What to do with Farm/Hunting Land?
My family owns a parcel of land about an hour west of Minneapolis. It's 78 acres, 40 of which are farmland that they rent out. The other 38 acres are woods and a river that we use for duck and deer hunting. Rental income each year is $3000, while the annual taxes are $2360. The estimated market value on this property is $226,700, per the county record. The property is jointly owned by my mother and her two brothers. In theory, I and my siblings/cousins would someday inherit this land, but in reality only two (out of eight) of us would have any real interest in owning this in the future.
As an investor, I have a couple questions:
- As a pure investment, the numbers here are terrible. What I don't know is if we are getting a fair market rent price, or if we are giving a discount to a farmer friend. Where would I go to get a good sense of what tillable land rents for in a given area?
- A couple decades ago, the neighbor abutting this property dug up the gravel access road to the property, so it is technically now landlocked. Legality of this action aside, I would assume this impacts the value of the land. Any ideas how to calculate the accurate value of landlocked land? Any ideas on the steps I'd need to take to rebuild the access road and what that might cost?
- If I and my cousin wanted to "buy out" my disinterested cousins/siblings, is that something we could do now, or is it something we'd have to do later, since our parents are the true owners right now. What initial steps would my cousin and I take to being that kind of discussion, both from a legal and price standpoint?
My goal in all this is to keep the property in the family, while still making a smart investment decision. I apologize for the various facets of this question, and I appreciate any advice the BP community might have. Thanks!