Ranch Investor Wisdom

[Big pig]

Electricity, water (well or running pipeline), new roads and new fences are expensive. Even on a small place. Brown Co. land was cheap till we did those improvements.
At least “some” Mineral rights are really important. Especially If you end up in an active area. Executive rights have to be included.

Long hilly roads in East Texas require constant repair.

Water bodies are invaluable. Live creeks insure game. Tanks and lakes provide entertainment for family and friends.

Shape of the acreage is important. My place is too narrow. Rectangle or square is most desirable.

Lastly, one bad neighbor can ruin your land owning experience. Especially a very new landowner that doesn’t want to be a neighbor, just an investor. Thank goodness I have had great neighbors for 30 years in Leon Co. Except that new one.

Worst thing about my Leon Co place is highway noise. Best thing about my place is it is 1/2 mike off hard top road.

[TradAg02]

Great tips, keep’m coming.


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[CoachStanton]

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[Bubba]

Following

[TradAg02]

TTT


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[MLAH]

^

[Pullersboy]

Great idea for a thread! Following. Hopefully this one will get rollin good with a whole bunch of input.

[M16]

Over the years we have had a large number of “how to” or “how do I” buy ranch real-estate threads here. Most of those threads pertain to finding or financing land. I’d like to hear from those of you who have bought and sold ranches who would be willing to share some of your experiences.

For anyone generous enough to spare some time and share some wisdom, following are a few questions in an effort to get things rolling:

What was your best experience? What made it the best experience?

Buying a ranch in South Texas

If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

I would have bought the whole ranch instead of a part. Land values doubled in the two years after I bought. I could have bought the whole thing. Sold half two years later and would have basically wound up with a free ranch.

What aspect of a particular piece of property brought you the most joy or satisfaction?

The great deer hunting

What was your biggest headache?

Buying property in the hill country. I thought I could make the transition from South Texas but I don't like the hill country. Nice to look at but the hunting sucks compared to South Texas.

What improvements provide the greatest opportunity of profit?

Clean up the place and make it shine if it needs it. Perhaps a high fence. Don't spend a lot of money on improvements

What improvements do you lose money on?

Basically all of them. It's all about price per acre when you sell. Your improvement my not be important to the next buyer. Kinda like putting in a pool when the new owner doesn't want one.

Thank you in advance for allowing us to benefit from your experience.

.

[WBT]

I spent more than two years looking at a bunch of ranches that had been on the market for several months to years. Almost all of them had one of two issues. They were either priced way too high for the area or had a combination of problems such as poor fencing, energy production/no minerals, or a bunch of small neighbors with blinds along the fence line.

One problem I failed to appreciate at the time was the impact of windmills. They're popping up all over Texas and they destroy the value of neighboring land. Right now you can find ranches immediately adjacent to windmill projects and the land values have plummeted 25-40%. And I've seen some sellers trying to get out of their current property knowing a future windmill project is slated for their area. I'd be on the lookout for this.

It's already been mentioned, but you have to really understand the market in the particular area you're targeting. And I mean really understand it.

When I found my current ranch, I immediately jumped on it. It was listed on Saturday and I almost had to force the listing broker to show it to me the following day. It was priced right and I sent an offer to her on Monday morning. By the time the seller accepted my offer on Tuesday afternoon, there were already three back-up offers. The point of this being that the best properties (assuming they're priced right) tend to sell very quickly. You have to know what you're looking at and be prepared to move quickly.

[aking6341]

Following

[TexasTK]

Lot of good information here. When I bought my place I zeroed in on the county or counties I was interested in, basically the S Tx Golden Triangle for me. I then got w a couple different ranch brokers and let them do the leg work. The good ranches don't make the internet. They are found and sold through word of mouth and hitting the pavement. I looked for a couple years before I found my ranch. The first time I visited the property we filled out the paperwork on the hood of the truck and had offer to owner same day. As said above be ready to pull the trigger. I already had my financing lined up through Capital Farm. Try to find land that has large neighbors. It goes w/out saying but if you don't have water you have nothing.
I bought raw land w no improvements, best bang for the buck.
Good luck to everyone looking to buy there dream place.

[35remington]

One problem I failed to appreciate at the time was the impact of windmills. They're popping up all over Texas and they destroy the value of neighboring land.

I don't understand this. Can you unpack it a bit? Why does a wind farm on my neighbor's land hurt the value of my land? Just because he now has an income-producing property?

[M16]

I don't understand this. Can you unpack it a bit? Why does a wind farm on my neighbor's land hurt the value of my land? Just because he now has an income-producing property?

It's an eyesore that nobody wants to look at. They don't want to look at huge power lines either. But if you can't beat them you might as well join them.

[TKK]

you most likely will not get mineral rights anywhere

We bought a 500 acre ranch in 2000 - stunning place with two houses, two garages, pens, barn, etc. Had 8 acre lake on it and a live creek running through it. Paid $750K

HFenced it, improved deer herd, remodeled house, etc. Bought an additional 100 acres for cheap. Sold it five years later for 1.9 K plus we got to live there the entire 5 years.

We made good money on it - it is for sale now for a little under 5 mill by the owner - hard to beat real estate if you can live with it through real estate downturns.

Water is important as stated as well as location. I have also bought raw pieces of property, cleaned them up and added a few improvement (dug a pond for example or cleaned cedar) and turned it for a very nice profit.

my advice is find a really good real estate agent and look for property that is in the path of progress/growth. Clean it up and wait - in time you will make money

just sayin = done this for years - get a good real estate agent you trust - they can make you money if they are the right person

[M16]

just sayin = done this for years - get a good real estate agent you trust - they can make you money if they are the right person

If you do enough business with one they can find you good properties. But you have to be in the loop. Most of them have investors lined up when a good deal comes along or will buy it themselves.

Locally owned banks are a good source for real estate deals. They know who's hurting and need to sell. Get to know the bankers and take them to lunch once and a while. It can pay big dividends. Don't forget the 3 D's or real estate. Death, divorce, and debt. Use these to your advantage and make your money when you buy. Motivated sellers are where it's at.