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American Land Seller Podcast
Discover the pulse of the land with the 'American Land Seller Podcast', your essential guide to the dynamic world of land-related real estate. Each episode is a journey into the heart of the land, exploring diverse and timely topics from the lucrative potentials of crypto mine sites to the evolving landscapes of carbon credits and alternative energy ventures. Our expert insights and lively discussions make this podcast not just informative, but a delightful and educational experience. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a real estate enthusiast, or simply curious about the land beneath our feet, this podcast promises to enlighten, entertain, and inspire. Join us as we uncover the hidden gems and untold stories of the land market in our fast-paced, ever-changing world.
American Land Seller Podcast
Episode 24: From Sales to Soil Rachel Heller's Agricultural Real Estate Triumphs
Join us in the latest episode of "American Land Seller" as we sit down with Rachelle Heller, an Accredited Land Consultant with Hertz Farm Management. With a career spanning seven years, Rachelle has not only established herself as a trusted expert in agricultural real estate but also as a passionate hunter and avid outdoors enthusiast.
Born and raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Rachelle's journey from her agricultural roots to becoming the President of the Iowa chapter of the Realtors Land Institute is nothing short of inspiring. In this episode, we explore her deep connection to the land, insights into farmland sales in Southeast Iowa, and the unique perspective she brings to the industry.
But Rachelle's story goes beyond the boardroom. As a devoted mother and the wife of Rick Heller, Head Baseball Coach at the University of Iowa, Rachelle shares her love for the outdoors with her family. From her farm in Van Buren County to cheering on the Hawkeyes and supporting her daughter, Vivienne, in wrestling and softball, Rachelle's life is a vibrant blend of professional excellence and personal passion.
Tune in as we uncover the layers of Rachelle Heller's fascinating journey, her commitment to the land, and her unwavering love for hunting and the great outdoors. Don't miss this engaging episode that goes beyond the typical real estate discussion, offering a glimpse into the life of an accomplished professional with a heart deeply rooted in nature.
www.Hertz.AG
Rachelle Heller Contact:
rachelleh@hertz.ag
319-382-3363
Realtors Land Institute - Iowa Chapter
www.rliland.com/iowa
Today on the American Land Seller, we catch up with Rachel Heller, an accredited land consultant with Hertz Farm Management. With an illustrious career spanning seven years, rachel has become a trusted and knowledgeable figure in agricultural real estate, focusing on farmland sales in Southeast Iowa. Born and raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York, rachel's deep appreciation for the land and its potential was instilled in her from a young age. After earning her master's degree in organizational development, she made the move to Iowa, transitioning from pharmaceutical sales to her current role in land sales. Rachel's dedication to the industry is further evidenced by her role as the president of the Iowa Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute, rli. As a licensed salesperson in both Iowa and Missouri, an auctioneer and a drone pilot, she has also earned the esteemed ALC designation and is a four-time recipient of the coveted Apex Award.
Speaker 1:Beyond her professional pursuits, she is also a passionate hunter and avid outdoorsman. Her love for the great outdoors extends beyond her career, finding solace and joy, spending time at her farm in Van Buren County, sharing these moments with her husband, rick Heller, the head baseball coach at the University of Iowa. Rachel is a devoted mother, passionately supporting her daughter, vivian, who excels in wrestling and softball. Join us in this episode as we meet Rachel Heller and gain insights into agricultural real estate and her deep connection to the land and the vibrant community she serves, all while exploring her love for hunting and the great outdoors. As always, we hope you take away something from this episode.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the American Land Seller Podcast with your host, kobe Richardson. Kobe is an accredited land consultant and multi-state land broker with American Legacy Land Company. Join us each week as we explore all things land. We bring you fresh insights and expert guests on sales, marketing, regulations, economics and so much more. Visit wwwamericanlandsellercom and find us on one of your favorite podcast platforms. Okay, kobe and our special guests, let's get started.
Speaker 1:Hey everybody, welcome back to the American Land Seller Podcast. Super excited today. Once again, I gotta say the last. All of our guests are pretty good, but man, the last. We've been knocking it out of the park. This year we have Rachel Heller from Hertz. Rachel, how are you today?
Speaker 3:I'm good, Kobe. Hey, thank you so much for having me on. I'm super excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're excited to have you. We're in the same RLI chapter and so and what I think is pretty exciting you are the captain, you're the president this year of the Iowa chapter of RLI, correct?
Speaker 3:Yes, I am, which is a funny.
Speaker 3:I'm a little modest about things like that.
Speaker 3:It's a being a politician is not something that is normally my wheelhouse or that comes naturally to me, but I'm super excited and thankful for the opportunity to be serve as president of the Iowa chapter this year. Obviously, you're a member of it, as you know. I feel like we've got one of the strongest chapters out there. We've got a great group of guys, I think, membership-wise, and we've got about 70 guys around the state. I would say about half of those have their ALCs. So I mean it's a really strong group of guys that have a lot of experience, have sold a boatload of land and a lot of them, like I said, they have their ALCs. I mean they're really serious about it, focused on their education and being the best of the best. So to have the opportunity to be involved with this group is an absolute honor and I'm just super thankful for my chance to serve as president and give back to this group, because they've helped me a ton and it's been a ton of fun to be a part of.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think something that I guess I've never said before but I've always thought this is I've encouraged people to check it out In our industry. I've said, hey, check out RLI. And most of the time I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not, but most of the time if you send an email out to the mothership in Chicago, you might be able to get that $150 waived for some new person. I leveraged that a little bit once in a while.
Speaker 1:And be like hey, can I sneak somebody in? Can you give them a good deal? And usually they're like, yeah, go ahead, We'll waive the $150 this one time and so, but anyway, but those people that I'd gotten in, it's like I've never had one person go. Yeah, this isn't for me. If you're in our industry, this is absolutely for you, and if you're not in it, you need to check it out.
Speaker 3:So, but we just so awesome because it does it takes. It takes people like you, you know, to get that snowball started. I think over in Iowa we've kind of gotten to the point where you know you're going to have a lot of guys calling you going. You know this is great, you need to be a part of this, but you don't, you don't start from that. So you need people like you going. No, there is, there's value in this, there's reasons to be a part of this and you're exactly right, I mean it's. You're not going to hear about guys that are like, no, I'm not, it wasn't worth, you know, whatever the annual membership fee is, and that's kind of the goal.
Speaker 1:I mean you want value to be there and I think that's like, that's something in every organization that I'm in is, you know, like it's, what is the value for your members? Why would they want to pay it? You know, and I think in our, our residential brothers and sisters, a lot of time, you know they, they are realtors, because to be in the MLS and to you know, like there's, it's like a burden instead of a, instead of a, maybe a positive in their career. And so I, I like you know, I just don't know of anybody that thinks of RLI as a burden. It's, it's, it's great networking, it's, it's a great tool in my career, for sure.
Speaker 3:So yeah, you're right, though I it's. It's a totally different feel, because I am, you know, a member of a local MLS and I'm not knocking those in the.
Speaker 3:they have their benefits and their place as well. But from a cultural and team standpoint it's a completely different feel. But I think that is going back to what you were saying. I think that's the difference and I think one of the goals of our local chapter in Iowa and one of my goals as president this year, is to really continue to focus on providing value for our members.
Speaker 3:Just looking at, okay, from an education standpoint, who needs what? You know, how many people are working towards their ALC? What can we do to encourage them if they haven't started? If they have, you know, what classes do they still need or haven't taken? Just so you know, we provide classes on an annual basis. You know, is it relevant to what our members want? You know, are they classes that they're useful, that they haven't taken or that can help, you know, get them to the goal of getting that ALC? So, yeah, I think you know we just want to make sure members are getting more out of it than what they have to put in.
Speaker 3:And I think it's funny because when I first joined RLI, I don't think I really knew or took advantage of everything that it had to offer. It was just like, okay, everybody at Hertz was a part of it. So you know I'm gonna jump on board but I didn't start out joining all the monthly calls and taking advantage of the socials and different things. So I think you know, looking ahead, one thing we are gonna try to change is just having maybe an orientation, some kind of orientation for new members so they know exactly what the opportunities are, what they can get out of the membership, but also how they can get involved. You know it's not something you have to jump in and be on the executive committee and there's different levels of involvement in different ways that you can chip in even if you don't. You know you've got a busy schedule or family and don't have a ton of time or just getting started and you know really wanna focus on building your business Just ways to kind of get everybody involved if they wanna be involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's one of those things too that I'm a little like, I like to stir the pot and stuff, but it's been a crazy last two years. So we're in with you guys, but it's a long ways to Iowa City or Des Moines where a lot of the stuff happens for me for the commute and so that's my goal has been let's try and backfill enough people so that forces you guys to come back to Omaha or Lincoln or something at the very least.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and obviously for us specifically we've talked about you know what can we do to get another class either, you know, council Bluffs, omaha, somewhere over that direction, because you're not the only outlier. I mean Hertz has got a couple offices over there, I mean in Des Moines. That's gonna be just as close if you're in Des Moines, ames. But that's going back to what we're talking about. We wanna be able to do those things to kind of adjust and make sure that we're helping everybody kind of as a whole so we all grow together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I did. Actually I started the end of last year. I am a land you instructor, so on three classes. So if you I knew that which is awesome.
Speaker 3:It's good, you know, we've got some older guys that have been teaching classes for a long time. It's good to get new, younger guys in there to fill these roles because and it's also awesome to have guys that have good experience selling land. You know, it makes it relevant. It makes it more fun, Selfishly, for me, I love going to the classes with guys from the Midwest that teach because it's relevant to what we do on a daily basis, so I think that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it's a little. You get it like I did the Justin Osborn and I just did a podcast the other day and we were both called it the money, the money one. You know like the class were and so I had Phil McGinnis from Delaware was teaching class and like his idea of a farm and my idea of a farm or two absolutely different worlds let alone, so it was fun to take a class with him to kind of get that perspective of you know like 10 to 15 acres is a pretty good sized farm in Delaware, where you know like I don't even count that as something that should count towards your ALS.
Speaker 3:No, the land investment analysis, is that the class, yeah, the money one you know the money one. I know exactly what you were talking about. Yes, that was an intense couple of days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Justin and I were laughing about that one, because that was not, either, one of our favorite ones, but I learned a ton off of that one. And but again it goes back to it's like my first class I ever took was with Randy Hertz and Council Bluffs, and you know I make this comment. A lot is like here's Randy, who's technically, you know, like we don't have anything really near us, but technically he's a competitor in a room full of like 20 people that he's teaching a class to. That he's just got like all our collateral's just over there. You can just have it, take it home, whatever you want. You know, just take a look at this and you know it's just like about halfway through the first day or like I think he's really telling us what he does like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he's just like going through, and this is how we do it.
Speaker 1:And you know, we have, you know, do this, this and this. And it was. You know. I thought, man, I'm being pumped, or something Like how is he giving me all this stuff? And you know, because you can.
Speaker 3:You can meet real estate agents. That is a very, you know, doggy dog world and they want, you know, they want success for themselves. And Randy and I you know Hertz as a company, as a kind of a culture, is, you know, very focused on educating and being better for the purpose of our clients. And I don't think that matters, you know, if you're necessarily just with Hertz, I mean, it's all works out in the end and at the end of the day, I mean, if it's sports business, whatever you're looking at, you can share all the information that you have, because the great people didn't know that they're on their own, you know they also were helped by somebody before them. So it's a good you know you have this duty, I feel, to share what you know and to help the people coming up.
Speaker 3:But also, at the end of the day, you can put everything you know and all your systems and knowledge out there. 80% of the people are probably not going to implement it fully. So, even if you share all the tips and tricks and trades, it's something completely different To have the information and to take it and to utilize it effectively. So, even though you know we can go back to being still competitive and, you know, wanting to win every proposal that we put out there, but at the same time, you know, at the end of the day, still looking at it as something we're all working to get better. So we all are better for our clients and for ourselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the industry, because if we don't work together to be the best that we can be, the industry becomes Not only irrelevant but painful for people. And so I, you know, I think that's the trick with like, our ally, that's everybody's attitude, is that you know it's like, yes, you know we will, I can call, I can go Point a dot on a ALC or a person in RLI, make a phone call and talk for an hour on. You know, like, hey, I got this problem, what do you think? And they will sit there like they had nothing better to do. You know, like, and just be like. This is this is what I think. So, yeah, that's, it's a great, a great organization and so super excited. Congratulations on your year as as the president. So.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. So far it's been fun.
Speaker 1:I'm looking forward to it so well I think we'll take a brief break and we will be right back. The American Land Seller podcast is brought to you in part by land hubcom. Join us today and experience the expertise of land hubs land marketing professionals, whether you're buying or selling. Let us show you the way in the ever-evolving world of land transactions. Visit land hubcom and discover what the future of land marketing looks like. Land hubcom where your land journey begins. All right, we're back with Rachel Heller from Hertz Land company, or Hertz.
Speaker 3:So it's great question. So kind of the main company is actually Hertz farm management. So within that, you know, hertz has essentially three main branches. They've got their farm management, which is how you know Hertz started out. We've also got our real estate Division, which is what I focus in. I don't know any farm management at all, just buying selling. And then we've also gotten appraisal department, so kind of three branches, which is it's nice because it's nice to have Access to people that are in all of those departments.
Speaker 3:You know, it really helps me to talk with farm managers, knowing if they, you know, buyer, seller, looking for a tenant, or kind of just to keep a pulse on a real, regular basis For what cash rents are doing, tile costs, things like that, and even just, you know, a little bit deeper conversations about commodity markets. It's just a great resource to have Having an appraisal department. You know goes without saying. It's a Great resource just because I've got questions which you know. Right now I feel like I've got a lot of questions and some of what's going on in certain areas.
Speaker 3:It's just great to have a certified appraiser that I can call and bounce things off of or just say you know, what do you? What do you think about this sale? What do you think about? You know? Buildings, windmills, haul, confinements, just to get another opinion. So it's a good. It's a good combination and really good synergy of those kind of three, three aspects and I feel like it does work well to kind of benefit clients in the long run that's.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's one thing that you know, like I I've talked about this before, I know, but like between Iowa and Nebraska, where I'm at, like the eastern end of Iowa, of Nebraska is a little bit similar, but the dirt is different. You know, like I don't under. You know like tiling Perplexes me and you guys like that's one of your mainstays out there is like why do you want to get rid of the water? We need that, like let's have that sit around for a while. No, we need it.
Speaker 3:We need to get rid of the water. It's, it's, yeah, it's, and it's, you know, becoming More and more. You know they're just talking about more and more important, just as far as the, the impact on on yields, getting Getting rid of the water Right now, obviously it's been a drier year, so I'm not sure if it's helping quite as much this year, but overall, yes, completely different world. I wish we could run all these tiles Across the Missouri River over to you, but I don't think that's gonna work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or be awesome, yeah, it's hard to, that's just, that's the. I think I've heard that so many times in this country, though, that like it's just, if we could just figure out a way to do an equity on water, you know, then you could. You know, like, if you could just Make, take the stuff from the east and give it to California, you know Like, and so that we had just enough all the way across, it'd be like a trick and long tricks, but unfortunately that's not the way the the globe works.
Speaker 3:So if you can figure that out, I think you're gonna be doing really well.
Speaker 1:The problem is is it would probably take a pipeline system and I know I was not super excited about pipelines, so yeah, no, that can be.
Speaker 3:That can be a very, very polarizing very. Yeah, those can be big issues.
Speaker 1:So what I mean. How did you decide that this was what you wanted to do? Did you start like some of us and Third grade wanting to be a real estate agent and that's, that's where your dreams and aspirations all began, or no?
Speaker 3:I'm so glad you asked this because this is something I love. I love hearing stories about how guys got into this business because, yeah, for most people it wasn't your guidance counselor or just waking up, going I want to sell farms, going all the way back. I guess it might kind of a long story. I grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, which seems crazy because I know you people hear the word New York and they get nervous. But the county I grew up and had far more dairy cattle in it than it did people. So it's Extremely rural. But so grew up.
Speaker 3:My dad was a third generation dairy farmer, extremely thankful to grow up on a farm. I mean you can't, you can't beat it as far as like an upbringing, the fun and and the environment and the work ethic. I mean it's, it's wonderful. But I I also knew that milk and cows was not my thing. We milk cows three times a day, so you start at 4 30 in the morning and the last shift ended about 1 30 in the morning. So it was. It was great. I got to afford a lot of new toys when I was a teenager, but I knew that's not what I wanted to do as a living, so I told my parents that I wanted to go to college I didn't want to stay on the farm and luckily they were very supportive of that.
Speaker 3:College. Grad school, moved to Iowa and got into pharmaceutical sales, which was a good job. I learned a lot about people and about selling. It was a great job, but that's what I'll call it. It was a job to me, not a career. It wasn't something that I woke up and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so passionate about selling drugs. It just it wasn't that for me.
Speaker 3:And then, honestly, it just it got to a point where I was traveling a ton. Ironically, I was actually in Lincoln every week, so I was in a hotel room two to three nights a week. My husband travels a ton for his job. My daughter was young at the time. We got to the point we've got two nannies and daycare, nobody's home and I was just like is this really what it's all about? Is this what my life is supposed to be?
Speaker 3:And just got an opportunity to get into real estate selling land, and haven't looked back. It was the perfect situation for me because it coupled two of the things that I really was passionate about. I love the land and that part of farming being outdoors I always loved, so to combine that with kind of the marketing sales background that I had, you know it was absolute dream come true and I haven't had to milk a single cow, so it was a win, win, win situation for me. So, yeah, that's how, and you know I have been with her since. It's been a great situation, yeah that is a great story.
Speaker 1:And you don't do it just to prove you can. Every once in a while you just don't you know go.
Speaker 3:No, not ever no.
Speaker 1:Well, I grew up on a farm and I love going out like and helping with harvest and stuff like that to remind me why I did the right thing and not do it. But I mean I love the story, you know.
Speaker 3:Yes, the tractor stuff I love. Yeah, being out there I'll do you know food plots for deer and things like that. That portion I love it was. If it wasn't the cows I probably would be a farmer. That just wasn't. That wasn't my passion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we just, we just recently were at the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic, at their trade show and their show and sale and everything, and I love to go hang out with those guys. But you know, like my dad got into the cow business kind of after his second career and so he had a bunch of cows and we joked around with him. We were like bud, we don't, my brother and I we're going to hire an auctioneer that's also a reverend. We can say a few nice things, run 25 pair across and sell them. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:So you know, I mean you know it's, you know it's, yeah, it's not, it's not for anybody. I mean I respect people that do it because it's it's a, you know, honest, hard, hard way to make a living, but it's it's not for everybody.
Speaker 1:So, so what did you start with herds? Or did you start, you know, like, why did you? Why do you pick herds?
Speaker 3:No. So I started out with whitetail properties and got into that. I'm a big hunter, I love it, I love, I love deer hunting, I love turkey hunting, I love hunting anything. I'm like a little kid but started out with that and just got into selling more row crop farms and just kind of lucked out and talked with Randy. They had an office that was opening in Washington, which is not far from where, where I live. So, you know, started up with them and they opened that office and it's, you know, been a great, great fit for me and so you know, so focus obviously a lot more on row crop sales. We do sell some, you know, mixed use farms and some recreational farms, but primarily, you know, cropland.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's kind of similar to what we are too. I mean, you got you know. I wouldn't say that we're like Southern Illinois or like upstate New York, where you can like say this is specifically, it's probably our Scandinavian upbringing out here. You know, like we're not going to commit to anything. We can still put cows on that, but deer can live there too, you know. So I don't think they don't need to do much of the corn. We're fine with having a few deer, I mean, but no, that's a problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no. But so no, I, I, I did not know that about you. And why tell properties? I did not know that's how you got your start. But yeah, no, it hurts as a yeah, an absolutely great company.
Speaker 1:I like I've never met anybody from there that I haven't really, just kind of absolutely. You know, I think they're all rock stars, so but yeah, if you don't mind, I think we got one more segment left, rachel. So if you don't mind hanging out and doing one more, or you got to go somewhere- you know I'd love to hang out, All right.
Speaker 1:Well, we will be right back. The American Land Seller podcast is brought to you in part by American Legacy Land Company. At American Legacy, our seasoned agents set us apart, providing unmatched service with a personal touch that goes beyond expectations. With a wealth of market knowledge and a diverse portfolio including farms, ranches, development lands and recreational properties, we forge lasting connections with clients through honesty, integrity and transparency. Visit us at American Legacy Land Cocom and find the land that defines your legs. All right, we're back here with Rachel Heller from Hertz in Iowa, and you know we were talking about this a little bit at the break, but I do have to bring up the fact that the most exciting thing that's happened in Nebraska recently is that we beat your girls basketball team, so it was a pretty exciting day in Lincoln that day.
Speaker 3:No, I mean that was I was watching the game. I mean that was Kudos. Hats off to them. I mean they played really well. I mean they played extremely well and obviously you know Caitlin Clark and this Iowa team, they're tough to beat. I mean, if you want to beat them you've got to show up, and they did so. No, I tip my hat to them. It's certainly for Iowa. It's been a heck of a season to watch. It's been a ton of a ton of fun, and it in so much positive News and public publicity for, you know, all of women's athletics.
Speaker 1:It's just you know it's.
Speaker 3:It's great to shine a light on that and have it be in such a you know positive environment, whatever school you're at. I think it's done nothing but but elevate those sports, so it's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been a little irritated with Travelle Burt's because, like it's, it's one thing to pay attention to, like volleyball and football every year. But, good grief, they're doing everything pretty well right now. So you know the brass boys, basketball is not too shabby. The girls have been exciting to watch. The wrestling team is losing their minds and yeah so, yeah, it's so kudos to old Trev. I think he's doing a pretty good job as our athletic director.
Speaker 3:Yeah no he has. For sure you gotta. You gotta keep that Husker Nation happy. It's not a good thing, I know that's right, but no.
Speaker 1:But. So let's talk about Iowa. What? What's going on with the real estate market in Iowa? I know it's been like a heck of a ride for you guys out there and and and you're an auctioneer, and so what I always ask my friends in Iowa is is like when, how do you know what to advocate for for a client when you go in and look at a piece of dirt and you think you know, do you auction, do you list, do you know? I mean, most of the time when I talk to auctioneers it's always auction. So but yeah, but because you get up here value, or so you know, I always say that on the other side of that, you get a pure value of the people that are there that day, you know so but, so what's your, you know like, what's your secret sauce on that?
Speaker 1:What are we, what are we telling our clients out, your?
Speaker 3:well, I mean you're, you're a hundred percent right. I mean the market over the past three years has been, I mean, insane to watch. I mean it was. You know you look at what happened back in 2021, 2022. You know land values were, were skyrocketing so fast. I mean it felt like on a monthly basis. You couldn't. You couldn't keep up with what the value of land was doing it's fun of farms, hit the market and were auctioned. When I say skyrocketing values, I mean you're literally looking at five to ten percent Increases in value, like on a quarterly basis, which is just it's. It's crazy to comprehend Something appreciating that much that quickly.
Speaker 3:Obviously, things have changed as we've kind of, you know, got to the end of 2023 and and certainly going into this year, and it feels different. You know, it feels very different. I would say that you know I don't think the interest rates as of yet have has had as much impact on farmland values as they have, you know, in the residential market or in the commercial market and you know, just specifically here in Iowa, guy still have some cash, I mean, and there has, up to this point, been a lot of cash. I mean we saw record profits In 2021. Record profits 20. So you know there was just a lot of cash in the market. So when the interest right or interest rates went up, you know it wasn't this immediate, you know, crash the land market, there was still a lot of money out there supporting the land values.
Speaker 3:That being said, things have shifted, so yet interest rates play into that. The commodity markets, you know you look at foreign and soybean prices over the last 12 months and it's not good, to put it mildly, even the last few weeks, I mean things are, it's bad and it's, you know, it's not getting better right now. So that has a, you know, probably the number one thing in Iowa that's gonna impact land values. But also the buyers attitudes. You know, and they're when they're seeing these prices. You know and you know, very thin margins. Even if the last year, you know, guys had yields that were Overall, I think, better than expected, because we started out with some some droughts early on, yields are okay, but at the end of the day, I mean still the input prices were extremely high and you know profit margins just Weren't what they were seeing. And to have that and then see what we're seeing in the commodity markets now, I mean it's, it's it's changing and you can feel it. I mean you can absolutely feel it.
Speaker 3:So back to your question. You know two years ago it was A majority of farms. Yeah, let's take it to auction the markets there. I spent some money. They want to spend some money. We've got investors that are there because this is a great way for them to diversify their portfolio. We had a ton of investors in the market. So take it to auction because you're gonna get. I can't tell you where you're gonna get On some of these farms it's.
Speaker 3:We were breaking records in all these counties. So fast forward to where we're at today. It just feels different. You know Investors are your short-term investor two to three percent return on farmland. When you can throw that money into a CD and get four or five percent, the farmland just doesn't look as as attractive as it did a couple years ago. So we're not recommending taking all farms to auction, right, you know I'm not in Southeast Iowa. It's complicated. You've got to look at the farm. You know if is it 88 acres of flat black dirt, those are still gonna sell really well. I mean you're gonna have people that that's gonna do well.
Speaker 3:If the farm has is a mixed-use farm, has some flaws, a lot of waterways or big chunk of timber in it, buyers, in my opinion, don't feel the need to have that farm like they did a year ago, two years ago. They're not as excited because of what's going on with interest rates in the commodity market. So for an auction to be successful you have to have competition. You've got to have two guys there to push each other or it's not gonna work. So when we have less, less competition, less guys interested, you know an auction, in my opinion, is not always gonna be the way to go.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm also seeing a lot of variability depending on the neighborhood. You know you'll see one farm in one neighborhood Awesome, sam, competitive building, two neighbors push each other. I mean it does really well. You go a couple miles down the road. It's just a little bit different neighborhood, very similar farm, but this property doesn't butt up to, you know, a big-time farmer. We're seeing them not, you know, not do as well, so it. And so a lot of variability based on location right now, more than what we've seen in the past, in my opinion. Yeah, that's extraordinary.
Speaker 1:Smart information, I mean, and I think like the, the fun and Kind of nerve-wracking thing about being in the land industry is you are absolutely right, you can feel it, you look at three to five indicators and it's like pretty, pretty apparent what you're, what you're looking at for the next several months and which is you know.
Speaker 1:it's a little Echoy right now, I think, but yeah it'll be interesting to see the only, I think, variable Um in farmland right now. You know, because, like you said, four dollar corn, high interest rates. You know we had a fun year last year a bunch of producers that we hadn't seen for a while or back end mixing it up with, you know, in land sales. We're seeing these guys at the auctions that we haven't seen in a long time and I love it when producers are buying their they're, you know, buying the neighbor's property and improving their farms, conicash in the in the land world.
Speaker 1:One interesting thing, though that I think would be an interesting at least for the next year, is with the vacation of money from office space and needing to go somewhere in the real estate world and all the all of a sudden, more and more you see like the arie, the reeds and the and the Delaware land trusts in the in the Rural market. I'm not sure if you're seeing that we have um all of a sudden in the last eight months or so. Just Is that something? Maybe that's going to be a variable, that maybe we'll keep things at least moving along for the next Forseeable future, or you think that's just kind of a short-term deal?
Speaker 3:I think for sure it is. It's just to what degree I don't know. That's where the crystal ball would come in really handy right about now. Um, because I do think it's going to have an impact. I just it's hard for me to to confidently say how much of an impact it's gonna have. I just you know, I Maybe you have something that that I don't know. I just I just don't know. It's just hard to say right now. There's so many just things are like just it's just kind of changing.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's interesting, that's for sure. But oh yeah, I don't think. I mean, I think you might have some stability for a while. I don't know that that we're gonna see a big dip and anything. I've never really seen land prices take a hit, but but yeah, I think there's gonna be some caution. I think it's you know, and I think it some patience, that that definitely sellers aren't gonna be used to patients, you know, cuz things have been selling so quickly.
Speaker 3:Nope, I agree. I think the market, I mean there's enough strength in the ag sector as a whole. Most the land in Iowa, you know it's owned outright. We're not a an area where it's highly leveraged. So I don't see a crash or a massive dip in land values either, more of just kind of a. You know, normalization is when you look back at the last couple years I'll be not normal, but I don't I know I'm not Nervous that this is gonna be a doom and gloom thing. It's just, you know, like, like we always have to do I mean the markets constantly changing we just kind of Tie up our boots and adjust to what's going on and come up with a new game plan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's absolutely right, then that's that's. The fun thing about our job is, as we get to Constantly think about what's the next best thing and and how are we gonna conquer this hill. So so it's not. It's just like a Tuesday in our world.
Speaker 3:We don't get bored. We don't want to get bored.
Speaker 1:Do not get bored that Before we go let's just hit on some of the stuff. You know like we've talked a little bit about what the markets doing what. What kind of things are you kind of paying attention to, maybe geopolitically or or whatever that might have an impact on land sales or land ownership in the in the coming? I mean, you're the. You're the president of the Iowa chapter of RLI. You're watching this stuff pretty closely. What are you kind of looking at? So maybe we should pay attention to?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's. I mean it's a really good question. I think you know obviously you'll have the the things that are always gonna impact land values that we've talked, touched on, you know commodity prices, interest rates, input values you know they're always gonna have an impact. Just a couple of things that if there are changes, it could definitely have an impact on land values. In Iowa, 1031 exchanges you know that's. We do a lot with that and you probably do a lot with that too. If, if that was to go away, I think it would really impact the decisions that farmers and investors would make if they couldn't defer those taxes and, you know, roll into other investment properties or larger, different farms. I think that would have, could potentially have an impact on land values.
Speaker 3:The step up in basis is a big thing. In Iowa average landowner, I believe, is you know it's, they're in their 80s, so a lot of them yeah, I talk to these guys they they bought these farms at 500 to $1,000 an acre. I mean it's mind-blowing. But obviously the tax implications are are huge with that, the capital gains if they were just to cash out and retire. In general farmers are very conservative in Iowa. They would rather you know they don't have kids that are farming. They can retire and live off the cash, rent and Choose, rather than to pay those taxes just to you know it's part of their legacy plan for their kids. The kids get that step up in basis and don't have that, you know, significant of a tax implications. So that were to Change or go away, I mean it's gonna change your, your game plan. I mean, if the taxes are gonna get paid at some point, I Forsee more people not waiting to sell, to sell farms, so that I would absolutely, I think, impact Land values.
Speaker 3:One other thing, just specifically for, like, recreational farms, there's been some legislation and I don't you know how, how long or how, if something like this gets passed. But they talked about Deer tags for Landowners. So right now, if you, if you live in Nebraska but you own farmland in Iowa, you still have to go through the lottery system to get a buck tag. So in you know my farms in Bamboo, your county. So if you want to get your buck tag during archery You're getting it once every three, four, potentially five years You're able to hunt your own ground in Iowa Because you're not a resident.
Speaker 3:So there's legislation that would change that if you own ground I believe it's 10 years you would be able to you know, guaranteed get that buck tag on a yearly basis. So something like that changes. I think the interest and demand from out of state hunters for recreational ground would go through the roof and I think, obviously, you know, land values would would follow that trend. So those are just a couple things that you know. Again, a side wishing from wishing that I had a crystal ball to know what the future was going to be, those things could you know if they happen, or their changes would have an impact on land value.
Speaker 1:Well, and I would imagine that if something changed, with the, with the Deer tags or whatever in Iowa that would be. That would be a game changer for a lot of areas. That in Iowa because I think that's what holds, like Nebraska we get a lot of, for I a call, call them foreigners, but mostly they're from the southeast or whatever. Yeah, come up or or they they buy Property up here, or they even don't even buy it. They just come up and they pay the excruciating payment to get the get the tag and then they go hunting here. So, yeah, I think that would be a that would be a game changer for you guys. Yeah, all right, well, it's surprisingly interesting. Yeah, all right, well, it's surprisingly enough. We're running out of time here, so let everybody know how they can get a hold of you, miss Rachel Well so I Email address is Rachel H at.
Speaker 3:Hurts that egg. Maybe we can put something up, because we talked about this. I have the goofiest spelled name, but there is.
Speaker 1:I will have your contact in the show note.
Speaker 3:Show note phone number though area code three and I imagine they could go search you on hurts calm too. Yep, it's actually.
Speaker 1:You guys look fancy fancy egg, yeah, www.
Speaker 3:I don't need you renting any cars.
Speaker 1:Thought about that until just now, probably in the beginning, was like the car people, or in the farm world or yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to do this today. I know people's time is valuable and I always appreciate having a conversation with great, great land sellers out there around the world. It's just so much fun to Kind of like learn but just get to know people better in the industry. So thanks so much.
Speaker 3:No, thank you, Kobe. I really appreciate it any time. This has been a ton of fun, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, good luck to you here as president and For everyone else. We will see you all down.
Speaker 2:As we wrap up another episode of the American Land Seller podcast. Thank you for joining us. Visit wwwamericanlandsellercom and find us on one of your favorite podcast platforms. If you would be so kind and you enjoyed today's insights, please like, subscribe, rate, follow and review us on whatever app you are listening or watching on. Connect with us on social media for updates until next week. Kobe wishes you success in your land endeavors. God bless you and have a great week.
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