tract, farmland, timber investment or recreational property in west Alabama, please contact me today.