Cyprus Partners

1.    Be sure you’re ready emotionally . . . will the memory of your grandfather be violated? Does your son or granddaughter REALLY want the land? Will an important family tie be tested if you sell? You’re not alone! These are real-world issues we see every day. We suggest you deal with these matters now. Our experience is that emotional conflict will derail your intention to sell every time.

2.    Know the value of your land . . . too often we meet landowners whose opinion of land value is based on coffee shop talk or on what a neighbor asks for their land . . . famously bad guides for fair pricing. It’s almost impossible to be impartial about the value of your own land, especially if you don’t rely on actual sale data from the courthouse. So retain an appraiser or a real estate broker. Both require a commitment, but they’ll give you facts to work with. It’s a small price for big-time confidence when the time comes for hard decisions.

3.    Decide if you want to handle the sale yourself . . . Some use an agent to handle the details and some prefer to handle things themselves. There isn’t a right or wrong way because there are benefits to each. Things to consider are running ads, putting up signs, cruising timber, getting sale data at the courthouse, making and mailing brochures, showing the property, negotiating contracts and arranging closings.

4.    Be aware of tax consequences . . . if the land has been in your family a long time with no adjustment in the basis, you could pay capital gains tax on nearly the whole sale price. Talk to your accountant about the tax consequences of a sale before you go to market.

5.    Be sure all owners are committed . . . sometimes several family members (or business partners) have say-so in the decision to sell land. Usually in this case there’s a wide mix of motivations toward the idea of selling (including a cousin in the back of the room who won’t tell you he doesn’t want to sell until the worst possible moment). We suggest everyone give one person in the group a Limited Power of Attorney to act for the group. This makes everyone prove their commitment to sell. If you can’t get this done, you probably can’t sell the property either (you just don’t know it yet).