.jpg)
American Land Seller Podcast
Welcome to The American Land Seller, the podcast dedicated to landowners, buyers, and investors seeking expert insights into the evolving land market. Hosted by Koby Rickertsen, an Accredited Land Consultant and Multi-State Land Broker with High Point Land Company, this show dives deep into market trends, investment strategies, and real-world experiences in farm, ranch, and recreational land sales.
Each episode features industry professionals, seasoned investors, and landowners sharing their expertise on topics such as:
✅ Land market trends and valuation strategies
✅ 1031 exchanges and tax implications
✅ Seller financing and creative deal structures
✅ Conservation easements and government programs
✅ Navigating legal and zoning challenges
✅ Building generational wealth through land ownership
Whether you're a first-time land buyer, a seasoned investor, or a landowner looking to sell, The American Land Seller provides the knowledge and tools you need to succeed in today’s competitive land market.
American Land Seller Podcast
Episode 31 Sam Bowers - Leadership, Land Deals, and Market Trends in Rural Real Estate
In this episode of The American Land Seller, we sit down with Sam Bowers, a seasoned land expert, Accredited Land Consultant (ALC), and the immediate past president of the National Realtors Land Institute. With over 35 years in real estate and a lifetime of experience in agriculture, Sam has a wealth of knowledge about land brokerage, market trends, and rural property investment.
Sam’s journey in real estate began in 1988, leading him to earn his broker’s license in 1991 and later found Bowers and Burns Real Estate Company in 2003. He’s a past president of the Georgia Chapter of RLI, a lifetime Million Dollar Club member, and a multi-year APEX award winner since 2021. His leadership has shaped the land industry at both the state and national levels.
Beyond real estate, Sam is an influential figure in his community, having served as President of the Coweta County Farm Bureau, the Coweta Cattlemen’s Association, and on the Coweta County Board of Zoning Appeals. His expertise spans land management, market valuations, and rural property investment strategies.
In this episode, we’ll explore:
✅ Sam’s journey from farming to land brokerage
✅ The evolving land market in Georgia and beyond
✅ Key insights for land buyers, sellers, and investors
✅ The impact of leadership in organizations like the Realtors Land Institute
If you're interested in land sales, investment strategies, and expert insights from one of the industry's best, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!
🔔 Subscribe for more expert interviews and land market insights!
📩 Connect with Sam at: www.bowersandburns.com
📢 Find us at: www.americanlandseller.com
#AmericanLandSeller #SamBowers #LandBrokerage #LandInvestment #RuralRealEstate #RealtorsLandInstitute #LandConsultant #GeorgiaRealEstate #FarmAndRanch #AcreageForSale #LandManagement #LandOwnership #InvestInLand #AgricultureRealEstate #RealEstatePodcast
Today on the American Land Seller, we're joined by Sam Bowers, a highly respected land expert, accredited land consultant and dedicated community leader from Noonan, georgia. With over 35 years in real estate and a lifetime rooted in agriculture, sam has built an impressive career helping landowners navigate the ever-changing market. Sam's journey started with a background in agriculture economics from Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College and the University of Georgia. He launched his real estate career in 1988, earned his broker's license in 1991, and went on to found Bowers and Burns Real Estate Company in 2003. His leadership in the industry is undeniable. He is the immediate past president of the Realtors Land Institute, a past president of the Georgia chapter of RLI and a lifetime million-dollar club member. Sam's also been an Apex Award winner every single year since 2021 and was named Georgia Land Realtor of the Year in 2003.
Speaker 1:Beyond real estate, sam is deeply involved in his community, having served as president of the Coweta County Farm Bureau, the Coweta Paddlemen's Association and on the Coweta County Board of Zoning Appeals. His extensive leadership and market experience make him a wealth of knowledge for landowners, buyers and investors alike. Today we'll discuss Sam's journey, his insights on Georgia's land market and what buyers and sellers need to know in today's environment. Stay tuned for a great conversation with Sam Bowers right here on the American Land Seller Podcast.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the American Land Seller Podcast. Welcome to the American Land Seller Podcast with your host, coby Rickardson. Coby is an accredited land consultant and multi-state land broker with High Point 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.
Speaker 3:Okay, Kobe and our special guests, let's get started.
Speaker 1:All right, welcome back to the Landseller Podcast Today. I'm excited to have Sam Bowers from Georgia on here today. Immediate past president. Sam, how are you doing in Georgia today?
Speaker 4:I'm doing great. I hope you are?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, we are, we're doing great. Just finished up the land conference last week so I got to ask you, man, let's just start out Like, I have been involved in RLI for, uh, probably six years now, six, seven years. Um, it's been a really great um asset to my business. Um, but man, you were the president last year. What's that like? Was that pretty, pretty, pretty good work for you?
Speaker 4:That was pretty cool. Yeah, I really enjoyed that experience. We've got some of the best people as members of our organization that you could ask for from anyone. Our people will bend over backwards to help you in any way, and they bend over backwards to help each other, and that's the big thing. That's something that's very important about RLI it's you know Dan Murphy mentioned this a couple years ago that a rising tide lifts all ships, and I think that's very much. The motto of RLI is yes, we're competitors, but if you're doing better, I'm doing better. So it was an honor to serve as a president for this organization and I look forward to still being involved. I've been involved in RLI since 1998, 97, something like that 1998, 97, something like that and so I'm still looking forward to being very involved in it, especially in our state chapter here in Georgia.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's kind of fun once you've done that. I served as like a regional governance, you know, like a governor for Rotary years ago, and so it's kind of nice to be able to go back to your local board. You know like a governor for real rotary a years ago, and so it's kind of nice to be able to go back to your local board at. You know, um and uh, bring some of that knowledge back and and maybe um, uh, get back and plugged into your local, local and state boards. You know, once you're done with that national deal, but, um, so when you started, you know like what was your mission when you first decided, hey, I want to become the Realtors Land Institute president? Like what did you think that you were going to be able to change or improve upon when you?
Speaker 4:started Well. I was following some pretty strong presidents. We got Renee Harvey, dean Saunders, luke Worrell, dean Saunders, luke Worrell, and you know it was a lot of great things and there's a lot of great things going on with RLI and I'm a very unseen person. I wanted to look at more of operations and making sure we had everything in place moving forward in the future, because I think RLI is at a crossroads of growth that is coming. We grew a lot during COVID but I think that growth is going to continue. Sure that we had policies and procedures and not the real glamorous stuff, but more of the bookkeeping stuff in place, and that we reviewed all that and make sure that it was ready for Dan and Jeff to step in and take off of this thing and grow us even more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's I think that we've seen it over the last probably six, seven years of just the kind of behind the scenes reorganization and I think that kind of cumulated with you with some like big steps on, like taking those steps to redo the education and stuff like that. Uh, that kind of just started. I don't know the year before or right around, but you're in that leadership chain, you know when that started. So, yeah, it's just it's. There was a lot going on when you were president and president-elect and stuff like that. You know, with the redoing of the website and all that kind of stuff, what kind of hours did you have to put into this?
Speaker 4:I mean, you're running a business too on, you know um well, I'm fortunate I've got a partner, that he and I've been partners, um, since 2003 when we started our company, and so that that was a big help. But, uh, you know the hours. Uh, I had a phone call every wednesday morning. It was a set thing that every Wednesday morning through the year I was president, we called, went over what was going on, basically keeping each other in the loop. Then, of course, then we had our executive board meetings and our regular board meetings monthly.
Speaker 4:So, to be honest with you, I didn't really keep up with the timeline of how much time it took. It was, um, it was a commitment, uh, but it was, um, it was not the time consuming thing that people would think it is because of the way you know. We had a phone call every wednesday morning at nine o'clock, so I knew for an hour I was going to be tied up on Wednesday morning, then I knew when the board meeting were, and then we travel, some going to speak to groups, so, um, but with my partner here to hold down the fort. You know it worked out, worked out well.
Speaker 1:What's really cool, though, that you guys work together like that. He lets you have that um time to go invest into the real estate world. You know, like when we started our venture eight years ago, I kind of came into real estate a little bit different. I was an investor and property owner and really had a hard time finding that solution for when I was buying and selling stuff, that, and so I kind of came into it with the idea that I was going to change the industry. You know, in my area, you know at least and so, um, the investment that you made going into, you know, rl, uh, rli, and investing into that organization as a leader, is much appreciated, I know, by those of us that, and again, it did make an impact on the, you know, on the industry, because it just seems to me like land real estate is just getting better and better and better, you know, and more people are joining RLI, and it's kind of been a fun thing to watch.
Speaker 1:You know, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, a guy that we're doing evaluation on his properties, and he said, man, there's an awful lot of land professionals anymore. It seemed like when he was first getting into the business. There was like one guy and everybody kind of went to him. He's like now you throw a stick and you can find a land professional. What kind of comment would you say? Are you weary? Are you weary, are you excited to see more and more people picking that? You know, it kind of seems like that's nationwide, that there's more and more folks that are kind of educating themselves and getting themselves into the land world. Is that kind of exciting or kind of weary for you? What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 4:Well, I'm pretty excited about it. I think that it's a good thing to get people involved in a business and get them educated and have them knowledgeable, because the ones that are good at it are knowledgeable at it will have stay in power. The ones that don't, the market will roll them out. I had an old real estate man tell me many years ago, many, many years ago, he had been selling real estate for a long time and whenever anybody told him said, what do you think about me getting in real estate business, he'd say, boy, you just jump right on in, you'll find out real fast if it's for you. But yeah, there are a lot more agents involved that are specializing in land sales and I mean that's just the nature of the beef.
Speaker 4:When I early on in my career there was very few people. It was mostly foresters that did forestry and land sales that were primarily doing that. Now I started with a real estate company in the 80s that we did a lot of land back then. We did a lot of farmland. We did well for us farmland and transitional land. But it's good to see a younger generation that are stepping up and getting involved in the land business and you know it's keeping old guys like me having to keep our game up, so I see it as a good thing. It's. I think it's good for the market and I think it's good for the business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think it is good for the business and I know myself, if it wasn't for people competing against me, I might get complacent and a little bit lazy. So it's fun to wake up every day wondering you know what new thing we're going to, you know like we're going to come up with to improve our clients' experience.
Speaker 1:And so, but yeah, no, if you don't mind, let's just take a quick break and we'll be right back. If you don't mind, let's just take a quick break and we'll be right back. The American Land Seller Podcast is brought to you in part by LandHubcom. Join us today and experience the expertise of LandHub's land marketing professionals, whether you're buying or selling. Let us show you the way in the ever-evolving world of land transactions. Visit landhubcom and discover what the future of land marketing looks like. Landhubcom where your land journey begins.
Speaker 1:All right, we're back, and we're back with Sam Bowers from Georgia. Sam, we're talking just a little bit during the break kind of about like how you got started in real estate. I think people would be fascinated to know like at a certain point you had to make a decision to stick with the land stuff or kind of keep going with the company that you're with to a real residential focus. Talk just a little bit about your origin story and how you kind of got into this industry. And you know you were a farmer. You come from a farm ranch background kind of similar to me.
Speaker 4:So I think it's always fun to see how do you get from from farm ranch to to real estate and, specifically, land. Well, you know, basically we I grew up on cattle ranch, um registered charlotte cattle and then we transitioned to commercial cattle. I've even dairy. We grow crop uh, corn, soybeans and wheat. And before I went off to college, um, my dad told me, son, you're gonna have to find something else to do besides farming. Uh, it was in the downspin of uh in our area and so, um, I went to abraham baldwin agricultural college and then to university of georgia.
Speaker 4:I majored in ag economics, uh, and took some real estate courses while I was at the University of Georgia and my dad it's funny, my dad got his real estate license in 1972 as a hobby and as a sign of the farming. He then had to start selling real estate part-time to support his farming habit, and before it was over with, he had to sell real estate full-time to support his farming habit. So I basically followed him. After school, I put a little small desk in his office in the corner and I worked in his office for three or four years at the same company before I moved it to my own little office, and so that was how I got started in real estate business back in the 80s.
Speaker 1:It's always great to have a good mentor in this business.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:I have a friend of mine that is considering getting into real estate and I've been really trying to get him to understand like this is not. You know it's not just like you can show up Monday at 10 and be done at noon and make a million dollars a month. You know you got to. It's a lot of work that goes into it.
Speaker 4:So uh well, my wife refers to the real estate business as my mistress. Uh it, uh. She feels like that I've got. She's my wife, but I also have a mistress, and that's real estate because, especially early on it, I mean it consumed a lot of time.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think you'd agree, the good ones are the ones that are always like I mean, it's, it's, there's really no schedule. I finally, um, I learned from, uh, from a real estate agent couple of years ago that, or when I first got started that everything goes on your calendar. That way, everything's an appointment, you know. And so if the kids got soccer, then that's an appointment. If the, if the, if your wife wants to go, you know, out for dinner, then she puts it on your calendar. That's an appointment. And the calendar is sacred, you know. And so that's kind of the rule when we first started with my wife was that okay, that if you want to put something on there and it's open, you know, then put it on there and then that's the sacred time, you know, as long as you don't abuse that.
Speaker 1:But right but uh, no, it wears out pretty good. So you come from, uh, farming, like you always specialized in, in like land, like farm ranch, you know that kind of. Or did you go through a time Like when I first started? I started residential because I started as my own, you know, like broker myself and started my own office. I didn't have anybody to mentor me or anything, which I would not recommend anybody I had friends with, but um but um, so you, you kind of, is that something you just started out in that specialty or did you no?
Speaker 4:In the beginning it was I'd sell anything, it didn't matter, because it was. I was stalking, trying to make a living Right, and over time it evolved into more of a specialty the company I was with the first real estate well, the only real estate company outside of mine that I've ever been with I was with for 15 years and our focus there became a lot of rural land development. We did a lot of mini farms, we did a state lot and that really honed me more into land sales, honed me more into land sales. And then in the early 2000s is when we started Bowers and Burns and that was because of the company. That company had grown in size. Parks and Motley had grown to the size that for them to survive they had to go more residential based. And so the two guys that owned it went and talked to them. They completely understood and were very supportive. And so my partner and I left in 03, october of 03, and have been primarily focused on land and homes and acreage.
Speaker 4:In our area we don't really have ag land anymore because most of the ag land in Georgia is in South Georgia, in the coastal plain area. We're in the Piedmont region of Georgia. Most of our land is either rec land, rec slash timberland or transitional land and this year we track to people that are looking to build a home. It's what we call end users. So we've seen the end user market get a lot stronger. It started during COVID and people looking to buy to move out of the city, so that's a lot of our business. Now is either rec land, transitional or people buying land to build a home on. That's what primarily it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this is always fascinating to me too, because like farms, you know, like farms, ranches, recreational property, you say those things and then every different region or every different actually state kind of has a different idea of what that is. So, a recreational property, are you like? Are you talking more of, uh, acreage for, for hunting, or like for? When you say recreational property, what, what?
Speaker 4:do you mean for that? Yeah, it's primarily for hunting sure, what is a?
Speaker 1:what size of a property do you guys consider kind of average for that?
Speaker 4:Most of ours are going to be 100 acres and up. A large parcel here would be 400 or 500 acres. A good-sized parcel here would be 1,000 acres, but most of our sales are probably going to be between 100 and 200 acres yeah, it's it's.
Speaker 1:And recreational property. I mean realistically that has become like a really interesting um niche in the land market because that's everything from campgrounds to, you know, trails for s or the utvs to hunting to you know like there's all kinds of different stuff going on inside that particular box which is a fairly new. You know it's a fairly new kind of property type. I think you know it was back in the late 90s, early 2000s when that kind of first started popping up.
Speaker 4:Yeah, what we look at is, if you wanted to paint a picture of our typical buyer, um, they're going to live within 60 to 80 mile radius of the property they're going. This is going to instead of them going to the panhandle and buying a beach house, they're buying 100 200 acres of land. They're probably probably have pre-teen to very early teen kids and they know those kids are going to be headed off to college here soon. So they want somewhere they can spend their weekends on or evenings with their kids. Hunting, riding four-wheelers, fishing to spend time with them before they go off to school is what our typical buyer is. They're most likely coming out of Atlanta, Georgia or Columbus, Georgia and they want it where they can drive to it in an hour to an hour and a half.
Speaker 1:Sure, and so you didn't have like. We had a certain like during COVID in our area. We had California and Colorado folks that were kind of moving in. Did you have any of that? I call them jokingly political refugees or whatever, but did you have any of that kind of migration in your area?
Speaker 4:Ours was more out of the city of Atlanta, sure, a lot of people looking for family compounds. They want a place that they could build a house and then their kids could build homes on Sure, and so that's backed off a little bit now, but that was the strongest demand. The latter part of COVID was hey, I need property I can build three houses on or four houses on, I want to build my house and my kids are going to build, and they're basically looking for family compact.
Speaker 1:Sure, no, that makes sense. I mean, that's, a lot of people were looking for acreages during COVID because they, you know, especially in the cities, because you know they was kind of sucked to be in an apartment.
Speaker 4:Yeah, oh, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So no, um, so zoning down where you're at when you're taking, are you kind of just selling track by track, or are there people still that have kind of some larger parcels that you're able to kind of divide down and and uh, or is it kind of just, you know, whatever comes up you sell it as a big track?
Speaker 4:No, we always evaluate stuff from what we call HBU higher and better use Sure, and we'll offer taking something all the way to preliminary plat for an owner, because our company is primarily an owner representation. We are more of a listing company than we are so representing buyers, and so we'll what's the best return for our seller here and um? So you know we've got one timber investment fund that we do division of property for, and then the other ones that you know they'll only sell as whole tracts. So it all depends on what our sellers are wanting, because we'll lay everything out on the table and then you know it's their property and we let them pick which avenue they want to go down. So we do some zoning, some working with engineers, land planners, but again it depends on how far the sellers want to go with.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Yeah, that's pretty fascinating. I just love learning about like different people and what they're doing in different parts of the country. That's one of the great things about the Realtors Land Institute is getting to be friends with a bunch of people from all over that kind of do weird, totally different things than what I do.
Speaker 4:Well, you know what I found was really cool? Because a couple of times during the year last year, I was asked to speak to groups and talk more from an economic standpoint, and so what I would do is I would call around the country.
Speaker 1:I think I called you. Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:I called you. Yeah, yeah, one of them.
Speaker 4:And I had. I would ask every member the exact same question and it was a great way to realize that how different our business is, but how similar our business is, uh, all across the country, cause there are some very unique niches in, uh, in the land business and uh, but it is, um, even as big as this country, is it all boils down to, it seems like the same basis of land sales.
Speaker 1:No, it's definitely. It's definitely an interesting business, but, um, we're going to take a quick break and, uh, if you got some time, man, we're going to do one more segment, but we will be right back.
Speaker 3:Land isn't just dirt. It's where memories are made, families are raised and livelihoods are built. But when it comes time to sell or buy, the weight of the decision is heavy. Comes time to sell or buy, the weight of the decision is heavy. Where do you even start? Who can you trust to guide you? For too long, land transactions have been treated like a simple exchange Numbers on a paper, a signature on a line. But it's more than that. At High Point Land Company, we don't just list land, we walk it, we learn its story and we find the right buyer who understands its worth. You are not just another deal. You are the steward of something bigger. You are the steward of something bigger and we're here to help you navigate every step of the way, when it's time to sell, when it's time to buy. We're here Because land is more than just land.
Speaker 1:It's your legacy. All right, we're back with Sam Bowers from Bowers and Burns Real Estate. Sam, we're talking just a little bit during the break about I kind of asked you to maybe put your crystal ball together after I don't know how many times I've thrown mine up against the wall. But I just kind of want to get your feeling on what you're, what you guys are seeing down there as far as where the market's going this year. We just had the land conference so we kind of had a feel from them. But are you bullish, are you bearish? What are you kind of thinking? I'm thinking.
Speaker 4:I don't know. And that's coming from somebody with an economics background, All right. Well, here's my whenever I look at something. If you ever studied economics, you know what the bell curve is.
Speaker 4:Bell curve is supply and demand and you know I would have thought last year that interest rates would have had a big impact on land sales. They had none. We didn't see any impact on land sales from interest rates going up. One thing that has really surprised me is the amount of cash that's out there. Most of the larger transactions that we were doing last year there was no leverage used, there was no borrowed money, so I'm not sure where to go with that. So coming out of the gate this year right now I can tell you that supply of land on market is lower now than it was this time last year and if you look at supply and demand and how that's going to impact price, it's going to take a big adjustment in the market, I think, to hit prices right now because of the low supply. Now other parts of the country. There's outside influences Ag, land, commodity prices, input costs. I mean you know I know last year they were seeing some shifts in downturn, but just looking at Georgia, in our area supply is so tight the demand is still there. We're doing more 1031 tax exchanges last year than we've done in a good while. You know I don't know if all this cash is coming from people liquidating equities, because historically land has been used as a hedge on inflation. So I'm going to just qualify that my crystal ball has a crack in it. I've tried to put a bandaid on it but it's foggy too. So it's.
Speaker 4:You know, there's a lot of uncertainty right now in the world, there's a lot of uncertainty in the country, and so I'm a little concerned about the latter part of this year, the last quarter, and I guess that's more from an inflation standpoint. Inflation, I think, has ticked up a little bit here recently. You know where? Where does that go? I don't know. Hopefully, politically they could maybe do something to get gas and oil prices down. A direct shot in the arm for the economy if we could drive down the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel.
Speaker 4:So all we're seeing right now is the price in our area is that we think prices are going to uh hold where they're at. We may see a little bit more days on market, but I don't think it'll be much because the demand is there and, um, when we're we're bringing mark land to the market, uh, every week, and it's drawing a lot of interest. So so you know, when you get outside of the southeast and you get more up in your area and into the Midwest and ag land, you know, especially in the Midwest, goodness, what some of that land, ag land, was bringing. It. Was that sustainable? You know, when I talked to people at the end of last year it was backing off because the commodities and input costs it wasn't balancing out. But, man, people are still moving from transitional land standpoint the southeast. They're still building houses. We have a housing shortage in the US that I don't know how we're going to catch up. And so, with that being said, I think I don't see a big disruptor right now, unless inflation just gets completely out of control.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I tend to agree with you on that. I think the disruptor in my area is going to be how much land is going to be available coming up, just because the owners of the property that you know, most of the farms and stuff in Nebraska, kansas, are owned by, you know, 70 plus year olds, and so I think there's an inevitability on the fact that that's going to change hands. And so if we get a large supply on the market all at the same time, um, and then again it's they're still aggressively pricing stuff, right, you know, and we're just not seeing that fight for it. Um, if it's priced right, it's selling, um.
Speaker 1:But I just last week on my podcast had a big producer from my area talking about he's on the sidelines as a producer, producers are sitting it out until land prices come down a little bit and his estimation is is we're talking two to twenty five hundred dollars over what he can pencil out, you know, as a producer and and make it make sense. So he says he's renting right now and happy to do so and, you know, hopes to be able to, you know, because his family's growing hopes to be able to get back in it soon. But yeah, that that to me is going to be able to, because his family's growing hopes to be able to get back in it soon. But yeah, that to me is going to be. The big thing is how much property is going to come on the market or change hands in the next probably five years or so.
Speaker 4:And that's interesting. I remember you bringing that up when I called you last year and that's very interesting that you're going to that. Y'all know within a time period period there's going to be a large influx, most likely an influx of property coming on the market, and it would be interesting to see how that plays out over time.
Speaker 1:Well, what really fascinated me recently I've had several calls from people that I, honestly, sam never thought would ever want to sell it's longtime family land. They've been able to maintain it up until this far, and then all of a sudden, you know, nebraska's property taxes are a real big problem, because our education is tied to property taxes and so our taxes are extremely high, and so a lot of people are just they're calling and they're saying you know what we feel like the market's probably going to go another way someday and we want to get out while it's at least pretty good, you know, and so that's been pretty shocking to me, is just how many families that have been dedicated to keeping the family farm, you know, are looking to liquidate it and do something else with the money.
Speaker 4:But you know the land prices we're seeing. That doesn't surprise me, and we did see that for a bit, probably the first part of this year. It was very noticeable. It was almost like people had been sitting on this property and they felt like the train was leaving the station on these higher prices and they wanted to hop on that train before it got out of the station. Because there was a period there in January where I had three different landowners contact us about property that it wasn't. None of them had to sell, but they felt like that the market had probably crested. But they felt like that the market had probably crest and they wanted to make sure that they stayed at that, got in on that crest instead of heading down toward a trough. Now I don't know how much of a trough we're going to see, but it that was a mentality we were seeing from sellers there, especially in January.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, and that's I mean, that's kind of one of those things too. Those things too, that that's smart, right, because you don't know what's going to happen. And we, we went through something similar. My wife and I built, you know, three remax franchises up, you know, and got to the point where we were in a footprint where several big companies wanted, you know, and so we had the opportunity to sell. I told her I was like we probably ought to do it, because when I want to sell it, nobody's going to want it. It's not like. And so again, it's, you know, if you, if you're under that mindset of you know you got to sell it when you can, not when you need to, is is probably the smart play.
Speaker 4:Well, and you know, from a real estate investment standpoint, an older gentleman told me one day he said, son, you don't ever go broke making a profit. That's true, and so, and he had been developing since after World War II. And he said you, just if you've got a good deal and offered a good deal and you can make a profit, it's probably time to go on to the next deal. Yeah, so yeah, it was well. You know, interest rates were messing around with the. You know, nobody knew what was happening after, you know, the election just taking place, so there was even more uncertainty at the end. And so people were like you know, we probably ought to do. If we're going to do something, we probably ought to do it now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, People were like you know we probably ought to do. If we're going to do something, we probably ought to do it now. Yeah, yeah, no, it's a crazy world. So what's next for you, Sam? Like you've been the president, Are you going to take a break and just sell real estate for a while? Are you going to be the NAR president someday?
Speaker 4:Or what's the future? All for you. Well, I don't know. Congressman from Georgia, what's the future? Congressman from Georgia? No, no, no, no. I have no interest in politics whatsoever. I can go ahead and put a hard no on that.
Speaker 4:My wife asked me the same question. I said, I told her, I said, well, I can sell real estate for a while, but you know, I think it's very important for us to give back to the organizations that mean a lot to us. You know I probably will skip town for a year or so after I get wound up this year, but I'll be back because you know I think it's important to give back. And you know, serving on committees and again, I still serve on the board for our state chapter. I'm the treasurer for Georgia, and you know when it's been exciting to watch our chapters grow and nationally and you know even the Southeast we're now doing a big land conference every year. This year it'll be in Chattanooga, and so you know, basically the chapters of the Southeast get together and put these things on. And so you know, I want to sell some real estate and you know, stay involved in RLI and we'll see what comes after that.
Speaker 4:But the politics thing I can go ahead and put a hard. You're more of a heckler than a. Yeah, my filter doesn't work too well when it comes to certain things. So you're more of a heckler than a. Filter Doesn't work too well when it comes to certain things.
Speaker 1:Might be the perfect time for that kind of campaign. How do folks get ahold of you, sam? We'll put your website, your whatever you want us to, and the notes down below on all the podcast information, but how do they get ahold of you?
Speaker 4:Well, Bowersandburnscom is our website. You can email me at sbowers at BowersandBurnscom. I'm still old school. I like talking on the telephone. You're welcome to call me, but email me Any way I can help. I'll be glad to One quick pitch on this website. That's one thing with RLI being able to talk to guys like you. You know we're looking to reevaluate our website and make changes and updates because it goes back to you know you're talking about all the new people getting in the land sale business. You've got to stay competitive, and so that's part of us working through our websites now and looking how to change them, how to make them better and so, uh, but yeah, they can get in touch with me in any of those spots and I'll be glad to help any way we can.
Speaker 1:yeah it's just it's fun, like you know, like going around the rli conferences and stuff. It's you like that's where you kind of see what's out there I mean integrations of maps and videos and being able to, you know, like with land ID and some of these other sponsors that we have for uh, for RLI, to be able to even do the, you know, like the bird's eye view type of photo photography and things like that. It's just unreal.
Speaker 4:Yeah, when I started our photos from aerial photos, I would go. I could go to the local airport and I could get a Piper cub for an hour and a half for 150 bucks, and so me, that pilot and a 35 millimeter camera would go fly property. That's why we used to do aerial.
Speaker 1:Now I have like five different drones.
Speaker 4:I know, yeah, I've got drones. The quality of aerial photos we have now is just off the chart. But you know this technology stuff and I encourage people if you're in the real estate business I don't care how long you've been in it keep learning because it's always changing. I mean, I even I'm in a 10-week program now. I went back to college with a 10-week program for digital marketing because I had all these people talking about SEOs and all that stuff about digital marketing and I'm like what are y'all talking about? And so just don't ever stop learning, because it is always changing.
Speaker 1:Nope, that's for sure. That's for sure, that's for sure. Well, sam, thank you so much for taking the time today. Pretty cool stuff that we had to talk about. So I'm always looking forward to seeing you when we get a chance to in the future. But thanks so much.
Speaker 4:You bet. Thank you for the opportunity, yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, everybody. That's it for today. We will see you all down the road.
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.
Speaker 1:God bless you and have a great week the american land seller is brought to you in part by landhubcom. Are you in the market for the perfect piece of land? Look no further than landhubcom. Are you in the market for the perfect piece of land? Look no further than Landhubcom your solution to the biggest challenges facing land buyers and sellers today. At Landhub, we're revolutionizing land transactions by effectively connecting buyers and sellers. Say goodbye to the struggle of finding or marketing land for sale. We understand the power of new media marketing, leveraging social media and targeted ads to bring together the ideal audience for all property types. Join us today and experience the expertise of LandHub's land marketing professionals. Whether you're buying or selling, let us show you the way in the ever-evolving world of land transactions. In the ever-evolving world of land transactions, visit landhubcom and discover what the future of land marketing looks like.
Speaker 1:Landhubcom, where your land journey begins, and High Point Land Company. When it comes to buying and selling land, high Point Land Company sets the standard for excellence across the Midwest and beyond. Our expert land specialists bring unmatched market knowledge and a personal touch to every single transaction, whether it's a farm, ranch, recreational or even investment property. We provide the expertise and integrity you can trust. Looking to buy or sell. We offer a premier selection of properties and a marketing strategy designed to get you results. From productive farmland to recreational retreats, we help you maximize your investment. Visit wwwhighpointlandcompanycom today and experience the difference. High Point Land Company a true leader in land sales.
