The Scoop
The Press Room
Buying the Country
 “We saw large numbers of individual investors coming from many areas to buy forestland in the middle of nowhere, so they would have a productive places to deer and turkey hunt with their friends,” Jim Logan of Eutaw, Alabama, a real-estate broker with Mossy Oak Properties’ Logan Land Company, explains. “The Black Belt, so named because of its rich black soil, of Alabama and Mississippi has been known as the deer-hunting capital of the world. This has been the most-important reason we’re seeing increasing numbers of people buying forest-recreation lands that once were timber and farmlands. Because we’re in the forestry-consulting business, most of our clients are sellers who own large tracts of forestlands and want to sell them as recreational properties. Often, we take lands that may not be really-good for growing timber but can be excellent for growing deer and turkeys and help our clients sell these lands for forest recreation. Then we reinvest their money in lands more suitable for growing timber. One of our biggest problems is finding land to sell in our region. Much of the land in our area is family-owned or owned by large timber companies. Once we find a tract of land to sell, we usually can locate a buyer quickly.”
One reason this particular section of the country is in such high demand and lands for sale are so hard to find is because of the soil type. The main component for growing timber and wildlife, especially deer, is extremely-fertile soil. The more fertile the soil is, the more highly-nutritious native food and agricultural crops you can produce to grow bigger deer quicker. Like the soils that run along the Mississippi River, in Greene County, south Alabama and east Mississippi, this Black Belt soil is extremely-fertile and can sustain large numbers of deer, turkey and other wildlife. It also has the potential to grow really-big bucks, if properly managed. Most investors know that when you have high-quality soil, the land is more valuable for agriculture and wildlife. When you consider this region’s history of producing large numbers of big deer, you can see why the demand for property here is so high.
“Because we have an extremely-good Interstate system that comes through Greene County, we’re not nearly as remote as we were in the past,” Logan mentions. “Many hunters from north and south Alabama’s heavily-populated major cities can drive to Greene County in two hours or less. Even investors from Florida and Louisiana often can drive here in less than half a day. The property we sell that was once far out in the country is now less than a 2-hour drive from many investors’ homes. We’ve seen the Interstate system drastically increase the demand for land in our county. Today, almost anyone in Alabama and half of Mississippi can drive to Greene County in three hours or less. We’ve learned that our distance from major-metropolitan areas that once may have been perceived as a barrier for buying recreational properties is no longer a problem today.”
For more information on Mossy Oak Properties’ Logan Land Company in Eutaw, Alabama, call Jim Logan at (205) 372-9800, or email him at jlogan@mossyoakproperties.com.
Tomorrow: Growing Houses
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