The Scoop
The Press Room
Many Floridians Hunt in Alabama
In many areas, the real-estate agents proudly boasting the Mossy Oak Properties signs are people who have lived and worked in the area for many years. “I got in the real estate business in Eufaula in 1971,” Tom Jones of Mossy Oak Properties of Eufaula, Alabama, explains. “One of the advantages that we saw early on was that being a part of Mossy Oak Properties would help us find new customers. The Internet has definitely proved that we were correct, because we get quite a few queries and investors coming to us via the Internet.”
About 8- to 10-years ago, Jones recognized that there was a new type of investor looking for woodland properties. “Alabama has always been a mecca for deer hunting. We’ve always had a good number of hunters coming from Florida to Alabama and more especially to Barbour County to hunt deer. As farm land in Florida became more and more valuable to developers, hunters there started selling their lands in Florida, searching for places to invest the money they received from the sale of their lands. Many of them were using 1031 exchange money from property that they once leased for deer hunting. They now wanted to own the lands that they hunted, be able to raise timber on them, and enjoy good investments for the profits they’ve received from the sale of their properties in Florida.”
One of the factors that has contributed to the rapid increase in the demand for Florida lands is the retirement segment of the population. Property in Florida that has produced strawberries, tomatoes, oranges and lemons has now been converted to retirement communities, primarily for older investors who are looking for warmer climates. Like many northerners dream of coming to Florida, many Floridians dream of coming to south Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisianan to hunt. The southern states always have had an abundance of deer and turkey and waterfowl in some areas. The South has always drawn sportsmen from the North. The South has longer hunting seasons and more-liberal bag limits than most northern states do. However, we often forget that Florida, being the farthest point that you can go down the East Coast, doesn’t tend to boast as many hunting opportunities as the states just north of it do.
“In recent years, the southern halves of states like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have seen a big influx of Florida investors,” Jones reports. Mossy Oak Properties of Eufaula seems to be one of the favorite stopping points for the Floridians moving north. However in the last year, we’ve seen that huge influx of Florida investors begin to slow down some, and more property has become available in our area.
To learn more about Mossy Oak Properties of Eufaula, Alabama, call Tom Jones at (334) 687-3690, or go to www.mossyoakproperties.com.
Tomorrow: Fishing’s Great, But Deer, Quail, and Hogs Seem to Be the Drawing Cards
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