What is an Accredited Land Consultant?

This topic is near and dear to me! Several years ago I was steering a large real estate project in northwest Alabama. I interviewed several realtors and chose a realtor who was an Accredited Land Consultant. I was so impressed with their knowledge and land expertise. Therefore when I decided to pursue a real estate career, I decided to pursue this designation. I checked with the Georgia Real Estate Commission a couple of years ago and was told there are 60,000 people in Georgia licensed to sell real estate. At the time of this posting, there are only 29 with this highly esteemed designation. So what is it..........

The REALTORS^® Land Institute confers the esteemed Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation to only those individuals who have achieved the highest level of education, experience, and professionalism.

MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS ALC candidates must be Institute members in good standing for at least 6 months prior to filing an ALC designation application.    EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS Successful completion of a total of six Land University courses (3 required and 3 electives).  Courses may be completed in a live classroom, online, through the hybrid (independent study) program, and other delivery systems that may be made available. (All courses must have been taken within 5 years of applying for the designation.)       Required courses (3 total):       -Land 101:  Fundamentals of Land Brokerage       -Land Investment Analysis       -Tax Deferred 1031 Exchanges (International candidates may take another elective instead of this course)        Electives (3 of 6):         -Tax Implications of Real Estate       -Agricultural Land Brokerage and Marketing       -Creative Land Planning       -Land Development       -Timberland       -Site Selection            -Practical Navigation for Land Brokers       -other electives as developed by the REALTORS® Land Institute          EXPERIENCE RESUME Applicants must submit a resume that demonstrates a minimum of 3 years of experience in land sales or brokerage or a minimum of three years of comparable real estate experience in auction, appraisal*, leasing, development, farm management, consulting, brokerage management**, or related services in land. VOLUME REQUIREMENTS Applicants must submit a portfolio that substantiates specific levels of volume achieved in land sales or in providing real estate services related to land. The portfolio must substantiate the applicant's participation and material involvement as a broker, agent, consultant, or employee in at least 5 closed land transactions totaling $10,000,000*, or a minimum of 25 separate land transactions of which no more than 80 percent involve residential lot sales, or a comparable level of volume dependent upon the land specialty and type(s) of real estate services provided.  The value of the land must account for at least 51% of the total sale of the transaction in order for the transaction to be eligible.  EXAM All ALC designation applicants must successfully complete a comprehensive online exam that covers the core components of the Land University curriculum. All candidates will be able to take the exam 3 times within a year from the first exam date.  If, after the third attempt, the candidate does not successfully pass the course, he/she will be able to retake the exam after completing the Review Course for the ALC Accreditation exam.  An additional fee will be required. An additional fee will be required to take the course.  If you decide to sell or buy real estate, why not choose someone who specializes in the type real estate you have an interest in and go with the best!! For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090

What are Land Prices doing?

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed writing this blog. I enjoy sharing knowledge and experiences and it causes me to read and research different topics.

I am often asked about land prices… are they getting better?  It is getting more difficult to track prices due to amount of transactions. I have had this discussion with other land brokers and appraisers. There are fewer and fewer sales to look at some, so the analysis becomes more difficult.  Intuitively, I thought prices had bottomed out about 1 -2 years ago and had remained sort of flat since then, my research proved otherwise. I have included a chart as a visual aid to this article. To begin with, the land prices are average prices for a 3 county area located between Columbus and Lagrange (Meriwether, Harris and Talbot). Columbus is the third largest city in the state of Georgia. Therefore these prices may be much different than the area you live in. The numbers are interesting,  but trends are what we are focusing on. The graphs covers Price Per Acre from 2007 to 2012.

 Many areas are experiencing improved activity in their housing market (this is a localized phenomena). Many areas maybe most areas are experiencing flat prices. Some have predicted we are at the bottom, let’s hope so.  Housing will lead the way and land will follow later. Everyone needs a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in, you do not have to own land. Land is an investment and the buyer has a very different profile from the home buyer.

What does all this mean, I’ll tell you!

For Sellers…. If you are planning to sell, you have to be properly positioned in the market place. No one knows when these prices will recover or how long it will take. Your property has to be priced based on the market not some emotional, pie in the sky number. Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush and you miss out on opportunity cost. The money from the sell of your property may be better off paying off debt or buying other assets. You can use a 1031 exchange and prevent a tax event,  if buying other like kind assets.

For Buyers…. It is a great time to buy!  Why wait, prices are low and so are interest rates. Land is a great way to diversify your portfolio, I own land as well. If you buy the right tract, it will generate some cash flow along the way, maybe from thinning some timber, leasing the hunting rights, farm rents and other techniques. That tract of land can offer lasting memories with the kids and grand kids, riding ATVs, fishing, hunting, hiking etc.

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090

Why Do Folks Prescribe Burn their Forest?

I wrote about this topic earlier, but I have seen lots of burning going on. Lots of smoke out there....it's that time of the year again!  I decided to repost. Prescribed burning is one of the most effective and cheapest tool available to the land owner. Thanks to “Smokey The Bear” many have shied away from the practice. Therefore I decided to address this important topic.

Let’s start with a definition -  "Prescribed" burning is defined  as fire applied in a knowledgeable manner to forest fuels on a specific land area under selected weather conditions to accomplish predetermined, well-defined management objectives.

Reasons We Burn - Just as with natural and human-ignited fires in the past, prescribed burning today accomplishes many important ecological functions and landowner objectives.

Reduction of Hazardous Fuels - Prescribed burning removes accumulated fuels and therefore the risk of intense fires. Arson, human carelessness, and lightning will inevitably ignite fires in many states across the nation. The rate of spread and damage caused by the resulting fires are directly related to fuel types and volumes. Fire intensity is much lower in grasses and small shrubs than in a 10-year-old growth of saw palmetto and wax myrtle. Manu fuels have high levels of resins. Prescribed burning must be repeated at regular intervals to maintain the protective effect of reduced vegetative fuels. In the long growing seasons of the Southeast, it takes only four to five years for fuels to return to hazardous levels. 

Altering Vegetative Communities - Many public agencies and some private landowners conduct prescribed burns to restore or improve natural forest conditions. Longleaf pine forests are commonly burned, but so are ecosystems as diverse as sandhill scrub and wet sawgrass or pondcypress prairies. In these natural forests, burning promotes seed germination, flowering, or resprouting of fire-adapted native plants and generally improves wildlife habitat.

Prescribed burning also changes the composition and density of existing vegetation. In forestry operations, fire at three- to five-year intervals reduces competing vegetation under forest stands over 10 years old. In pasture and range systems, fire is used at two- to three-year intervals to reduce encroachment of shrubs and invasive exotic weeds. 

Improving Wildlife and Livestock Habitat - Regular burning of rangelands and understory plants improves forage quality and quantity for wildlife and livestock. New shrub, herb, and grass sprouts capture the quick flush of nutrients into the soil after a fire and are often more nutritious and palatable than older plants. Fires promote flower, seed, and fruit production, thus increasing available nuts and fruits for wildlife. Insects also increase rapidly after most fires. Burning different areas at different intervals and in different seasons produces a diversity of landscapes, animal food, and cover sources. Prescribed fire intervals of two to four years are generally used to promote this diversity.

Controlling Pest Problems - Prescribed burning has been used to control several different pest problems:

·         needle disease on longleaf pine seedlings;

·         bark beetles in infested trees that are cut and piled;

·         root rot fungi;

·         spittle bugs in pastures; and

·         ticks and red bugs (chiggers).

Improving Access - By reducing dead fuels, harvest residues, and dense understory shrubs, prescribed fires can increase:

·         openings for tree planting or natural regeneration;

·         visibility within a stand for recreation or hunting;

·         openings for wildlife feeding, travel, and display;

·         access for hiking and other recreational activities.

In summary…Prescribe Burning is a cheap tool to keep your forest healthy, improve aesthetic value and decrease the potential for a very destructive wildfire !

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at      (706) 457-0090