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John Blake
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Need to sell timberland that has no road access

John Blake
Posted

I have a general question that I would sincerely appreciate some advice/suggestions. First of all I apologize for the long-winded question.

I live in WA state and own a forty acre parcel of land in the state of Louisiana with a stand of pine timber that can be harvested with an appraisal of $32,000 to $35,000. This is based on current timber prices. The main obstacle I have is that the parcel is landlocked with no access to a road, though any harvesting can be done with temporary access. I need to sell for reasons of age, health etc. I listed it last summer with a realtor at a moderate price, but received no interest due to the road access problem. I am considering contacting the property owner who owns the adjoining property with an offer. It would be very easy and inexpensive for him to create access to a major paved road having the properties combined. This would enhance the value considerably.

In order to “sweeten the pot” I am considering offering the property to him at $70,000 cash or $80,000 and I carry the mortgage at a below market interest. I haven’t researched normal term lengths for bare land financing or standard down payments. I am willing to make those very attractive also. I really need to receive some sort of return on this land.

He could sell the timber now and list the bare land or he could list it now with the timber. Either way the value would increases considerably with road access to $100,000 to $125,000 minimum.

I do not know my tax liabilities, but we are on social security with yearly income of approximately $36,000. If I have a large tax liability then I will go with selling the timber and leave well enough alone. Any ideas and/or suggestions very appreciated.

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Courtney Fricke
  • Investor
  • New Orleans, LA
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Courtney Fricke
  • Investor
  • New Orleans, LA
Replied

Which part of Louisiana is it in? We deal with land down here and may be interested in figuring out the landlocked issues.

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