Buying land with a timber reservation
- Thread starter cutman
- Start date
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
My experience as well. They've done the modeling and math and they have a hard number. Sometimes their number makes sense for a buyer and sometime these properties just don't sell and they continue to hold them for timber.
I made a different offer today. Lower money (by a lot), but without any strings attached.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I think buying large tracts of land from a company is quite different than buying from an individual. When an individual puts land up for sale, they have usually decided to move on to something different. They usually can't do that until it sells. Or, even if they can move on, there is often a loan on the property that needs to be serviced. They have some level of incentive to sell.
When a company holds land, it is usually different. They don't have the same kind of incentives to sell in most cases. Usually they have done some kind of analysis and modeling (whether it is timber or some other use). I think often, they don't even expect the land to sell when they put it up for sale. They have decided what they need from a business perspective. Either someone comes along and pays what they need or they don't.
I hope you get a response from them at least this time, but I'm not hopeful. Don't give up if they don't respond. I presume you are assuming they will do their worst to the land when they timber in your offer price. Just keep an eye on it. After they timber it, you will have a better idea what you will get.
One reason I suggested waiting is this. The timber company we purchased the land from saved money by not spraying young pines when they needed to because they were selling it to us. If they did not have an offer, they would have sprayed it and continued to use it for timber. In other words, they would have taken better care of it because they would continue to own it. I wonder if they will thin your perspective property the same way if they don't sell the land first. They may take a longer term view if they still own it when they timber it. Making an offer after it is timbered also simplifies things.
