Warren Land Sells !

Warren

Land

Sells !

American flags at the Main Gate of Warren Land, beside State Highway 176, in southwest Missouri, between Abesville and Galena, in Stone County, Missouri. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

My Official Date Of Public Release – October 30, 2011

Three years ago, I asked the question, “Is it possible to sell farm land using the Internet ?”

Now, I have my answer.

“No.”

Warren Land, the 70 plus acres of farm land in southwest Missouri, sold in August 2011.

I waited until my birthday, October 30, to answer this question because I wanted to take the time to answer this question based on my experiences.

The Pessimists

The pessimists and naysayers all snickered that our 70 plus acres of farm land would never sell.

Warren Land had traditionally been used as pasture land for breeds of cattle ranging from Black Angus and Polled Herefords to Red Angus. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Childhood Change Inspires Confidence

I was a boy in the early 1960s, when the land in Taney County, known as Branson, was going for about a nickel an acre. The Baldknobbers had just started regular music performances in Branson and Silver Dollar City had just opened their gates. Ideas like “The Nashville of the Ozarks” and a tourist attraction of how people lived in the 1800s had yet to catch on.

As a boy, I had seen the land in neighboring Taney County and I knew the cliffs and bluffs made it

Rock cliff face on Warren Land. Missouri is known as a farming state, but the Show Me State also brings in major revenue in the form of mining. While Stone County has rock cliff and bluff faces, the rock cliff an bluff faces of neighboring Taney County was credited as one of the normal reasons for low real estate prices in the 1960s. The rock bluff in the photograph is located in one of the hollows of the property. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

difficult for farmers to raise livestock. There were even stories that sometimes a cow would stumble and fall to her death at the bottom of a cliff. I had seen the hills and knew there could be truth in the falling cow stories.

As a youth. I, Michael Cutbirth and Jack Gordon joined the Ozarks Chapter of the Order of DeMolay, which would meet for six months at a time in the Forsyth Masonic Lodge and six months at a time in the Branson Masonic Lodge. In attending these meetings, we had to travel on average about 60 miles round trip from Galena, Missouri to either Forsyth or Branson. Thus, I had a front seat to the changes that happened in rural Stone and Taney counties from the 1960s through the 1970s and had traveled the highways long before the Missouri Department of Transportation began major highway projects to widen the roads, install overpasses or bypasses.

Branson Blossoms

Bulldozers gave Branson a facelift and redesigned the farm terrain to go with the ideas of creative citizens and suddenly unnoticed farm land had a new lease on life. The Plain Jane of Ozarks Real Estate was suddenly the supermodel in training. Of course, the opening of Table Rock Lake also served as a necessary augmentation to boost interest in the local real estate market.

Having witnessed Branson, Missouri blossom, in my lifetime, and go from wall flower to debutante, I didn’t put much faith in the pessimists and naysayers’ warnings. If the forgotten farm land of Taney County could transform into a Midwest mecca of country music, then, Stone County, next door, should also be able to shake off real estate puberty and gain a place in the sun.

Seek Out A Successful Real Estate Agent

The tough decision was to part with land that had been in my family since the mid to late 1940s.

My wife, Christy and I decided to sell the 70 plus acres of farm land in southwest Missouri in an attempt to return to the Republic of the Philippines, where we could be surrounded by her large family.

Once the decision was made, then we decide to look for a real estate agent. Like most people we begin looking at newspapers, browsing the internet and talking to people trying to find a realtor or real estate agency. At the start, it came down to a yellow page in the phone book.

Dismal Real Estate Setting

The October 3, 2007 American Financial Fiasco described as the collapse of “Big Banks on Wall Street” became history, but the effects of that financial catastrophe were still being felt when we decided to try and sell our land. People were complaining that banks weren’t loaning money and so people couldn’t or wouldn’t buy real estate. Even though, we didn’t list our land for sale until 2008, people were still complaining that the banks were not loaning money to people to buy real estate.

Find Your Land’s Selling Points

A butterfly lands on a wild flower on Warren Land. Selling farm land is never easy because there is an emotional investment in the land. Thus, you should work to be objective and be honest about the land’s strengths and weaknesses. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Be honest with yourself about the land. I grew up playing in the hills and hollers of Warren Land, so I knew I had an emotional investment in the property.

This white steer calf is symbolic of generation of cattle born and raised on Warren Land in southwest Missouri. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

But, what would a buyer want in the land ?

Goldie and Sarge play around the main farm pond on Warren Land. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

There is one big pond and two small ponds on the property.

There were no phone lines or electric lines

This small farm pond lies hidden in a holler on Warren Land and serves as a source of water for cattle and wildlife. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

on the property.

Several acres at the back of the property had been used to raise tomatoes commercially for about three years in the 1970s. In the 1960s through the 1980s, The Christmas Tree On The Stone County Courthouse Lawn either came from Warren Land or the adjoining DeLong Land – cedar trees love the soil of DeLong Land and Warren Land.

In 2010, about 17 deers were taken during the deer hunting season in Stone County and based on what hunters told me, basically, 10 of those deers had been taken on Warren Land.

From the 1980s through the 1990s, my mother had also let hunters hunt wild turkeys on Warren Land.

Hidden Spring on DeLong Land. DeLong Land and Warren Land have available water sources. Both DeLong or Warren Land was used to supply The Christmas Tree for the Stone County Courthouse Lawn from the 1960s through the 1990s. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Warren Land contains a multitude of walnut, black and white oak trees that were cut over the years to sell as lumber. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Every three or four years from the 1980s through 2003, my mother, would contact a local logger and allow them to go in and cut down trees.

This skidder pulls logs over the terrain of Warren Land. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Logs from Warren Land were destined to be milled as lumber. One log was selected for a local wood sculptor. Another log reportedly was selected to be shipped to China to be used for a dining table. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Thinning out trees allows young ones the chance to grow. The last time walnut logs were taken off Warren Land, one was selected to reportedly be sent to China to be used to build a dining table.

There are some crude All Terrain Vehicle trails on Warren Land. There were four gates on Warren Land and three of those gates opened out on to the main highway: State Highway 176.

The Choice Of The Wrong Realtors

At least, a local real estate agency should seem like a good idea because they know the local area and should be familiar with the local property. I made all the wrong decisions in selecting a real estate agent. It was little comfort that I picked the first agency out of the yellow pages of the telephone book.

I should have realized that the selected agency was perhaps, too close, to Table Rock Lake, which should of suggested that they are probably more interested in selling lake front property than farm land.

Although the first real estate agents smiled when I told them about the history of the land and how tomatoes had been raised there and logs were cut for building and furniture; I should of realized that the realtors seem more interested in selling residential or commercially developed land or lake front property than farm land.

I also should have realized that when everyone starts singing the same song – I should listen to who is singing the song and how often they sing it. The realtors gave me the classic Top Ten response of the day about, “You do realize that in this economy property is not selling.”

I heard the song and dance about property not selling so often it should have been one of Billboard’s “Top Ten.”

The first real estate agency produced no results.

My Own Real Estate Initiative

You Can’t Sell Anything If You Don’t Tell People. The first realtors put up three signs around the property and they posted a small photo on their Internet page. Time passes and the realtors don’t call us to tell us of any offers. The phone does not ring.

I take my Nikon camera across the road and spend several days off and on shooting photos of the property. Then, I burn the photos to a CD. I thought outside the box, so I went on line and searched out the addresses of companies that I thought might be interested in using the property to build a warehouse or for other development.

Wal-Mart, Google, Yahoo, Paramount, and Walt Disney Pictures were some of the corporate entities that I thought might be seeking a location in the Midwest and rural land to develop for their own concerns. Then, I mailed out around 40 CDs.

I got a nice letter from Walt Disney Pictures that thanked me for thinking of them.

None of the other businesses bothered to respond.

My idea may have been a long shot, but when you consider the foundation stone was laid for the White House in Washington D.C., the original property was reported to be a swamp, so prime real estate is not always a consideration for building. Since Warren Land, already had a history of being successful agricultural land, why couldn’t it be used as a shooting location for movies made in the Midwest or as a warehouse facility for a corporation ?

The first real estate agency produced no results.

My Next Bad Decision – The Second Realtor

My next bad decision was to go with a national real estate agency. Again, the realtor sang the old, “real estate really isn’t moving in this economy. And, it will probably be a year or two, at least, before we see any property start to move” song. The realtor posted a small photo of the land on their Internet website.

Time passes and I called the realtor a couple of times. By the second time, I had called the realtor, the person talked “down to me.” Country boy that I am, it did not set well with me that the person’s tone of voice sounded like a school teacher scolding me.

The year passes.. The national real estate agency gave us no results. National advertising on television, in newspapers, on billboards and on the Internet should never be confused with the success of the realtor. I was glad to be rid of them.

Low Opinion Of Realtors

By the third year, my opinion of American Real Estate Agents ranked right down in the gutter with national Republican political candidates, the American Republican party, in general, and poisonous snakes in the Ozarks, in particular. I have no use for snakes, very little use for Republicans and American realtors overall were quickly battling in my mind for a spot between the snakes and Republicans.

Still, I believed what my mother had told me that land is an investment.

The Right Realtor

By the third year, Donna, my cousin, asked if we really wanted to sell the land. I told her yes. Then, she said, I have the name of a real estate agent for you. Donna looked me in the eyes and said, “If you really want to sell the land, call Katie. If the land can be sold, Katie can sell it.” I made the phone call.

When Christy and I began we knew nothing about realtors or real estate agencies. Three years later, Christy and I were being to feel like Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents responsible for doing in-depth sensitive personal background checks. We were to the point that we didn’t want smiles, promises and the standard catch phrases. We wanted to find a realtor that wanted to make a sale.

This time we knew the questions to ask and we expected honest answers. We didn’t want to hear the old, “Woe Is Me This Is A Bad Economy,” song. We didn’t want to hear the old, “American Banks Are Afraid To Loan Money To Buy Land” song.

Katie Philipps, our realtor, called us with two different offers within about a month. In three months, Katie had us a buyer ready to buy the land. Thus, the 70 plus acres of Warren Land in southwest Missouri sold. We found the right realtor.

The Sign Of The Right Realtor To Sell Warren Land. Among my initiatives to try and sell the farm land, I cleared away sections of tall grass on the highway embankment and tried to landscape a noticeable space to draw attention to the real estate signs from three different realtors in three years. This sign proved to be the right sign of the right realtor. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Epilogue

The naysayers were wrong.

The pessimists were wrong.

No, I don’t believe in 2011 the Internet is a good choice at this time to sell farm land.

Blackberries begin to ripen in a psture of Warren Land that was used to raise acres of commercially -grown tomatoes in the 1970s. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

If you talk to a realtor, who gives you the “Gloom and Doom” song about “this is a bad economy to try and sell land in” – then, you should seriously consider looking for another realtor. In 2011, it maybe a “bad economy,” but times change and sooner or later people will start buying land again.

While Warren Land – proper- the 70 plus acres sold, the Warrens still live on the few acres of Warren Land across State Highway 176.

Open Air Photography Studio - One added benefit of Warren Land through the years was Warren Land always provided a variety of natural settings for photography. Whether the goal was to shoot landscape, livestock, wild life, wild flowers or bring a prop into nature Warren Land always proved to be the Ultimate Open Air Photography Studio. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

The moral to the story is if you have farm land to sell : talk to people and get yourself a good real estate agent if you want to sell your farm land.

Sam