The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: http://landreport.epubxp.com/i/522012
S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 | The LandReport 73 LANDREPORT.COM N A T I O N A L Farmers National Company www.farmersnational.com (800) 346-2650 2014 Sales: > $1 Billion Who: Offering a full range of services to buyers, sellers, and landowners along with private treaty listings, auctions, and buyer's agency, FNC offers comprehensive farm and ranch management services, forestry management, building leases, appraisals, consultations, and insurance. Wow: Multiple auctions of large ranches. Insight: While "the land market slowed in 2014, Farmers National Company's market share increased in many areas," says Vice President Randy Dickhut. "The land market in 2015 will respond to supply and demand dynamics and the direction of commodity prices." Land Advisors Organization www.landadvisors.com (800) 888-0998 2014 Sales: > $ 1 Billion Who: Leaders in the brokerage of land and land-related assets, integrating comprehensive information, cutting-edge mapping technology, and skilled professionals with offices in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Insight: "We would describe 2014 as a time of unrealized expectations. It seemed like it was going to be the breakout year that so many in the industry expected, but that simply did not happen," says President Brian Rosener. "We believe that the second half of 2015 will be considerably better than the first half. Demand will continue to grow, ultimately resulting in transactions that are, in essence, necessary rather than simply desired." Mossy Oak Properties www.mossyoakproperties.com (866) 667-2289 2014 Sales: $100 - $250 Million Who: Network of more than 75 franchise offices in 22 states with expertise in rural land for recreational and investment purposes. Wow: The Mossy Oak Properties network has opened offices in a dozen new states in the past five years and saw a 23 percent revenue growth in 2014. Insight: "Our phenomenal growth trend continued into 2014," says Mossy Oak Properties CEO Chris Hawley. "Our network has firmly entrenched itself as a player in the national land brokerage business." LandLeader www.landleader (844) 281-4301 2014 Sales: > $500 Million Who: Marketing and listing service specializing in promoting land, ranches, recreational properties, farms, waterfront properties, and hunting land. Wow: In its very first year, LandLeader membership grew to over 170 land brokers listing over $1.7 billion in real estate. Insight: "Land is the new gold, whether you're buying a farm, ranch, timber tract or recreation- al property for your family," says Marketing Director Dan Brunk. "U.S. property is as safe an investment as there is in the world today." United Country Real Estate w ww.unitedcountry.com (800) 999-1020 2014 Sales: > $1 Billion Who: The largest fully integrated n etwork of conventional and auction real estate professionals in the world with nearly 600 offices and 5,000 professionals across four continents. Wow: Linda Niebur of Mason & Morse Ranch Company sold a 6,700-acre South Carolina ranch in December for $27.5 million. T I M B E R AFM Land Sales www.afmlandsales.com (704) 527-6780 2014 Sales: > $500 Million Who: Providing brokerage and expert acquisition analysis of timberland, recreational farm- land, hunting plantations, and conservation properties. Wow: A $78 million sale that included properties in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. Insight: According to Director of Real Estate Tom Margo, "The market continues to show that there remains a strong interest from investors looking to land as a stable vehicle to diversify their investment portfolio." American Timberlands Company www.americantimberlands.com (843) 979-2221 2014 Sales: < $50 Million Who: Southeastern-based land investment, management, and brokerage with extensive practical experience in timber- land, farmland, recreational properties, and plantations. Wow: A merican Timberlands Company originated and p ermitted one of the largest wetland and stream mitigation banks in South Carolina and the first mitigation bank in the state to produce coastal wetland and stream restoration credits. Insight: "The spread between prices for core timberland versus value-added timberland widened to perhaps the largest margin we have ever seen with value-added timberland commanding signifi- cantly higher prices," says Director of Capital Markets Harris Chewning. "High-net- worth investors are expressing increasing interest in timberland as a result of the capital gains tax treatment of direct timberland investments and the conserva- tion-related tax savings potential of timberland." LandVest www.landvest.com (617) 723-1800 2014 Sales: > $500 Million Who: "LandVest's brokerage business manages the disposi- tion, planning, and marketing of investment-grade timberland properties on behalf (and to) institutional investors and high- net-worth families. We specialize in the largest and most complex properties that offer ancillary values and uses, in addition to the core timber operating potential," says Joseph Taggart of the LandVest Institutional Advisory Group. Wow: The sale of Oregon's 600,000-acre JWTR Timber- lands belonging to the estate of Richard Wendt, founder of JELD-WEN Windows & Doors, to the Reed family's Green Diamond Resource Company, one of the oldest continuously operating forest products com- panies in the Pacific Northwest.