Land Navigation for the Land Owner and Land Broker!

I love the topic, I use these tips often to locate property corners and property lines. Let’s start with Google Earth.

1. I Start by drawing the property on Google Earth using the polygon tool at the top. This creates a KMZ file. Google Earth allows you to email the shapefile to your email address. You can then open the file and copy to Google Earth on your smart phone or tablet. See the following photo.

2. Next I turn on the ‘Location Services’ and allow Google Earth to access my location. Simply turn on the location feature (Looks like an arrow) and a blue spot on the map will appear. You can then track your progress as you walk the property.

See the blue dot indicating my position

3. I use this feature often when looking for corners. See the following photo of the corner I located. Pretty Cool!!

Another tool I use is Terrain Navigator Pro, a simple  GIS (Geographic Information System) program. I use this program in conjunction with a GPS receiver. You can locate a point/corner on Terrain Navigator Pro and the Latitude – Longitude coordinates are displayed at the top. See the following photo. You then use the GPS or your smart phone to navigate to the corner.

Garmin 60 GPS 

Here is another use, if I am walking the property and find a corner or interesting features like a water fall, ATV bridge, old chimney etc is to use my GPS receiver and record the point or marker. Terrain Navigator Pro allows you to plug your GPS receiver to the program and download a marker or track. The features now shows on the map! This is very useful for advertising a property for sale.

To view my listings, visit AllSouthLandandHomes.com. If you have questions about selling or buying LAND, Contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF @

706.457.0090

How Do I Choose the Right Realtor to Sell My Land?

To start with not all real estate is the same! If you have residential, commercial or land,  choose a Realtor ®  who specializes in that type real estate. For example if you have a knee injury, will you go see the allergy doctor, of course not!  I have some tips that I believe will be helpful.

#1. Choose a Realtor who specializes in your type real estate.

Not every real estate licensee is qualified to help you buy or sell rural land. Their license may make it legal to practice, but their inexperience in land transactions could be costing you thousands of dollars.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice states:

Article 11
The services which REALTORS^® provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage, real property management, commercial and industrial real estate brokerage, land brokerage, real estate appraisal, real estate counseling, real estate syndication, real estate auction, and international real estate. REALTORS^® shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence.

I know a Realtor who drove out in mini-van and put the sign in front of the wrong property!  I called to ask questions and they told me she didn’t like to walk property, I was floored. Would you list your house with someone who would not come inside? Of course not!

#2 Chose a Realtor who works and knows your market

•   A very nice historic house came up for sell in the county. They listed with a local realtor but quickly terminated the listing and listed with a high class prestigious company in Atlanta. The sign is on the ground and the house is not being shown. Why? The house is not listed on the local Multiple Listing Service and the local agents don’t have access to the data.

• If you have very specialized property i.e. equestrian ranch in Florida or a 10,000 acre cattle ranch with hacienda in New Mexico find the right Realtor and they probably will not be local…..but then again neither will the buyer.

•  It is difficult to sell in this market, you need all the advantages..... signs, multiple listing service, access to land website to give you national exposures etc.

#3 Interview the Realtor candidates

•          You will quickly learn who is qualified to represent you and begin marketing the property

•      Specifically ask about marketing strategies. If they are simply going to put up a sign and put it on the local MLS, you have the wrong Realtor! There are some great rural land websites out there, make sure your realtor provides you access to the sites.

• ·         Visit the website of the candidate. Does the site look nice? Does it provide important information like aerial photography, topographic maps, location maps and more. Remember, land buyers start their search on rural land websites and search engines. Make sure your realtor has a high profile here!!

Does the realtor have a good placement on search engines when searching for "land for sale"?

Finally, provide the latitude-longitude of a property corner and ask the Realtor to meet you there. If they find the corner, you are working with a real Land Broker!!

To see my listings visit AllSouthLandandHomes.com Buying or Selling Land? Contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090