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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
#36 - Map It, Walk It, Learn It! Why Land Ain’t Just Another Listing with Lou Jewell
What truly separates a land professional from someone who merely holds a real estate license? The answer could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to landowners, buyers, and agents alike.
In this episode of The American Land Seller, we’re joined by Lou Jewell, Accredited Land Consultant and host of the pioneering podcast "Let's Talk Land", the longest-running land-focused show in the country. With decades of boots-on-the-ground experience and a deep love for rural real estate, Lou pulls no punches in this candid conversation about why land deserves a specialist.
💡 We unpack:
- Why real estate education barely scratches the surface when it comes to land
- How Lou helped get land brokerage recognized in the NAR Code of Ethics
- Farm Credit financing options that can save buyers thousands
- The dangers of treating land like just another residential listing
- Why landowners should demand more from their agents
Whether you're a landowner thinking of selling, a buyer trying to make a smart investment, or an agent ready to level up your business—this episode is a must-listen. Lou’s final words remind us why land isn’t just real estate—it’s the basis of all wealth.
🎧 Subscribe, share, and leave a review please
📞 Connect with Lou Jewell, ALC
Website: www.loujewell.com
Email: lou@loujewell.com
Phone: (336) 669-1405
Today on the American Land Seller, we're unpacking what it really takes to be a true land professional and why deep expertise in this space matters more than ever. With land values stiffening, generational transfers underway and buyers demanding real answers about rural property, the role of a skilled land broker is critical. I'm joined by Lou Jewell, accredited land consultant with LandPro Real Estate and the host of let's Talk Land, the longest running land-focused radio and podcast show in the country. Lou is a nationally recognized land expert, educator and mentor who has spent decades guiding agents and landowners alike. He's trained thousands of land professionals through the Realtors Land Institute and continues to shape the conversation around rural real estate with practical insight and no-nonsense advice.
Speaker 1:One thing we dig into today is the myth that any agent can sell land. In reality, according to Lou, it takes far more than a license. From soil maps to easements to land use potential, lou helps break down what buyers and sellers really need to know. So, whether you're a landowner, investor or aspiring land agent, this episode is packed with wisdom from one of the most respected voices in the land industry land.
Speaker 2: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:Hey everybody, Welcome back to the American Land Seller Podcast. We have the legend Lou Jewell, accredited land consultant from North Carolina. Lou, how are you today? I'm great, Great to see you. It is great to see you too. Just got to see you not too many weeks ago in Arizona. It's always a good time to get together with all our family and friends down there and hang out, learn some new stuff. So what is new in North Carolina? Rent and taxes.
Speaker 4:I think everybody's watching what's going on with the government change right now. I've been through Princess Di, I've been through the World Trade Center, I've been through the year 2000. I've been through the eight stock crashes and it all reflects our income. And last year was a miserable year because nobody could make a decision. I've got five listings sitting here on my desk from last June and they still haven't listed Off Offers that I wrote. Nobody, they just disappeared, yeah, just until the market settles down. I don't know what you guys are seeing there, but that's been my experience and it was hot here for a couple weeks and then they started the new thing and then the phones quit ringing.
Speaker 4:So, people are very sensitive out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's a byproduct of the environment of the deal that definitely is causing havoc for a lot of industries out there.
Speaker 4:Interest rates, you know, and that's still ups and downs. I mean I locked one project in at 2%. I said what are you even charging me for? I don't think we'll see that for a long time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we just not too long ago did an exercise where all the agents in our company called the lenders in their area just kind of doing a pulse check with them lenders in their area, just kind of doing a pulse check with them and we had interest rate opportunities anywhere between um like low five percent all the way up to 15 percent, depending on your credit you're standing, and same terms, yeah, it's any, you know, just crazy, it's just crazy.
Speaker 4:so no, but it's the shop. The public out there pays for them to shop around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, and that's exactly that's the I think that was. The proof of the exercise was is that it definitely pays for you to go look around. If you called the guy that his interest rate was almost 15%, you'd be a little bit depressed because the world was over. But but okay, so I got because you'd think the world was over. Okay, so I got you on my show. Now I've done your show a couple times. I finally got you squirreled down into a seat five minutes so you can talk to me on my podcast. I do want to talk just a little bit about because let's Talk Land, the famous podcast and radio show that you do. It's on the Oldies channel there in North Carolina. It is a long running podcast about land education and it's had website for that. Lou, it's wwwletstalklandnet.
Speaker 4:I added on Spotify and Podbean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so you could go. I mean, there's everybody in the land industry and some that aren't even in the land industry on that show that you have interviewed, and so let's just talk just a second about how did that? Where did you come up with the idea that the industry needed to have an education outlet, and how did that genius brainstorm happen?
Speaker 4:Well Kirby, first of all, I've been in the business for 30 years. I'm in a small community outside of Winston-Salem, between Winston-Salem and Mount Airy, North Carolina, on the Virginia border, actually just the bottom of the county that joins the border. I can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 30 minutes and it's a rural area. We've got four stoplights, we've got a lot of farms and a lot of land and fortunately, when I got my license I joined a small little company here in Pilot Mountain and that's what they specialized in was land and farms. And that's where it cut my eye teeth in. And then later I was doing a project with the ALC. I didn't know what an ALC was.
Speaker 4:I was a member of the Realtors Land Institute George Munford down in Winston. I had a listing. He brought a client, the Realtors Land Institute George Munford down in Winston. I had a listing, he brought a client and we built a relationship. He says why don't you get involved in RLI? We've got a class next month on subdivisions. I said really. He says, yeah, come down there and take the class. Ned Messi was teaching and I went down. I wasn't even a member of RLI and I took the class and out of that I've done over 80 rural subdivisions over the years, which is different than a traditional lot subdivision. But anyway, as time went on, I got involved in RLI, took my second course in Memphis, tennessee, about a year later and just fell in love with land.
Speaker 4:My family, my mother's family, we have 900 acres. That's six generations. So I didn't grow up on it, but I spent the summers there, grew up in Charlotte, so I started doing some research. I'd go to these real estate conventions and I would ask people why isn't land in our code of ethics? They said, well, land's under commercial, and I said, well, commercial's part of land, but there's a whole lot more land than commercial. And so that was one of my first observations.
Speaker 4:And then I started. You know, the website got more sophisticated and I started checking out websites and I was looking for articles on land and there were very few articles. So I started writing articles and giving them to different websites that were publishing articles. If you go back to 2006, you'll see a lot of my articles in some of those sites in the archives. And then I went to the bookstore Barnes, noble 01, and I went to the real estate section and I spent several hours there going to the index looking for the four-letter word land, I think I found two books and referenced maybe two pages and I said what's wrong with this picture? And as time progressed I got more involved in our chapters present several times. That's the Carolinas chapter. Which chapter are you in?
Speaker 1:I belong, kind of. I'm in the middle of Iowa and Colorado, so I belong to both of them. Yeah, okay, Do a little bit with both.
Speaker 4:But you know that started building relationships. And then I started a website. I got nine of my buddies my appraiser, my surveyor, one of my customers and I found a company down in Winston-Salem that could build a website. So in the process I went through every website that was promoting land and I actually published, printed, every page of that website, every page. This is my filing cabinet over here. Cool, but anyway.
Speaker 4:Lands of America and Land Watch were starting at the same time. We had the National Convention in New Orleans and my marketing guy says you need to pass out buttons. So I bought 1,500 buttons and stood in the street and passed them out. I never did get rid of all of them, but it didn't work out. I signed a contract for one price and then we had it and made it testing. I called all my buddies and told them to put their listings on there for free to get it started and I came back and they wanted a different arrangement so I just abandoned it. So years later one of my friends was selling advertising for WKT and King. It was started in 1962. It was an AM gospel station and the owner died and left it to his son and daughter, who own it.
Speaker 4:Now I went down and made a presentation to Rodney that you met on the show. He's the producer. He said how would you like to do a show? I said I've never done a show before. He said pay me $480 a month and you can do one every month. And that's where it started nine years ago and I think I've got over 50 000 in this show because I'm paying for go daddy and spotify and pod beam and frisbees and balloons and koozies and you know, which is fine. And give back the business, the business. I'm still right.
Speaker 4:Now we're meeting with my daughter and my partner. I'm trying to compel a book my 260 current shows. But now we're talking about taking a subject and making a book out of a subject and have multiple books and I have a real estate school and I I realized there's no land education out there beyond, beyond our line, and I found out through my radio show talking and interviewing ALCs like you around the country. I think I've covered maybe 40, 45 states and I asked you how many hours you have in your state for CE and how many hours of classes do you have on the subject of land and it's crickets? I think I'm the only one.
Speaker 4:So my mission now is to move this forward. I've got my four-hour class that I teach in North Carolina. I've been doing that since 2008,. So Introduction to to land brokerage. I was invited by the North Carolina Board of Appraisers to write a class on land, which I wrote one Rural land values is an art or science along with my appraiser buddy. He did the appraisal part, I did the issue part, sinkholes and all kinds of stuff. You find out what's an old barn word for appraisers and they had no land education. It's an apprentice structure.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:So that's my goal. Before I leave, I just want to promote education. I'm happy to do as much as I can in that vein. I appreciate being on your show and helping me promote.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it's, and it is fascinating because you know like a lot of podcasts out there. Yeah, no, it's, and it is fascinating because you know like a lot of podcasts out there. You know, like we, I have I never came at it so much from the education, more from the information. You know information and you know to inform and to you know kind of create a buzz about different topics and land. But you truly did come at this from the, the, the heart of educating people on land sales, on the importance of landowners. Yeah, and we're and we're going to get into this later on in the show, like in the second segment.
Speaker 1:I want to talk more about specialties and things like that, because you're a huge advocate for, for, for specialties. But this, this particular show, let's talk land was, you know, was developed as an education tool to educate your local listeners and on your radio station and then kind of nexus into like a podcast beyond that. You know, is that correct? Like you started out on the radio and then yeah, and then you can do a couple shows.
Speaker 4:I did the research. I hired a consultant in new jersey on podcast and he recommended spotify and podbeam and we never could get apple for some reason. We just never forget it. But I did. I just want to throw something at you that I did recently. I've never been on x. I was on twitter a little bit and I hadn't been on it. So I went to X and it's got on the right hand side. You can ask questions. I just like chat and I said. I asked, I said what are the top podcasts on the subject of land? And it mentioned several of them and the verdict was let's talk land excels and real estate pros seeking free deep educations. Its longevity and expert roster is unmatched. If you're a broker with morning knowledge, let's talk land is at the top. So I've decided to take the excerpts from the volumes of shows and organize them into my books. I don't have the audience, but I have the credibility.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's true, that I have the credibility. Yeah, no, that's true. Like if you go look up land education or Google land education or land real estate education, let's Talk. Land is one of the top couple page or two, so you have done a lot of work to get your SEO to get up there. But yeah, let's go ahead and take a break. It's amazing how fast 12 minutes goes. Amazing how fast an hour goes.
Speaker 4:That's right. So let's go ahead and take a break. It's amazing how fast 12 minutes goes Amazing how fast an hour goes.
Speaker 1:That's right, so let's go ahead and take a break and we will be right back. The American Land Seller Podcast is brought to you in part by LandHubcom. Join us today and experience the expertise of Land Hub'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. All right, we're back here with Lou Jewell. From where is it? It's Mount Olive. Olive Mountain, North Carolina. Olive Mountain, North Carolina.
Speaker 4:Andy Griffin. They called it Mount Pilot Barney's always been down to Mount Pilot because Mount Airy is 12 hours away, and that's where Andy Griffin was born. So, everybody thinks Mayberry is Mount Airy and, by the way, I'll put a plug in for them. For the last couple years Mount Airy's been promoted as the number one retirement city in the country. About 9,000 people have put heels in the Blue Ridge Just good old boys and girls, good Christian. More Baptist church around here than any place in the country.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Mount Olive that's like I think biblical there. That's like Pilot Mountain. That's what I was.
Speaker 4:Well, it was Cherokee Indians and the Indian name is Well, I can't remember. Now that's my brain, I'll think of it a second, but it was to look out. It's a standalone Google Mountain Range with a top a breast, we call it.
Speaker 1:Well, again, your podcast radio station, let's Talk Land. People can find that at letstalklandnet and it's a great resource. It's got tons of hours, a lot of fun doing it yeah a lot of learning.
Speaker 4:That's the thing about education. If you're a provider, you learn as much as the class does, because everybody brings, and that's what's great about RLI. And I always advocate going to the actual live classes as opposed to doing the virtual, because that's the network, that's how we meet and that's how we fellowship and do business.
Speaker 1:No, that's exactly. I have learned so much doing this podcast. Heck, just a couple weeks ago we had somebody on that talked about the Section 180 of the tax code, the soil tax credits that you can get off of the fertilizer in your soil. We just talked about that on my last show. Yeah, that was pretty interesting. I thought I agree with that, that was pretty interesting, I thought, but anyway, so let's get into.
Speaker 1:You've been a major crusader on specialization, along with your education portion of it. You have designated your. You know, basically your life has been specialized in land. You don't do hard, if any houses. I don't think you do any houses.
Speaker 4:Is that correct For friends?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I don't solicit them.
Speaker 1:Right. And so your specialty is land, and you've been a huge advocate for Article 11, which essentially says you know, stay in your own lane, or you know, if you don't know what you don't know, don't do what you don't know. But so let's talk just a little bit about we see a lot of people get in trouble by taking on projects that are well beyond their. It may be inside of their scope of practice, but it is well beyond their scope of knowledge. Is that fair? Very true, and so I I just want, kind of you to talk, you know, like I want to get into that in this segment. On, on, like, how do we solve that?
Speaker 1:You and I have had conversations about my goal. We had that on your show. My goal is to do referrals. I want to pay $100,000 in referrals. That's the problem, Right. And so I want those residential specialists, those commercial specialists, those guys that property managers, all those guys. I want them to refer their land deals to me so that I can take care of their clients. I don't do houses, you know, unlike you, unless there's a lot of land with that, you know there's a house accidentally on a piece of land.
Speaker 1:Right, and even when I have those, I partner with a residential agent, you know in that area, to help me out with the house part of it. So I really want to hear your thoughts on how do we improve our industry, how do we kindly get people to buy into specialization and understanding that there is a difference between it being a part you know inside. Your scope of practice is not the same thing as your scope of understanding.
Speaker 4:If I may, I'm always read a little bit. Ok, sure, but our preamble is one point. Five million real estate agents right now on the Web site and we have a preamble for our code of ethics which was founded in 1913. It's the second oldest. We're self-policing. We don't go to you know, we have professional standards committees and if I say something bad about you or do something that's against the code, then I can be brought before the committee. I can't take my license. Only the real estate commission can do that, but they can find me.
Speaker 4:But anyway, just our preamble starts out with under all is the land. The component. Wise utilization and widely allocated ownership depends on the survival and growth of free institutions of both civilizations. That's our industry. But our industry doesn't promote land other than the Realtors Land Institute because about 98% of all realtors at 1.5 sell houses and that's okay. So all the education and stuff and we've worked hard, the Realtors Land Association and building relationships with NAR and so on.
Speaker 4:And if I may, I want to read the Code of Ethics because this is important.
Speaker 4:It says the services of realtors provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards and practice of competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage, specifically residential real estate brokers, real property managers, commercial industrial real estate brokers, land brokers and I'm going to come back to that in a second real estate appraisal, real estate consulting, real estate syndication, real estate auction and international real estate. Realtors shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning the type of property or service in the outside of the field of competence, unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent in such types of property or service or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client. Any person engaged to provide such assistance shall be identified to their client and their contribution to the assignment should be set forth. Okay, when I got my license 30 years ago, we had to take the code of ethics course, the four hour course, and we had a test at the end of it. They don't do that now, but we had a test.
Speaker 1:We still do that in Nebraska.
Speaker 4:And, and I was told that you won't ever have to take that course again. Now that you're a realtor, you pass the course and go on Enjoy your venture in real estate. And then somebody screwed up. I think it was in Charlotte where a couple of builders were giving Mercedes Benz away to the agent that sold the most houses in their development and that was definitely against another code not this code and it hit the Charlotte Disturber, and that was definitely against another code, not this code and it hit the Charlotte Disturber. And then it went nationwide.
Speaker 4:Next thing, you know, they had us taking the Code of Ethics all of us every year, and then it went to two years. I don't know where it is now. Well, this is in 2008,. And I was taking the class down in Winston and they came to the Code of Ethics and I said you know, I keep asking people why can't we get code of it? Well, gloria Bowman was our executive at RLI in Chicago and we'd been talking previously about how we can promote RLI and how we can get more people involved. And I just had a thought on the way back and soon as I got back I called Gloria and I said, hey, I just took the code of ethics and land's not in there. How do we get land in there? She said I don't know. I'm going to call upstairs to the attorneys. We're going to find out. So that's how it started.
Speaker 4:And then it went to our professional standards national group, and then you have state groups and you have chapter groups and it went through two years of militia and Gloria called me they were voting on it whether they pass it or not and added to she called me why were they doing that? And I could hear the background and you could hear yay, yes, no, yes, no. And at the end there was a standing ovation. Kobe, there's never, I was told by the community, and I've been on it too, on the national committee for our life. Years ago, no one's ever applauded emotion in the professional standards. But that's how we got started. In 2010 in San Diego, the board of directors of NAR made it official. So you can thank me for that.
Speaker 1:You're welcome, I mean thank you.
Speaker 4:But you know this is part of what I do. I'm trying to help move our industry forward. And when I first wrote my class, I wrote about this little girl named Mary and she'd just gotten a real estate license. She was at Sunday school and Mrs Smith owned a 500-acre farm at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Interstate 40. And our husband had died and she didn't know what to do with the farm. She didn't have any heirs. So she said Mary, can you help me sell this farm? Mary says yes, of course I can. I've been a realtor for a week. So she proceeds to pull some comps. Somebody told her how to do that. Anyway, she put a price of $5,000 an acre and put a sign up and all of a sudden she gets the full price off her cash closing 30 days. She was happy, grandma was happy, everybody was happy. And the next thing you know, you see a sign future home of Walmart. Well, the guy bought the property for $5,000 an acre and flipped it to Walmart for $20,000 an acre. Now, did Mary do her job? That's what this is all about.
Speaker 4:The more we put this out there to the public and I'm going to start doing it on my radio show, refer it. We have a referral program in the United States. It's well established. You send me a referral, I send you a referral. We negotiate a referral. I send you a referral, we negotiate a percentage. Okay, I don't want to talk percentages, I don't like talking that. No, don't do that. We'll have to cut it.
Speaker 3:But, anyway, so the hook comes.
Speaker 4:But anyway, you know, and I had a client, a student, years ago down in Fayetteville, north Carolina, and I get a phone call from him I hadn't talked to him in years and he said Lou, he said I've decided to retire and he said I got a couple of listings left. They're commercial listings, commercial land. And he said one's by the subdivision. It was phase two and the guy lost his, you know, went into foreclosure. The bank's on it out in Oklahoma there's three properties. So he said I'd like to refer that to you and I said okay. So I started looking them up and one was worth a million dollars, one was worth a million and a half and one was worth $800,000.
Speaker 4:So I call one of my auctioneer buddies I'm not licensed auction and I said how would you like to co-list this with me? And he did, and he did all the work. I really didn't do anything. I didn't go down there to put the signs up and as time went on they did online auctions and I received a check for $120,000 on the first one and about $80,000. Anyway, it was a nice referral check. So I'm a believer in referrals. How are we doing on time?
Speaker 1:We're doing great, man, we're doing great. We can take a break, and it's about that time, so we'll do that and we'll come 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. 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 where we find the right buyer who understands its worth. You are not just another deal. 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. It's your legacy.
Speaker 1:All right, we are back here with Lou Jewell, accredited land consultant from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. Takes me about three of these segments to get where you're from and who you are, Lou Hi how are you?
Speaker 1:I'm a slow learner. Lou is, if you have not caught it yet, famous for let's Talk Land, which we believe Lou and I have talked about it during the break. We believe that that was the original land-related podcast. I think he was the first one. He was a pioneer in that Nine years ago, nine years ago. So I think he was the first one. He was a pioneer in that Nine years ago, so I think that was the first one. You can catch that at wwwletstalklandnet. So, um, yeah, he also, um, sells real estate in his spare time. I think him and, uh, him and shadow the Dog, they're out selling real estate in North Carolina and Virginia, correct? Yep, north Carolina and Virginia.
Speaker 1:Before the break we were talking about ethics. You know, it's like I said before, because you can doesn't mean you should. It's kind of my attitude. I don't know if I touched on this. I kind of get a little bit especially talking to you because you're so fascinating, lou, whether or not we were talking about it actually on this podcast or during the break.
Speaker 1:But we just got back from the Nebraska Real Estate Convention where we, our company, had a booth there where we were talking to residential agents and basically just asking them to refer their clients land needs to us and that we're going to pay referral fees. You know, because I've mentioned it before, my goal is to pay over one hundred thousand dollars in referral fees this year, in 2025. Over a hundred thousand dollars in referral fees this year in 2025. And so I want, you know like I want those referrals and I want to. Also, I want to, I want to give referrals, I want to give all my house referrals to to the guys that do those best. So, but it really does come down to and I think, man, I just I think maybe we're too nice sometimes on this that it does come down to. It is an ethical issue. Yeah, that if you don't know what you're doing, you really are maybe doing some damage for folks.
Speaker 4:Nope, you're not providing the service that you're supposed to be providing. Why would you? Why would you hire somebody you know need a brain surgeon? You hire a brain surgeon with experience. You don't hire an orthopedic youopedic that maybe did some classes on brain surgery. Sure, they throw a slide up.
Speaker 4:In North Carolina you have to have 180 hours of class time to become a provisional broker. Then you have an additional 90 hours after you completed that and joined a firm, and so on. You've got a year to do it and they've broken up into 30-hour classes and in one of those classes they throw a slide up that says land is the most complicated of all real estate transactions. And then they ask the instructor well, why is that? And the instructor says, well, it just is. Now let's talk about this. The only land education in North Carolina that they provide is 43,560 square feet, is one acre, and you may see that again on the test, and that's it. This is pitiful. There's nothing in the colleges, there's nothing in the universities, there's nothing in the syllabus in the states around the country. I mean, is land not that important? I think it's. The second biggest money spent in the country is in land as opposed to houses, and I'm just tired of being treated like dirt.
Speaker 1:That's clever. Well, and another thing like I hear a lot too, just especially in my area, from from people is is like I'll hear residential agents kind of smile at me and say, well, I grew up on a farm, so you know. And again, like I grew up on a farm too, but I can honestly tell you that I was not ready to go sell them when I got my real estate license. Um, because that's that's totally different. Um, you know like um, it's it's totally different. You know like it's a different. You know marketing and selling farmland, ranchland, recreational properties, development properties Even in itself, those four segments are four completely different animals.
Speaker 4:You've got schools. You've got easements there's 11 different types in here. You've got septic systems. You've got water, water rights. You've got all kinds of laws. You've got all kinds of tax benefits that you can get with land. And when you go buy vacant land you're going to pay two points higher than a conventional loan. If interest is 6% on a 30-year conventional loan on a home, it's going to be 8%. I don't care where you go, it's usually penalized 2% because of the risk.
Speaker 4:And there's an organization called Farms Credit. I'll give them a shout-out. They were started in 1916 by the federal government because we discovered oil. Now we had farm equipment, we had fertilizers and herbicides and farmers used to only get paid one time a year. So they founded Farmer Mac. You got Freddie May and so on. That's where Farmer Mac came from 1960, to underwrite the farm laws In 1946, after the war.
Speaker 4:I wish we had the same people in Washington. They said why are we running this organization? We need to privatize it. So they broke the United States up into areas. The generic name is farm credit, but here we're AgSouth or Carolina Farm Credit.
Speaker 4:There's three farm credits in North Carolina. We have 100 counties. One has 52. But they all have the same program. They're very competitive on interest rates.
Speaker 4:When you borrow money from them you get stock. They're co-op. So once a year you go to their office and they have a little band and hamburgers and hot dogs and you pick up your check $480 of dividends and then after three years in the program they'll go back and they will rebate you up to 20% of the interest you paid three years earlier. That may be a check for $10,000. They're giving back. And then I just saw in North Carolina they just gave out $36 million in their patron program, sold or retired the program, retired the loan. You no longer have a relationship with them. For seven additional years they will still come and pick up a check anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 that they're still giving you back, thanking you for being part of their program.
Speaker 4:There's no bank at all and I can go look them in the eye. I can go right there and I can say look at you. I mean I'm not talking to somebody on the other side of the country that has no idea who you are or cares about you. So if you're interested in getting a loan on land and land farm equipment, that's the place. They also have farm insurance. It's a great program. I want to finish up with one thing Each state and you guys can go. I'm not sure if you're listening audience how much you cover. I'm assuming you cover the whole country and possibly the world.
Speaker 4:We do actually. But each state, I assume, has a general statute. They write laws, the legislation of the state writes the laws and the real estate is appointed by the legislation the governor appoints. The board of directors of the commission is appointed by the governor. In North Carolina we have real estate commission rules, general Statute 93A6A-A licensees' competence. Simply holding a license is not a sure minimum competence to perform every type of real estate transaction, particularly specialized ones. The real estate law requires that a licensee act competently and in a manner that protects the public interest in any transaction he or she undertakes.
Speaker 4:So I'm citing all this stuff. We're talking about Cote d'Ivoire and stuff and still we don't get any attention. We're sitting at the back of the bus and it's up to us, you and me and others to put the word out, and I think the more to do it. I mean a buyer or seller should do their research, not just pick the person in the Sunday school class because they just got their license. There's more to it. Even in residential property management, commercial, I mean you call me up and tell me you want me to sell the Empire State Building. I'm going to refer it. I have no idea where to start. I've got 45 houses that I own. I want somebody to manage the property management Not me, buddy. And then, like we talked about homes, I'll refer them firm.
Speaker 1:Well, I think not only to that point, but I think, like the industry itself, I think, needs to, I think all, all of us need to take a look and and figure out if you're going to be a professional. I think we have an opportunity right now with these generations that are coming up who really do lean on professionals. You know, like Generation X I like to laugh about where my generation is kind of like the DIY generation you know, like we, kind of like we can do everything on our own, you know which is why we have like some of the crappiest remodels in the country. You know, like in houses and you know like you know residential agents know what I'm talking about. You know like you walk in and be like, oh, great job. You know on your ship lap or whatever. But I think that the next, like the Gen Z Gen, you know, Gen Y, Gen Z, all these, they really to become those professionals and to quit being, you know, quit whining, and actually start taking that mantle and be the professional. And I think, in order to do that I think you're absolutely right, Lou you have to take this more seriously.
Speaker 1:You know, and again I go back to, just because you can doesn't mean you should, and I like the fact that North Carolina has that actual rule in there. Probably do too, and we have something similar, but I don't know that anybody knows how to turn somebody in, and it's a lot of trouble to do it. Um, you know, even if you do know how to do it, you know that's usually the issue is is it's a lot of trouble to do it, but we have to, as an, as as an industry, you know, start figuring out how to take this seriously, because I think you know like there was a real fear there for a while that the professional organizations, the insurance agents, the realtors, all this stuff we were all going to go by the way of the interweb and we were going to get replaced by chatbots and websites. What I see is is that you know, like just the younger people really want a person they can sit and look at. You know they really are putting their phones down more than people are giving them credit for. You know, and I think a lot of them really do want that professional that can guide them. But you also have to act like that professional that's going to guide them, you know. So I love the content that you've brought today, bringing up the ethical part of the referral, and it's just to me, I think, like I said, I think this is going to be unique to see how things happen, but I will tell you that, from our experiment experiment going to the residential agent, it's interesting um, we were received very well.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, and again, the only thing I can say is I did talk to a few people that were like well, I grew up on a farm, so I know what, to which you know, we have those conversations on. Yeah, did you do you know? Though, you know, like there's you, I, I lived in a house, so does that mean I know how to sell a house? You know, like it's not the same right you have. There's so many different things. And, and you know like two, from who do they call for financing to? Who insures you know what? To? If they're looking to do a development, who's the developers that might be interested? It's a great point, so it's been really good. You had something else you wanted to share here before we go.
Speaker 4:This is a nice gift. Years ago in that 2008 period okay, 6 and 8, 2008-6, I would come to the office off hours and I'd do research. Boy, if I had a computer when I was a kid, I'd be Einstein. Now it's crazy. And I wanted to write a book, not to publish it. I wanted to write a book for myself and I wrote one and I went through my experience with my grandfather and our farm, the family farm, and what I'd learned and how to do a subdivision. It was just I was trying to take all my thoughts about land brokerage and put it in one place that I authored, that I created, and then I'd look for deficiencies. Where did I need to do something? What else did I need to learn? Who else did I need to meet? But one of the things in my research I found was an anonymous saying called who Am I, which happened to be the title of my book, and if you don't mind, I'm going to read again. But this really nails it all and this is a wonderful gift to get somebody.
Speaker 4:It says I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise, the thrifty and the prude. I am the poor person's joy and comfort, the rich person's prize, the right hand of capital, the solid partner of thousands of successful people. I am the soulless of the widow. I am the comfort of the old age. I'm the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want. I am handed down through generations as a possession of great wealth. I am the choice of fruit and labor, safest collateral. And yet I am humble. I stand before every person, bidding them to know me for what I am and asking me to possess me.
Speaker 4:I am quietly growing in value through countless days. Though I might seem dormant, my worth increases never failing, never ceasing. Time is my aid, and ever-increasing populations adds to my gain. I defy fire and the elements and they cannot destroy me. My possessors learn to believe in me. Invariably, they become envied by those who have passed me by, younger and always increasing in strength, All oral and mental rights come to me. I am the producer of food, building materials and the home to every living thing. I serve as the foundation for homes, factories, banks and stores. I have not been produced in millions of years. I am so common that thousands, unthinkingly, unknowingly, pass me by. That's Lynn. I'll send it to you. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. Lou, how can the folks get a hold of you if they are in North Carolina or Virginia looking to buy or sell some land?
Speaker 4:My company, which I own website, is MyLandPro. Who's your land pro? Mylandprocom, and my phone number is 336-669-1405. And it's been a great privilege and pleasure to be with you today. This is a great show and I wish you much success and I'll help you any way I can. Let's get the word out there, buddy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I appreciate you being on. Like I said, I've been a huge fan. I started listening to you when I first got in to the industry, so I think I am not sure I've listened to every episode, but I know through Spotify I know I have listened to a solid 90% of them. Thank you very much. Yeah, and so, yep, you're the first one I found out there and started listening to it and I appreciate it. I can tell you that after doing this for a couple years and I've only got I think this is the 36th episode. We don't put them out quite as efficiently as you do. I had changed companies last year. It took some time off, but we're back at it and it's fun to talk to people and I appreciate your time today.
Speaker 4:I appreciate you, buddy. All the best to you and let's do some referrals. Yeah, absolutely, that solves a lot of problems.
Speaker 1:That's exactly right.
Speaker 4:By the way. One last website. Yeah, if you're buying or selling land or farms, go to wwwRLILandcom and find a person, a member of our organization. There's over 2,000 of us on ALC. There's over 750 of us. It's in your area. They will make you more money if you're selling and they will save you more money if you buy, because we know how to play the game. So listen to what I'm saying. This is my best advice.
Speaker 1:Yep, Honestly, there's a good chance that if you go to that website and go to find a land specialist or find a land specialist, I think is what it is that it's somebody that is friends with Lou and I we're a big family. There's an 80% chance that those people are going to be friends with us. Get together once a year, yes, sir. So well. Again appreciate your time today and 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. God bless you and have a great week.
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