Jonathan Goode- Land for Sale in West Alabama

122 acres +/- of hunting land for sale in Dallas County, Alabama. This property is located in the Stonewall community near the Perry and Dallas County lines. New foodplots and a new internal road system make this Black Belt hunting property ready for the upcoming deer season.

The tract has sections of nice hardwoods, copses of pines, a couple of small streams, and large wildlife openings. Power and water are available at the homesite, and there are two small sheds suitable for storing equipment or gear. Access is by a deeded easement off Dallas County Road 846.

On the day I took these photos, I saw deer in 3 different spots and turkey feathers throughout the tract. This is a good buy on a really nice hunting property. The tract is surrounded on the south side by some really large tracts of hunting land, making this an ideal place to hunt Black Belt deer. Talladega National Forest and Paul M Grist State Park are within a few miles, giving you access to thousands of acres of additional public hunting land.

Selma, Jones, Marion, and Maplesville are less than 20 miles away, and Birmingham and Tuscaloosa are right at 80 miles. It's a good Black Belt hunting tract at a great price, just in time for the upcoming hunting season. Contact me today for more information @ 334-247-2005. Showings by appointment only.

What does a "Buyer's Market" really mean in today's rural land climate?This past week I had the opportunity to present offers on two different tracts of rural land in Alabama. Both of these offers were submitted by buyers that had been following the market for a while. It is my understanding that neither of these people had ever met, but their strategies were nearly identical. Buyer #1 was represented by a buyer's agent and I worked with the other as a transaction broker.

Both of these prospective purchasers made an initial offer of roughly 2/3 of the asking price of the properties. It was their plan to "test the water" and "just see" what the seller would say. Neither offer resulted in a successful contract, and in fact one received quite an undesired response. The first seller asked me to convey that he would not be making a counter-offer and that the offer was so low that he felt like the potential buyer must be suffering from some disorder. He instructed me to inform the other agent that his client was not to set foot on his property again!

I feel sure the original intent of buyer #1 was not to grossly offend the property owner. Buyer #2's offer did receive a counter-offer, but we were not able to get close to a meeting of the minds.  I was not thrilled at having to convey the low offers to my sellers and absolutely hated telling my fellow agent his client was not to come back to this tract.

This experience prompted me to share some thoughts with would-be-buyers about what a "buyer's market" means in rural real estate and how it is often misinterpreted.  The aim is to help you set realistic expectations and be as educated as possible to help you identify and purchase the right rural property.

1. Not every seller is in a crisis. As a matter of fact, almost none of the clients I represent are in crisis. They would like to sell, but they are not in danger of foreclosure. Rural land in Alabama is not like the national residential housing market. There are very few foreclosures comparatively, because owners often inherited the land and own it outright, have sizeable equity positions, have higher incomes and can afford their land, or they have other assets that help keep their rural land afloat. A lender with Alabama Ag Credit recently said that in his 31 years in the business, he has only seen 4 rural properties go into foreclosure. That is vastly different from the residential real estate climate we are seeing today.

You should inquire about a seller's motivation before throwing an offer out there. The number of days on the market, at least in Alabama's land market, is not necessarily correlative to a seller's motivation. Hunting and recreational properties are taking longer to sell at the present time. Don't assume that a tract that has been on the market for a year can be bought for pennies on the dollar.

2. Study comparable sales. Contact land lenders such as First South Farm Credit or Alabama Ag Credit to find out what land is selling for in your area. Don't just throw a number out there "to see", but make an educated offer. They are usually happy to share general information about recent land transactions, which can give you a more up-to-date snapshot of what is actually happening in your area.

3. Explain your offer to the seller in a letter. I find this to be a helpful tool in negotiating a contract. A relative recently used this tactic in negotiating a contract on a bank-owned home and acreage in Georgia. He made a list of all of the repairs and improvements the property would require. He was able to convince the bank with his logic that other buyers would see the deal the same way and that they should accept his offer. When I walked through his house last weekend, I have to say I was quite impressed with his purchase and how well his idea worked in securing a low price.

4. Price and Value are not necessarily synonyms. One trap first-time land buyers stumble into is feeling like they should buy land with the lowest per-acre price. I believe it is better to pay a little more money for a quality property than buy a dog just because it is cheap. $800 per acre properties are fun to tell your friends about, but spending large additional sums to make it usable may not be the best value in the long run.

Ask a land agent for information about the best buy they know about. I have a short list of tracts I believe are really good values for the asking price, and will show those even if they are not my listings. Otherwise, you are probably going to see the properties you specifically call and inquire about.

5. Cash is King. Dave Ramsey says it. Your grandparents preached it. Cash money has advantages when a seller is really in a pinch. Being able to deal immediately with no contingencies is worth a lot to sellers who are desperate. I recently saw a seller knock $70,000 off a $190,000 property because he received a cash offer with no contingencies to close as soon as the attorney could do the title work. These are the instances when having a mattress full of money gives you leverage in negotiating a good buy.

Be patient and have a punch-list of traits you want your land to have. When you identify the right property at a fair price, be ready to pull the trigger and make an educated offer. I see prospective buyers drag their feet and waste valuable time over-analyzing great buys. Due-diligence is imperative, but be educated enough to jump on an opportunity when it arises. You can always have contingency clauses put in your offer to purchase that give you an "out" if the deal isn't as sweet as you originally thought. Have a network of professionals such as foresters, land agents, surveyors, or cooperative extension agents that can help evaluate and offer advice when you do locate a candidate.

If you are going to make a low offer, make it easy for the seller to say "yes" by offering to pay closing costs or making other concessions. In business, for the long run, it helps when everyone is a winner. You will find doing your homework will have paid off when you are sitting at the closing table pleased with your purchase and a seller across the table that is a winner too.

Yesterday as I was out showing a 13 acre tract of land for sale that joins the Talladega National Forest in Perry County, Alabama, my customer and I came upon what I perceive to be a "trail tree".

Trail trees were reportedly used by native Americans to mark travel routes, establish local boundaries, or point to food, water, or shelter. They were shaped by lashing or bending a small sapling (usually oak) in the direction they wanted it to face.

There is a small stream roughly 50 yards from where this tree is located. I was elated to find it standing in the woods. They are fairly rare in Perry County, which is in the Black Belt of Alabama. I saw them more as a teenager in the hills of north Alabama near the Tennessee state line.

This tree doesn't add any monetary value to the tract, but it does make you wonder why it is here. If it isn't old enough to have been shaped by native Americans, could it have been used by local troops in the Civil War to mark a hideout or some other cache of supplies? Maybe some young boys heard stories from their grandfather about bending trees to make signposts and they experimented on this one. Whatever the case, it is a neat find and a part of history most people never see anymore.

AlaLandCo enjoyed great success manning booths at the 2010 World Deer Expo in Birmingham and the 17th Annual Buckmaster's Expo in Montgomery.

Our agents had the opportunity to talk land and pass out information about our great listings to over 1,000 people who are interested in purchasing land in Alabama. During the two events, we were able to expose over 100,000 visitors to our company and what we do.

This past weekend in Montgomery, I personally spent 15 hours shaking hands and talking with dozens of land owners and buyers. Multiply that by our 10 agents that helped at the booth, and that's a lot of good land advertising taking place!

Participating in these events is just one of the ways that we market rural Alabama land for our clients. We currently have over 370 properties for sale in Alabama, and we want to make a Herculean effort to reach out to every prospective buyer in today's land market.

AlaLandCo is committed to providing the best service to our clients. If you are interested in buying or selling hunting land, farmland, timberland, or a recreational property in Alabama, please contact me to let me know how I can be helpful to you.

AlaLandCo will be showcasing some of our great hunting land for sale across the state of Alabama at the 17th Annual Buckmaster's Expo in Montgomery, Alabama.

Visitors from all over the country will be checking out the latest hunting and outdoor equipment from some of the biggest vendors in the sporting world.

AlaLandCo will have booths 90 and 91, and we will be located near the entrance and the Yamaha and Young Bucks displays.

If you are looking for hunting land, a timberland investment or recreational property in Alabama, please stop by and talk with our professional land agents during the expo. Our staff will be available all 3 days of the event to discuss buying or selling land in our great state.

I will be at the show on Friday and Saturday, so if you are looking for land in Perry County, Alabama or anywhere in the Black Belt, please feel free to stop by or call my cell at 334-247-2005 if you have trouble finding our booth.

Come join the nation's leading land experts at the Landthink Summit in Atlanta, Georgia on September 30, 2010. This one day event will feature keynote speaker Coach Bobby Bowden as well as land industry leaders from Plum Creek, Agsouth Farm Credit, and Forisk Consulting. Other notable speakers will be Ryan Folk (founder of landflip.com), Curtis Seltzer, and J. Craig King ( CEO of J.P. King Auction Company).

This event is designed to be informative and a networking opportunity for everyone who is interested in rural land. Industry experts from the following disciplines will be present: REIT's, land brokerage companies, TIMO's, investors, developers, financing companies, forestry consultants, conservation easements, buyers of rural land, and others.

Register for the event today. For more information please contact Lisa Gray at 877-339-LAND (5263) ext 710.

Several agents from AlaLandCo are planning to attend the event. If you are attending hopefully we will bump into each other at the event. I think it will be informative and a lot of fun. Make plans to attend on September 30. I already have my ticket, so get yours today.

AlaLandCo will be showcasing some of our great land for sale across the state of Alabama at the 17th Annual Buckmaster's Expo in Montgomery, Alabama.

Visitors from all over the country will be checking out the latest hunting and outdoor equipment from some of the biggest vendors in the sporting world.

AlaLandCo will have booths 90 and 91, and we will be located near the entrance and the Yamaha and Young Bucks displays.

If you are looking for hunting land, a timberland investment or recreational property in Alabama, please stop by and talk with our professional land agents during the expo. Our staff will be available all 3 days of the event to discuss buying or selling land in our great state.

I will be at the show on Friday and Saturday, so if you are looking for land in Perry County, Alabama or anywhere in the Black Belt, please feel free to stop by or call my cell at 334-247-2005 if you have trouble finding our booth.

53 acres +/- of hunting land for sale in Perry County, Alabama for only $56,650. Talladega National Forest borders this tract on 2 sides (west and south)! This is a steal at a little over $1000/acre. A long powerline cuts through the tract offering you a long stretch that could be planted as a foodplot. The property has paved frontage on County Road 23. This parcel is a portion of a tract of 217 acres, which can be divided into 150 acres, 53 acres, and 13 acres. The owners have had the timber clear-cut in the past 2 years. This area is known for the outstanding deer hunting, and being surrounded by the National Forest gives you access to so much more land and buffers you from your neighbors. It is a rough tract, but at this price, you can afford to fix it the way you want it. The property is located within 15 minutes of Centreville, 40 minutes of Tuscaloosa, and less than 65 miles to Birmingham. The ride through Talladega National Forest on CR 44 is really nice. Please contact me today for more information or to schedule a time to visit this property.