I have a 7 acre stocked pond on roughly 75 acres of wooded land in east Texas between Marshall and Longview. With my foot issues & other problems, I'm reluctantly thinking of selling. Anybody know of a good, honest realtor in the area?

That is not necessarily an oxymoron.

I've known one or two who fit the description. Of course, there are others...

I never bought or sold any land from a site like this, but maybe it's something to consider?

www.mossyoakproperties.com


Good luck.

Thanks, Sunil. Will give them a try!

anthropic,

So sorry to hear you are contemplating selling your beautiful property.

I have observed the mossyoak site over the years and think they do an excellent job on "trophy properties".

However, I have been watching these types of sites for over 25 years, and have a NON-EXPERT opinion.

The "national" type sellers list a certain type of trophy property at premium prices. Based on their closings, they do achieve these premium prices in many instances. However, they usually do this on properties that are likely to have wealthy out-of-state buyers.

In Kansas, the example is premier deer hunting properties with zero agricultural income (or sometimes a portion with CRP income). The only value (other than for recreational usage) is the future price appreciation of the property. However, I have seen these properties sell to wealthy individuals that come down a few times of year from New England or the upper Midwest for their hunting camps. The prices may be 2-3x the price of adjacent "scruffier" property that would require more work to bring it up to a similar standard. This is certainly good news for property sellers.

My question would be if the national realtor companies require you to sign an exclusive marketing agreement with them?

I think anthropic's property may be more likely purchased by a semi-wealthy (it is a nice property!) semi-local buyer. I would think having an excellent local realtor might be more likely to make that happen.

I am sure there are many, many people on Pond Boss that know more about this topic than I do. I come here to learn stuff. I appreciate people pointing out all of the places that I am wrong - especially if it helps anthropic!

Thanks for the insight, Rod. My place has lots of deer, which I rarely think about much since I'm not a hunter. But you're right, it's clearly not up to snuff for the really rich. More of deal for moderately wealthy east Texans who want instant fishing & hunting, I think. Or perhaps a developer. Guess I need to contact a reputable local realtor for that market.

I sold property myself on landsoftexas.com which is now land.com I believe. If you list it, let me know, I have 40 acres with a 3 acre pond about 30 minutes north of you, upgrade?

One question you may want to ask yourself is "Do I care if my property gets broken up into a development after I sell it?"

My wife has been agonizing over the fact that her family farm just got sold to developers by my POS BIL. All the buildings (which she and to a much lesser extent I helped to build) have been torn down. It will be split into lots to have overpriced crappy houses built on.

If such a prospect doesn't bother you, go for the money. If it would tick you off, I wish you the best luck finding a buyer who wants to keep it (mostly ) as is.

"POS BIL"

Pudgy Older Sibling?

Who happens to be a Billionaire!

That would be me, from your perspective.

I have found that the realtor often winds up putting on the web for all local realtors to help sell it and split the fee.
It’s rural MLS.

I have also been made aware that the traditional 6% may be negotiable. Try it. Think about it and call various local realtors and negotiate. They are often on the lookout for opportunities from investors that results in a quick transaction. If they don’t get the listing opportunity, they lose at least half the fee.

Some years back I bought 60 acres next to mine. I kept it 5 or 6 years and then decided to sell. I called a realtor that I had met. It sold quickly, by him, and he charged me 4.5%.

As usual, I failed to communicate clearly on the internet.

The "trophy properties" I was talking about typically are vast tracts, with very little improvements. These draw inflated prices from wealthy out-of-state buyers, and they only visit them rarely for recreation.

I think your place is kind of the opposite. Your improvements (the large pond and the house) have added significant value to your already valuable land. I agree with your assessment that instant hunting and fishing and either a weekend family place or retirement place are probably your best values.

Please start taking pictures of your trophy fish catches and your deer (either game cam pics or harvest pics). Either take pics with family faces out of frame, or crop them out. Realtors LOVE posting those pics in their online sales brochure for properties that produce high quality recreational game!

I can't remember if your place has too many topographical changes for a developer. If flat enough, then I agree with the others that a developer might pay a premium for the place and keep 12-15 acres of property around your pond and house, and then sell or develop the rest on 5-acre forested lots.

Thanks, Rod. I misunderstood your point, but get it now. Great suggestions!

Just being a Nosey Nancy, but what have you decided? Quite the pond you have there.

Nobody yet, Al. My plans are a bit up in the air now due to some health issues which hopefully will be resolved in the upcoming weeks. But you never know, life has lots of surprises. If I can no longer enjoy & keep up the place, it will be sold.

Good luck with whatever your plans turn out to be.

It's sad to come to realize that things come to a close or end.

We see it around us all the time, but when finally faced with reality, we have to accept the changes.

Good luck, anthropic. I'm sure your land will be highly desirable to a vast array of potential buyers.

Do your own research first. There are realtors who specialize in such properties. There are lots of people in Dallas and maybe Shreveport looking for places like yours.

I may also be getting to that time. 80 yoa and somebody named arthritis has hit me hard in back, feet and legs. Grandsons and son in law are carrying most of the load and I absolutely hate that. Spent my whole life stomping my own snakes and now have trouble doing much of anything that takes bending from the waist.

A huge limb came off an oak last week in my back yard. I got a chain saw out and started to work. Next thing I know, grandson showed up and took over. Then a couple more showed up. I protested but another young man told me that I had taught them how to do all this stuff and it was their turn. I guess so but it does chap my butt.

I’ve owned the place for about 40 years and it’s become part of my life. But, all things must end. But not just yet.

Thanks. I hope to get a few more good years out of it, but that depends on factors beyond my control.

I know exactly how you feel, Dave. Your final comment reminds me of St. Augustine's: "Lord, make me celibate. But not just yet."

Good advice. One plus of my place is that it is relatively deep, so handles freezes and droughts better than most ponds.

I like the guys at Horenstein Ranch. https://hrcranch.com/ Both Blake and Cash are good people.

Thanks, Steve! I'll keep these guys in mind.

Had a good conversation with Cash McWhorter, Steve. No pressure, he quickly understood our situation & checked our place on Google maps. If we sell, it will be later this fall, after I've had some work done. High mortgage rates have hurt the market (inflation gives, but it also takes away), so we wouldn't get what we could have a year or two ago, but still might break even considering all the money & effort put into it.

I'm posting my journey in a public forum because I want other east Texas pond owners to know more than I do when the time comes.

I would list it with a very high price (at the top of the range the realtor suggests).

I have seen two people fall in love with trophy properties at auctions, and they will bid the heck out of it. Hopefully someone will also fall in love with your listing!




[Unless of course, you have to do a quick sale. Sometimes you just have to trade off money for time.]

Good idea, Rod. I made it clear to the realtor that I strongly preferred one owner, not a developer, even if that means we get less money. I have some fine neighbors & don't want to change the character of the place.