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
#43 - Walking the Land: Christina Asbury on the Real Rules of Selling Coastal Land
The coastal land world isn’t for the faint of heart, or the underprepared.
In this episode of The American Land Seller, we sit down with Christina Asbury, a standout broker with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, who covers the stretch from Cape Fear to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
She’s one of the country’s few Accredited Land Consultants, and she doesn’t just show up with comps and paperwork, she shows up with a Jeep, boots, a stick, and a pistol to walk the land herself. That hands-on, deeply informed approach sets her apart in a market filled with challenges and opportunity.
We dig into:
- How coastal deals differ from interior land transactions
- The creative ways land is used when flood zones, buffers, and sewer access are in play
- Why understanding a client’s vision is the most important part of a land sale
- And what pending laws and environmental rules could mean for buyers, sellers, and even drone pilots
From sea salt farms and RV storage lots to military relocation challenges and foreign ownership laws, this episode offers a front-row seat to one of the most nuanced land markets in the U.S.
🎧 Watch or listen now, and if you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to do land right on the coast, Christina brings the answers.
Christina Ashbury:
(910) 262-3948
christinasellsrealestate@gmail.com
https://www.seacoastrealty.com/
Today on the American Land Seller, we're heading to the Carolina coast for a conversation with one of the most well-rounded land pros in the game. Christina Asbury isn't just selling property. She's navigating complex land deals 1031 exchanges, military relocations and new construction from blueprint to closing. As a broker with Caldwell Banker Seacoast Advantage, christina covers the ground from Cape Fear to Camp Lejeune, helping everyone from first-time homebuyers to farmers, investors and asset managers get the job done with confidence. She's one of the few accredited land consultants in the country, backed by deep knowledge in land investment analysis, site planning and creative development strategy. Add in your certifications in buyer representation, residential construction and foreclosure resource management and you've got someone who can walk into just about any deal with authority.
Speaker 1:In this episode, we talk about what makes land deals on the coast different. In this episode, we talk about what makes land deals on the coast different, how to serve military families with clarity and compassion, and why it pays to know the actual land, not just what's in the MLS or on other websites. If you're looking for a smart, no-fluff take on what it means to serve buyers and sellers across all stages of land and home cycle, this episode is definitely for you.
Speaker 2: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:Hey everybody, welcome back to the American Land Seller Podcast. We are so excited to have Christina Ashbury from Sneeds Ferry, north Carolina. Christina, correct me if I'm wrong. You're right near Camp Lejeune, right Like you're not too far from the famous Marine Corps base there in North Carolina, correct?
Speaker 4:Yes, camp Lejeune, or Camp Lejeune, if you're going to pronounce it correctly.
Speaker 1:Camp Lejeune.
Speaker 4:Yes, they throw an R up in there in the pronunciation sometimes.
Speaker 1:Is that just being Southern, or is that, like that's a Marine Corps?
Speaker 4:thing. No, that's actually how the Lejeune name was pronounced originally. But, people just go with the phonetic spelling and the way that it's actually spelled and sent it out. But yes, we've got Marine Corps Air Station New River, We've got Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune.
Speaker 1:That is very cool. I learn something new every single day and thank God I started early today. So let's talk about your area in North Carolina. I thought it was interesting. Like I have several states we were talking about like specialties, and I know that you're a huge advocate, like I am, for knowing your lane, understanding what exactly your specialty is before you work in it. You're extremely famous for your education program that you have in your area there in North Carolina and actually nationwide with the Realtors Land Institute. So let's talk just a little bit about North Carolina and your specialty there in North Carolina where it comes to land. We were talking before we got started here about like, the difference between like what land looks like in your area. Tell me just a little bit about that.
Speaker 4:Well, I mean where you're at. I mean huge tracts of land are pretty common here. I get 200 acres. I'm happy, like that's a big tract of land. Anything over a hundred acres is huge because the Marine Corps base, the state game lands, national forest, all those things.
Speaker 4:We have a lot of conservation area here that's owned by state or federal government so we don't have a lot of great big tracks. So we practice a lot of assemblage here and we're dealing with smaller farms. We're dealing with smaller hobby farms or specialty farms like poultry, hog or swine farms. I've sold some really random farms before. But yeah, we're dealing with smaller tracts and smaller parcels for the most part, which is different than a lot of other areas of the country. You know we go to National Land Conference and see some of other people's marketing and like I cannot fathom having 10,000 acres for sale on one piece of property. I cannot fathom having 10,000 acres for sale on one piece of property. That's crazy to me. But on the other hand, I would challenge them to come and sell a .14 acre oceanfront lot with all the different little things that we deal with here at the coast.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, no, that's pretty fascinating, I mean. And again, like that's one of the things I think, and I would venture you would agree with me on this going to the National Land Conference and having the friends that we have nationwide, it's so impressive the difference between what all of us do and the specialties that there really are out there, because I would not know the first thing about what it is you guys in your office do out there, in your office do out there, and I would venture to say that row crop, farmland, the way that we do it with irrigation systems and stuff like that would probably be, you know, a little bit of a challenge for you for a couple of minutes as well.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, sure, I mean. The only irrigated farm things that I deal with are like the irrigation for my hog farms, where they have spray fields.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:But for the most part our row crop land here is not irrigated at all. So yeah, it's a whole lot different.
Speaker 1:So you were talking about, like, the difference between people using it for like production, agriculture and for just like recreational. We call it recreational use or hobby use or just different uses. Dig into that just a little bit. What kind of uses are you seeing for land in your area and you know like, and what is the process for you sitting down with somebody when you're working with a client on figuring out what exactly their needs are?
Speaker 4:Well, okay, so some people want to buy land for hobby farms or they want to buy income producing farmland and then other people want experience land and it's not. I mean you could call it recreational, but sometimes experience again it's more like it's a lifestyle purchase. Those buyers are not looking for that land to make money, pay the bills or put food on their table. They've usually got another source of income, not expecting the farm to pay the mortgage. You know, maybe they just want a space for horses or to ride atvs on, or everybody here, especially being around a marine corps base, everybody wants somewhere to go shoot guns and just do some redneck fun things. So for lifestyle experience buyers it's more about just privacy and peace and quiet and getting out of the hustle bustle and really just enjoying owning the land. So I try to help people be really honest and be really upfront about themselves and what they think they want and what they're willing to do to get what they want, because sometimes they're two completely different things. So you know, start kind of asking what's your perfect weekend? Look like on the land, like, what are you doing on Saturday when you go there? You know, are you out riding a tractor? Are you selling things? Are you just bringing friends and family to enjoy that? You know there's a lot of different questions to kind of ask, to figure out and get to the root of what they really need. And then, once I can kind of help them understand their vision, I can help them figure out what kind of land is actually going to deliver the results they need. So I mean I ask what do you want to grow? What do you want to raise?
Speaker 4:Because different crops and different animals need different types of land with different features. Right, you know, especially down here, do you need water? Do you need ponds? Do you need irrigation? Do you want water access to do recreational things on? Are you hunting? Are you fishing? Are you looking for ducks? You know what kind of water might you need. You know what kind of access are you looking for? What kind of zoning is allowed? Some of our counties here have no zoning and other ones do. That'll limit how many hoofed animals you can have per acre in certain areas and things like that too mean really, a horse farm looks nothing like a blueberry farm, looks nothing like a pig farm. Wedding venues need parking and bathrooms cut. Flower farms might need irrigation, but not a lot else. So I really try to help people by asking questions that they might not know to ask of themselves, so they don't find the wrong thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think what you said there is very interesting because I think if you don't know what you're doing and don't have that, like that, I guess, professional intelligence to ask those questions, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble because you know like, just like you said, there are places in even your area where maybe you can't have horses, and so if you go and identify, you know, like a two acre piece of property and sell it to somebody that their intention is to have critters, you know, or to have horses on it, and then they can't do that. You know that to have horses on it, and then they can't do that. You know that that lines you up for some big problems, exactly. So, yeah, and I think, like you know what is I mean like what does that intake look like when you're talking to your clients? Like I feel like our industry.
Speaker 1:A lot of times we struggle with what's going on here. Computer's kind of acting crazy. I feel like our industry a little bit. You know is a lot more transactional in today's age than relational and that's where we kind of go awry. But what does your intake look like when you're starting to develop that relationship with your client?
Speaker 4:I mean when I'm dealing with sellers.
Speaker 4:I'm going to take it from two different sides because you know we deal with sellers and buyers a little differently.
Speaker 4:On the seller side and I'm very heavy listing I'll probably do 70% of my business as more sellers than buyers. Heavy listing I'll probably do 70% of my business is more sellers than buyers. But on the seller side, I find it interesting that my sellers are surprised that I want to go walk the land because none of the other realtors they've ever worked with do. And then when I show up in a Jeep with boots and, you know, a stick and a pistol and like, let's go, show me the back corner of this 75 acre tract of woods, you know, I think that right there sets the precedent, for I'm not afraid to get dirty and I'm not afraid to put in the work and I really want to understand what you have so I can help maximize your profits. I think that really helps Really understanding what they have and understanding the vision that that seller had for that property when they bought it. Because everybody, when you buy a piece of land, I think you'd agree that everybody's got a vision and they know what they want to do with it.
Speaker 4:Now whether it comes to fruition or not is neither here nor there, but I think it's important to see what the seller's vision is, because maybe I can use that to market their property and that kind of buys in buying into their experience of what they wanted to do with it helps build that relationship. I can see it through their lens and from a buyer side man. I got to ask them really more detailed questions. You know again do you need the access? Do you? What kind of public road access do you need? Are you going to have customers on site? You know, if you're doing something to generate income, how are we going to get people there? Is the visibility good? How much traffic do you expect to have? Do we need to be within a drive radius? Like? I think really understanding the vision on the buyer side is important too, so that I can help identify obstacles that they have not thought about and I could be asking the right questions that they haven't thought about yeah, no, that's, that's well.
Speaker 1:And how many times have you gone out? Like people buy stuff, you know, and they have a specific use in mind for when they buy, and that use may be, like you said. I want to put you know, my three horses on this property and then they move, or they, you know, move to a larger horse farm or whatever it is, or um, and then they, and then they decide they're gonna, they're gonna liquidate or they're gonna sell that property. You go out there and you find five other things of improved value to it that make it worth X amount more, because you went out there and you actually walked that property and you put boots on the ground and you didn't just look at, hey, it's a 50-acre lot in this area and it's probably worth this amount of money, correct? I mean, how many times has that happened to you? I know it's happened to me a ton of times where I've found more value out there looking around.
Speaker 4:Absolutely yes, because I mean the seller has an idea in their head and it's funny I don't know how it is where you are but the tax value, the assessed tax value of the year, has no bearing on the market value. We don't do the reassessments very often, so oftentimes land sellers are going to be looking at the tax value. Well, I mean I'd take this or I'd take that, where in actuality I can build on that and actually get them quite a bit more. Um, but sometimes you know people think they've got a gold mine and there must be oil under that dirt that I don't know about, because they want some kind of weird number and I mean I lose listings a lot because I'm not. I don't need a listing for my sign to rust on.
Speaker 4:Either you want me to get it sold or you just want to try to test the market, and I'm not here to really test the market. I'm here to get things sold, sold. So I try to build as much value as I can. But everybody has unrealistic expectations at some point, right. So I try to manage those up front and really teach the sellers, or I mean teach the client, no matter which side of the deal about the property so that they're making informed decisions, and I really put a lot of emphasis on doing all the research I can on every track that I represent, no matter which side of the table I'm sitting on, so that they know exactly what they're taking on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's just a sign of a really good agent is when you hear somebody that says sign of a really good agent is when you hear somebody that says I've lost listings because I've said no, I'm not going to represent that value. I just, you know, and again, I've never. I can't say that. I haven't seen people that have walked away and went to another agency and you know like, maybe I thought they were insane and something happened. You know like, maybe once or twice, you know the stars all aligned for them. But you know, for the most part I've been pretty close to online where I've seen that just sits there, just like you said, my sign rust on the property and I'm going to use that one because I've not heard that one before.
Speaker 4:Yeah, man, I'm going to need my sign to rust. We're too close to salt water and it will if it sits there long enough. Yes, but as you say, as my daddy would say, even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.
Speaker 1:That's fair. Hey, christina, let's take a quick 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 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. All right, we are here with Christina Asbury from Sneeds Ferry, north Carolina. I always tell people, christina, it takes me about. That's why we have three segments to this show, because it takes me about three segments to figure out who you are, where you're from, all that stuff. But you're with Coldwell Banker, is that correct? Coldwell Banker, seacoast Advantage.
Speaker 4:I am Coldwell Banker, seacoast Advantage. We are the number one company in our area here, I'm pretty sure the top local independently owned firm, and we do a lot of business. We have a huge coverage area here in southeastern North Carolina.
Speaker 1:Well, Coldwell Bankers is a well-known national franchise company so everybody kind of, I suppose, knows Coldwell Bankers, so they're a pretty good firm around our area, has a good reputation, yeah, but let's talk about like in your area. We were talking during the break. The big thing in the news in the last year or two has been foreign buyers and farmland, especially near military bases. You had said you're next to Camp Lejeune. I just learned that today. Camp Lejeune is the correct pronunciation. I've always said Camp Lejeune, so now it's Camp Lejeune, I guess, is the correct pronunciation. But talk a little bit about what's going on in North Carolina we had talked about. There's a bill in your state house right now that they're working on about foreign land ownership.
Speaker 1:That is a little interesting. Explain to us what's going on with that.
Speaker 4:Okay, yeah, so in North Carolina we have a lot of military installations from Marine Corps, army, coast Guard. Everybody's got something here, I think, except maybe Space Force, but that's another discussion. So there is a House bill right now called the North Carolina Farmland and Military Protection Act. It's House Bill 133 here in North Carolina, which would ban adversarial you can't see my air quotes in podcast land. It would ban adversarial foreign governments from purchasing, acquiring or leasing agricultural land in North Carolina. It would also apply to land situated within 75 miles of a military installation, and we have a whole bunch of military installations here. The issue well, there's a couple different issues here. Number one the adversarial governments. In the Senate bill, the Senate companion bill, actually specifies those governments as China, iran, north Korea and Russia. It's kind of interesting because on one hand, you do not have to be an American citizen to own property here, but on the other hand, adversarial foreign governments don't typically get into the land transactions here, but there's actually a proposal to say an individual. So for individuals Now, as realtors and as a member of the National Association of Realtors, we've got an ethical obligation.
Speaker 4:You know we got a code of ethics. We also have federal fair housing laws that prevent discrimination against country of origin. So there's a very fine line here. You know, private property rights are really important and our legislator is saying but so is national security. So they're saying it's only going to apply to entities controlled by foreign governments designated as an adversary from our own federal government agency. So both sides have got their own bill, one side saying individuals, one saying governments or entities, and we're going to see kind of how that moves. From the real estate side of it, we're really pushing fair housing, private property rights, we're kind of pushing those two issues with it. And then I mean, what kind of weird situation is that going to put us in Kobe as real estate professionals when we're like so what country are you from? Again, because I might not be able to sell you that land.
Speaker 4:And then the other layer to it too, is ever heard of Smithfield Pork Products? Smithfield Pork Products pretty much runs the pork trade here in eastern North Carolina. Every one of the hog farms that I have sold has had pigs in it from Smithfield. Smithfield is owned by the Chinese government. It is a Chinese government entity. They have hog farms on large tracts of land that have irrigated spray fields, which are hay fields and other things. So it's still a farmland, it's still designated as a farm. So, like, how is that going to play into the pork production conversation? Now, I do know that the lobbyists for Smithfield and the pork industry are 100% involved in all the discussions from a legislator perspective. But it's just really interesting to think that they're having these conversations and we do have a couple of representatives who are bringing up the legality and the constitutionality of preventing a landowner from selling their property to a ready, willing and able buyer. So we've really got kind of a battle going on here. How do they do it in your area?
Speaker 1:It's become an issue. Nebraska, specifically, has not had anything go through, but there are bills in the legislature this year and last year that, have you know, been brought to the legislature. Nothing's passed yet that I know of, but we've seen them. But it is. The question is, it's more than just this. You know, hot button, get yourself elected. Well, that's pretty much politics, right, christina? There's always more layers to the onion than just the electable issue of whatever makes everybody's blood boil on the on the news, right? So, yeah, it's, there's a.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be interesting to see how all this stuff plays out so far in Arkansas. I think that's kind of what everybody's waiting for it. Arkansas and Oklahoma have passed some pretty robust legislation. That's all being litigated and I think, like Nebraska, I think that's kind of what Nebraska's legislature is waiting on is to see how all that plays out in the courts and where, like, the Supreme Court lands on some of that, because Arkansas, I think, was the first one that actually, like, seized farmland or took farmland away from a foreign entity or foreign government, and so that will be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court, like Sigma and all that stuff. And that's the one thing I do like that. I think that one thing that is going to come out of this is how much of our supply is controlled by foreign governments. That's interesting, yeah. When you poke in China, you realize most of your pigs are owned by China. So like that's an interesting thing to do.
Speaker 4:No, but like on the flip side, the main pig farmer that I sell farms for has told me that seven out of ten hogs that he raises get sent to China. So I mean they're really getting their own pork production from the farms here. So when 30% of them are actually staying here and seven out of 10 are going there, I mean they're really kind of controlling their own food supply in some aspects, right. But one of the bigger, one of the other bigger questions is we have a growing population of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans here in North Carolina. So there are some questions on whether the bill would ban somebody from purchasing land if they're a legal resident of the US with a Chinese citizenship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we've got all of those little intricacies that are trying to be worked out as well, yeah, well, that needs to be thought through further In my mind. It needs to be thought through further than just, like I said, the hot button reactive issue of what politicians scream into the microphone to try and get themselves elected yeah On both elected, yeah On both sides. Let's think through this. And again, our job as realtors, in my mind, is to protect the landowners, and I agree with you, is it? Or I guess I don't know if I agree with you, but I agree with you on the thought process of we do need to consider Is it, is it constitutional to inhibit somebody's right to sell their land at a fair price? I struggle with that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean that was one of the things that got put into the RLI's new advocacy policy. If you haven't had a chance to look at it, check it out. One of the things in the agriculture and foreign trade section of the advocacy policy actually says that the Realtors Land Institute supports full consideration of the economic factors, private property rights and national security by government agencies who may impose restrictions on foreign or corporate ownership of land or the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land. And I think, well, I hope, that there is full consideration given for those aspects of these decisions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, no, that's definitely an interesting. It's going to be interesting to see how all this plays out. I do have documents, like I'm licensed in, like arkansas and oklahoma, and there are documents that we are required to fill out. If you have a suspicion, or even on most things you have to have, if it's farmland, you have to have somebody fill out a affidavit, you know, basically swearing to the fact that they don't work for or affiliated with a foreign government. Yeah and no, there are. You know, there are places, you know states out there that are already in, you know, already working with those documents, and you have to submit those to the state. So it's, it's definitely definitely a fascinating time.
Speaker 4:Well, and the other thing, you want to talk about our drone lawsuit that's going on here? Oh yeah, we're going to talk about drones, all right, man. So we have a drone operator here who takes aerial photos and aerial images of people's property, like you know, contract basis, not just for real estate professionals, but does it for himself, right? Well, the North Carolina's Land Survey Board's been targeting these small drone operators and what they're doing is they're saying that the maps and the models that they're building are constituting illegal surveying. So North Carolina actually classifies basic aerial map as surveying, which would require a full surveyor's license which, as you know, is not easy to get. I mean, that's years of education, years of experience, all those things. And the surveying board here has been pretty strictly enforcing that law.
Speaker 4:We had a guy here in North Carolina who was doing aerial mapping for landowners, specifically giving them a bird's eye view of their property. But the surveying board issued a cease and desist letter to this guy demanding he stop all of his operations or be fined for face severe penalties. And he was like that doesn't sound right. I mean, I'm not actually doing surveying. He actually argued that creating and sharing his maps is about the land. Is free speech protected by the Constitution. Ok, so he sued their board. He sued the state surveying licensure board. However, the Fourth Circuit here determined that his actions do not constitute speech, but actually they call it conduct that falls under the surveying profession. And the courts also are saying that because his activities are taking place on private property, the government had more leeway to regulate them than if it occurred on public land, which really makes no sense. I mean, you're impacting free speech rights, we're affecting marketability, we're affecting all the different ways that drones are used, especially in a commercial world. You know we'll take drone images of a property and actually put together renderings and schematics and here's how everything can lay out. It was really interesting. You'll have to check that out. It's actually trying to.
Speaker 4:The Institute of Justice has backed this guy. They defend First Amendment rights and economic liberty across the country. So they are kind of picking up this ball and going to run with it. And when we talk about these kinds of policies and these kinds of things that are affecting our business and property owners, rli really kind of dug into it in our advocacy policy and you know we wanted to acknowledge the fact that drones aren't just used to put little lines on a piece of paper for us to have something pretty for our flower and our website. Like, drones are used in agriculture, you know, to monitor pests and growth and water. It's used in wildlife management. Drones are used to monitor natural resources. You know there's a lot of things that it's used for that aren't just marketing and it's not surveying. So it's going to be really interesting to see how the Supreme Court deals with the appeals, specifically on this drone mapping case.
Speaker 1:So are they claiming that when you pull the drone up, take a photo and put the line around the picture? Is that what they're saying? Like that's a survey.
Speaker 4:Any maps or models, yes, are constituting illegal surveying.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 4:Which is kind of crazy, right.
Speaker 1:I don't even have enough surveyors to do the surveys I need now, let alone have to have one to go take pictures for all my properties.
Speaker 4:I know. And then I mean they're bringing up the fact how drone use over private property without consent can lead to like claims of trespassing. And I mean to be fair. If I see a drone over my property I have a tendency to go get some you know BB shot for geese and take that sucker down right Like you don't need to be over my property.
Speaker 1:But on the same hand there's got to be a little bit of a give, give and take there yeah, I make an attempt to like, try and contact, like at least if there's houses there, make a contact of the people that live around there to just say we're doing photography on your neighbor's property or whatever. Yeah, it's usually a good exercise to like let them know we're selling it A lot of times. You know it's like a coming soon call you know. So it works out pretty good. But I mean, like that gets into too, like where does that end?
Speaker 1:Because you have to have a license, you have to have a pilot's license to fly a drone. So technically, for me to fly a drone, you have to have a pilot's license to fly a drone. So right, technically to be a fly, for me to fly a drone to take pictures of a property, I have to have a pilot, you know pilot's license, and so, in order, if you have a pilot's license, you know then, technically, you know if you, if you, if they regulate that, then they're gonna have to regulate airplanes. You know where do you stop? Where does one begin and one end, I guess?
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I mean, when the licensure board wrote to this guy they ordered him to stop engaging in mapping, surveying, photogrammetry, stating accuracy. They wanted him to stop providing location and dimensions, topographic info, um, I mean, even though he had a disclaimer on his website saying that those maps were not meant as a substitute for surveys or you know, actual on on site as built surveys needed for mortgage or title insurance or land use applications. Like he really just wanted to provide a service so that people can get birds eye views of the property and kind of lay out different projects and things. And he was being hired by the property owner. It isn't like it was for a third party for commercial marketing purposes. So we'll see how all of that plays out, but we're watching that really closely and RLI is watching it closely as well.
Speaker 1:I was going to say they start messing with the realtors. I'm guessing that's going to be a little different story.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it sure will be, especially if I'm involved in legislative things in our state.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, that seems crazy. Like I said, I don't even think I don't know about North Carolina, but man, I know in my area there's not enough surveyors to take care of what they already have going on, let alone to worry about something like that. But man, that's crazy.
Speaker 4:I know, I tell my kid every day if you're smart, you'll be a surveyor.
Speaker 1:If you're smart, please be a surveyor.
Speaker 4:I'll keep you busy.
Speaker 1:No joke, that's a smart thing.
Speaker 4:Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:All right, Christina, let's take a quick break and 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. 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. 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.
Speaker 1:It's your legacy. We are back with Christina Asbury from Sneeds Ferry, north Carolina. Christina, what fun stuff do you guys do in North Carolina? What kind of creative ways are people using the land out there? I think I have not spent a whole ton of time I've been through North Carolina. I used to have a trucking company and we delivered to an organic bakery out there. I'm trying to blank on the name of the town, but it was a beautiful town there. But what kind of unique things are going on. How are people using the land in North Carolina?
Speaker 4:I think one of the biggest things right here near the coast in my immediate market area is well, of course, keep it in mind that the coastal properties we deal with wetlands. We have a lot of unusable area, a lot of watershed, a lot of flood zones. Right RV and boat storage lots is one of the biggest things that we're seeing now, and they're going in areas where they don't have any sewer but you have high visibility or the land doesn't have soils good enough to perk and build on. It's one of the best passive income uses of the land Put up a fence, put a gate on it, give everybody the little assigned spot and take your money in a dollar a day.
Speaker 4:And I think that it's getting a lot of traction because the homeowners associations here for these new neighborhoods are not letting you park your boat in the driveway and they're not letting you park your RV in the driveway and a lot of people who live at the coast have RVs and travel, so that's something that's a little different. I mean, if you think about the liability of it, it's not a huge liability for the landowner. You don't really have a lot of improvements, you don't have a lot of overhead, so that's kind of something a little different. We're seeing a lot of farmer's markets pop up, like people just buy a little small half acre lot in the middle of town to be able to set up their farmer's market or be able to sell their wares. Wedding venues like event spaces. Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 3:Because we don't have big convention centers here.
Speaker 4:So I mean, you get out in the country and you need a space to have things. We've got a lot of farm-to-table type restaurants that are incorporating big farms so that they can host events on site and provide the food and a really nice ambiance out in the country and the place for the pictures with the farm in the background. So that's another one, I think, one of the most interesting farms I ever sold, though and I talk about this in a lot of my transitional land classes, because people think of farms and you think crops and tractors and critters and things Right, I sold a sea salt farm once, so this lady would actually truck in. Well, let me go back to the site. It was about an acre, no septic, no. Well, it was cinder block built anded kind of like a detached garage. Like the first time I saw it, I'm like this would be great for like a plumber or an electric company where they just need to like store a bunch of stuff and have room for some vehicles to park right.
Speaker 4:Very unassuming cinder block building in the middle of kind of nowhere, and it had a greenhouse on one side of the property, like on one side of the building attached to the main center block garage building and what she would do is she would truck in these big water containers full of seawater from Wrightsville Beach down near Wilmington and she would truck them in about a half mile inland to this location and she would lay the seawater out in these greenhouse beds and she would let the sun evaporate it to where the byproduct was the natural sea salt. And then she would harvest that sea salt and she would sell it. She actually grilled and sold it. She would mix it with herbs, she would mix it with different spices, she would sell them to a lot of the local restaurants and a lot of the local chefs.
Speaker 4:And it was interesting when she called me. She's like, hey, I got this farm I want to sell and I show up and I'm like and then she explains to me what she's doing and it just really made my brain kind of change to all farms don't look the same. Like she was part of the tax deferral program, she was part of the got to be nc farm program. Like she was legit a farm in a little center block building drying up some ocean water and it was really cool.
Speaker 4:So we actually sold the business and we sold the location and, um, it's called the sea love sea salt farm. Look them up. You can order some online from our local, local seawater here. It's great on fish and shrimp and all the seafood things. But yeah, it was very different, different kind of a use. So it goes back to earlier. I was saying I need to understand what your vision is so I know exactly what you have, because the way that we priced that property and that business was different than I would have if it was an HVAC or landscaping or plumbing like shop location, because it was actually generating income. Even without a bathroom it was still generating income.
Speaker 1:That's crazy.
Speaker 4:I know it was really cool. That's one of the coolest farms I've ever sold. And then you know we grow a lot of sod here. That's the other thing. You don't have a lot of sod farms where you're at Covey.
Speaker 1:I don't think I well, we have. I had a guy call me had a former sod farm that had been retired, but no, we don't have a lot of sod farms in here. We get most of our sod from like Western Colorado.
Speaker 4:Okay, yeah, we've got a lot of sod farms down here. I think that's the. If I ever owned a bunch of land, I would lease out the front, so it looked like I had all of that grass and I didn't have to mow any of it. I think that'd be cool. But so in North Carolina, when you have a farm, the farmer has the right to harvest their crop if their seed's been dropped in the ground, right, no matter when the property sells. That's our state law. But when you get into sod farms, it just keeps growing. So that's something that we have to work with a little different, because they don't plant the seeds, it just continues to grow from the roots that are still in the ground. So yeah, we deal with a little bit of different things here, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's fascinating. So what's the craziest thing you've ever sold, Christine?
Speaker 4:Oh, wow, I've sold a lot of weird stuff. Before I've sold stuff that had meth labs in the back of the woods.
Speaker 1:Really, I've sold things that Okay, so before you go on with that, is that like when you're out there with your stick and your pistol walking the property, that where you, you just keep on walking and don't make enough of that?
Speaker 4:like in some parts of the country, if you're walking through the woods and you notice a bunch of copper and some containers and some mason jars, right like two plus two, the math is mapping on what you think is probably going on there. Very similar situation when you're dealing with, you know, meth labs, and a lot of times they're making it in the woods and you just kind of roll up on the wrong type of supplies and the wrong type of debris. Yeah, that that particular one looked like it had been not blown up we'll say at least a happy ending there but it looked like it had been dismantled. And that is when it triggers you to just call the local sheriff's department and ask if they had been dispatched, which they had, and then I had police reports and all the things. So that was a little different is that a disclosure?
Speaker 4:you have to disclose that you that there was a meth lab on your property yes, because it's potentially um, it's a contaminant right, like the chemicals and the byproducts, and things are contaminant to the environment. So, yes, if we know about it or should we got to disclose it, yes, Potential meth lab.
Speaker 1:What other? What was the most rewarding? Oh man.
Speaker 4:I think one of the most rewarding things I ever sold was for a surveyor and I love surveyors, they are the historians of the world, right. Like this gentleman had been in business for decades I would say over 50 years here in coastal North Carolina, like his company's name is on all the old, really cool surveys, right, and he had a property. It was about 55 acres. He had built a lake with a spillway, completely like beautifully stocked. He had a very cool like barn, like wood house, barn vibe house, going on and he was just getting older, it was too much for him to keep up.
Speaker 4:He had a private airstrip on the property. He had an airplane hangar on the property. Um, he had some cow pasture, had a bunch of woods, it was just a really cool piece of property. But working with a surveyor, he was very specific about who he wanted to have this property, not from a discrimination standpoint, but he wanted to make sure that someone would appreciate it. Sure, so there were some deed restrictions that we had to get the owner, the new buyers, to agree to, and fielded some phone calls from all kinds of people. I mean, I think that they may have had nefarious uses for the private airstrip that was on site.
Speaker 3:But you know we can't question those.
Speaker 4:From time to time, you never know what someone might need a private airstrip for, right, I mean, I don't know, one can assume. But it was really rewarding to be able to help him make sure that he was happy with the person that got his life's work and make his wife happy because she, you know, was taking care of some things as he got older, and to actually just have a really good rapport with one of the old school surveyors in town and to know that he trusted me. Out of all the other people he could have called, that was probably the most rewarding.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome, that's very cool. So I was going to ask you. I had something today, actually, that I'm dealing with. I have a client that and I don't know if this is something that you've been dealing with lately, but I have a client and and the reason why I'm bringing this up is because it's I don't think it's near you, but Sanford, North Carolina, which is down by Raleigh I had a client that received a letter from what looks to me like a wholesaler trying to buy some property in Arkansas, and so this is something that I learned today that I thought was interesting that they are using what's called a like an RV mailer, like company, like a mobile mailing company. Have you heard of this?
Speaker 4:No, like a mobile mailing company.
Speaker 1:Have you heard of this? Um, no, so like, if you're if you're like, retired and traveling with an RV, you know there's a company that you can hire, I guess, to take care of your mail. Essentially, you can put down that that that mailing address as your mailing address and that your mail goes to this company and they scan your mail and then they email it to you so that you're not missing any of your physical mail bills and stuff like that and so these, these, and you know like I'm sure most people listening to this will know what a wholesaler is.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna. I've had a whole a wholesaler on my program before, so I'm not gonna say any. But I just thought it was interesting that, um, when I started to do research for this client on this offer that she received in the mail that this wholesaler was using this mobile mail address so that we can't locate where this person is actually from. So just to put that out there, that's probably a red flag you shouldn't do, especially with somebody that doesn't want you to know where they're actually from.
Speaker 4:But I mean again is it any different if you use a PO box?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean a PO box at least, I guess. I don't know. At least you're normally from the same community.
Speaker 4:I mean, maybe potentially you never know you could be hiring somebody to go check your mail, and I'll say that North Carolina also, in this legislative session, we have a bill out there that would require wholesalers to be licensed because they're practicing real estate. There are a lot of states like Arkansas and Michigan, north and South Dakota and Minnesota. All of those have stricter rules that include licensing requirements and mandatory disclosure if you're wholesaling. I personally don't work with wholesalers. I know some people who do, but I don't. I don't know about the RV mailer thing, though. That's something new to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was just. I thought it was interesting that you know like, and it was like, why is it you know like? When my client called and talked to me about it, I just thought it was. It was interesting because, of course, the the offer that they made was like a quarter of what the property's worth, and so it was uh, it was fun to look into, but I just thought that sanford, north carolina, is one of the ones that. Another reason why I mentioned this is because one of our alc friends was the one I reached out to out there, because that's the first time. First thing I always like when I want to find out about a company in an area that when they won't return my phone call, of course, because I'm calling for on behalf of a client.
Speaker 1:The companies know they wouldn't return my phone call for two weeks. I'm like calling one of our buddies in the area going do you know this person, is this somebody and that's what he said. He was like Sanford, that area, that address is known for this RV mailer.
Speaker 4:you know I'm trying to bring that up. I can see how that service would be good for folks who were traveling and enjoying that.
Speaker 1:That is a neat like that's a neat thing If you're, if you're an RV, if you're living in an RV, travel in the country, retired or van life in it, I guess, yeah, which is kind of anti what we do. But you know, if you're getting ready to do that, we'd love to talk to you about what you're doing with your property.
Speaker 4:Yeah exactly, yeah, but you know, I mean bringing up wholesalers like I get two or three phone calls a week from them and the problem that I run into is they have sent out these letters to these people and then they go under contract on something.
Speaker 4:And then what do they do? They call people like me and you to list the properties that they have under contract, to flip the contract. But the problem is is they put something under contract and they have not checked the flood maps, they have not checked with the local, like state offices, to see about that blue line stream and the setback from the coastal buffer and the setback from the area of environmental concern, like they don't know if it's going to perk, they don't know if there's wetlands. So oftentimes they've got something under contract that they think is a great deal based on the tax value, yeah, when in all actuality it isn't worth even trying to flip. And if they could just daggone call one of us land pros before they put something under contract with their mailer program, it'd probably save everybody a whole lot of time and money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, that's not, that's not a joke.
Speaker 4:I mean dealing with property. Coastal stuff's different man, it's different than anything inland.
Speaker 1:Christina, how do folks get a hold of you if you don't mind sharing your, sharing your contact information with them?
Speaker 4:Absolutely yeah. So Southeastern North Carolina. Here. My cell number is at 910-262-3948. And my email is ChristinaSellsRealEstate at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:ChristinaSellsRealEstate at gmailcom. That's cool. Yeah, we'll put your information in our show notes. We do appreciate you coming on and hanging out with us today. And are you going? Are you going to be at the coming up here? Are you going to be at the teaching at the bootcamp here in a couple?
Speaker 4:couple days. I will not be teaching at bootcamp there in the Midwest, but I will be at the mini boot camp in Chicago.
Speaker 1:I knew you were doing that one.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, unfortunately we've gotten Realtors legislative meetings in DC, so it did not jive with the RLI boot camp this year.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm going to miss the legislative meetings and go teach at boot camps. That's awesome. Well, enjoy that's miss the legislative meetings and go teach at boot camps.
Speaker 4:That's awesome. Well, enjoy. That's one of my favorite things. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't teach for the money. No, I teach for the networking and the connections and to learn from all my students too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're not going to make millions doing it, but you do. Well, I guess you can, because I always learn quite a bit from those guys. Yes, well, I guess you can, because I always learn quite a bit from those guys.
Speaker 4:Yes, we make millions through networking and having the connections to put deals together.
Speaker 1:That's absolutely right. All right, Christina, thank you so much for being a part of today, and we will see you all down the road as we wrap up another episode of the American Land Seller podcast.
Speaker 2: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, 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. 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 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.
