Farmland and small town flipping

New to Real Estate · ND · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 3 votes

Hello all, I'm a small farmer and work in a farm service business. After the purchase of my farm last year I got interested in real estate investing. I stumbled upon the bigger pockets podcast and decided I need to get on here and learn everything I can. I look forward to connecting with you all. I'm very interested in small town flipping and farmland investments especially in the northern plains. I'm also interested in what people look for in land management.

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Michael Wyatt
Lender · Boston, MA · Member since 2021 · 125 posts · 64 votes
7mo
Just a heads up Ben while not impossible rural and low population areas are tough to get loans on. Sounds like you know more than us on the farmland side of things. Seems like a niche you could take advantage of.
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- Ben Rykerd
  OP
  New to Real Estate · ND · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 3 votes
  7mo
  @Michael Wyatt Do you have any recommendations for how to find more creative financing? I know when I purchased my first house (in a town of 20 people) I was able to use a local credit union. They're not totally against investing but it's not something they seek out.
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Sean GrahamBusiness Member
Investor , CPA · Detroit, MI · Member since 2016 · 585 posts · 248 votes
7mo
Quote from @Ben Rykerd:

Hello all, I'm a small farmer and work in a farm service business. After the purchase of my farm last year I got interested in real estate investing. I stumbled upon the bigger pockets podcast and decided I need to get on here and learn everything I can. I look forward to connecting with you all. I'm very interested in small town flipping and farmland investments especially in the northern plains. I'm also interested in what people look for in land management.

Welcome to the BiggerPockets community, @Ben Rykerd!

As you dive into small-town flipping, keep in mind that the IRS treats flips as inventory, so profits are taxed as ordinary income, whereas holding real estate (including farm properties with depreciable structures like barns or fencing) allows you to use powerful tax strategies like cost segregation to shield those earnings.

Maven Cost Segregation Tax Advisors554 Reviews
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- Ben Rykerd
  OP
  New to Real Estate · ND · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 3 votes
  7mo
  @Sean Graham I'm all about beneficial tax strategies. Thank you!
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Bill B.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
7mo
Not saying it can’t be done but as a part time farmer’s unskilled assistant in MN here’s my perspective. Usually you need 25% down minimum on farmland. The local farmer’s know EVERYTHING about any land being sold within 5 miles of their farm. (Good and bad.). They usually know about future sales before the seller gives up and lists it for auction. They’re almost always willing to pay more than a farmer that lives 5 miles farther away from it.

There are two main buyers. “Real farmers” and “city folk with too much money banking on appreciation”. The other 10% was inherited, hunting land, or someone who thought they wanted a hobby farm.

My experience is farm land is up about 800% in the last 50 years which sounds like a lot, but it’s about 4%. And it’s basically flat the last 10 years. “We” farm about 800 acres and that’s the low end of minimum to be a profitable job. If ND is like MN there is probably a shakeup coming. Most farmers I know are 65-95 years old and their kids have zero interest in farming.

TLDR: Only buy land you can afford to, and you’d be happy to hold for 10 years. Land that would add a benefit to your current farm would be best. If ND is like MN land rent returns are ridiculously low. And oh yeah. Good luck. :-)
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- Ben Rykerd
  OP
  New to Real Estate · ND · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 3 votes
  7mo
  @Bill B. I do agree with what you're saying. The land rents in the 4 main counties I work in vary wildly. Anywhere from $50 an acre to $200 an acre so not every piece will be a good deal. The 25% down as you mentioned is a hurdle. I'm comfortable with being biding my time for now. As you mentioned a shake up is coming so I'd like to be prepared for when it happens.
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