#152 All the Ways to Buy Dirt
NW Call to Action
4-week Auction Cohort
The Auction Cohort begins next week! Make sure you are ready to buy ground.
It is a live, four-week experience designed to help farmers win at the next land sale. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of which apps, tools, and resources the most frequent land buyers are using to prepare for auction day (or any land purchase).
Decide how much you will bid on the farm.
Learn when to consult with attorneys. Have confidence you are making the right choice.
You never know when the farm next door comes up for sale. It could be 15 years OR it could be tomorrow. Make sure you are the most prepared person in the room so you can act quickly; decisively, and come away with the ground.
Sign-up here to join us: https://www.farm640.com/fbt-b-list
SW Financial Literacy
All the Ways to Buy Dirt
I was on my way to Texas and thinking about the hundreds of different ways you can buy ground. The thing is, when you talk to most farmers they think there are two ways to make purchases:
auctions
listings
and both of those are through a realtor.
By believing there are only two ways to buy ground, they have a fairly narrow approach for preparing for the sale. The sad thing is, auctions and listings are the most expensive and financially detrimental way to purchase dirt. Not only are you likely to get a bad deal but it limits you from your real land buying potential.
Take, for instance, buying out of an estate. Land appraised through an estate typically comes in slightly below market value. If the family agrees to sell it to you at that price, you can get a heck of a deal without overpaying for the property.
Or even private deals (not from an estate). There are way more private land transactions every single year than what is listed or auctioned through realtors. If you aren't in the know privately, you are missing out on 70% of the land switching hands.
And it isn't always just about how the ground is sold. There are hundreds of different ways to structure the purchase as well. You can make a massive down payment and have the collateral be stand alone. You could leverage existing collateral or get FSA joint financing for zero down payment. You can work through seller carry loans, utilize 1031 exchange tax advantages, or get investor financing. The list of possibilities really is never ending.
So now that we've identified that there are more than two ways to buy ground and definitely more than two dozen ways to complete the purchase on the backend, where do you begin preparing for these different transactions? Or how do you come up with a plan for determining the right amount to bid?
How are others doing it?
What People Are Doing
Joining the Auction Cohort to discover new ways to buy ground.
I've had an active recent history pursuing crop ground:
2020 Online auction = lost
2020 In person auction = won
2023 Sealed bid sale = won
2025 Online auction = lost
2026 Private sale = won
2026 Private sale = lost
Between my own pursuit of land + financing dozens of other land transactions, I created a template for myself to prepare for land sales. I did this to ensure I wouldn't skip any steps while preparing for the offer and purchase.
The 30-Day Auction Cohort is going to walk you through those steps, to help you be fully confident and prepared for your next land buying opportunity. With a live session, we can bounce ideas off each other and learn the best practices from all across the country.
Your next opportunity to buy could be next week or even tomorrow. Which is why you need to be prepared today.
Since you made it this far, you get to cut the line and can register right now for 50% off the live session. If the live session doesn't work for you, you can get the recordings instead. These discounts are only available for 2 days, so grab them now!
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice for your operation. This is what I have seen in some of the toughest situations on average across hundreds of operations. All views expressed are my own and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which I have been, am now, or will be affiliated. Information provided is authentic to the best of my knowledge, and as such, is prone to errors and the absence of key details. The content of this blog is for entertainment and informative purposes and should not be seen as professional advice to finances or any other field.
Have a great week!
Grant
