SELLING YOUR RANCH BY TAMRA KELLY
Is it time to sell your ranch? Low inventory, increased prices and consumer confidence in the economy make this a good time to sell your ranch. Whether selling the historic family cattle ranch for personal reasons, selling the starter ranch in order to buy back in to a larger operation, or investors “flipping” their cattle ranch purchased several years ago – now maybe the time to sell your ranch. Selling working cattle ranches presents unique issues not common to normal commercial or residential real estate transactions. As a result, I would suggest hiring a “ranch real estate agency” – an outfit which specializes in selling agricultural properties. A google search using terms such as “Arizona working cattle ranch for sale” will reveal several ranch real estate agencies in the southwest. A quick look at the properties they have listed for sale should readily distinguish a ranch real estate agency from a more traditional residential or commercial agency. Unique terms such as “carrying capacity,” “CYL” (cattle year-long), “AUM” (animal unit month), “headquarters,” “cow-calf,” “ephemeral grazing,” etc. distinguish the listings in a true ranch real estate agency from the numerous ranch
real estate companies that sell their acreage under the moniker “ranch.” The importance of selecting a true ranch real estate agency cannot be understated. Unlike residential or commercial properties, the ranch real estate broker may have to transfer ownership of federal and state grazing leases, surface and/or groundwater rights, livestock brands, cattle, specialized equipment, subleases, wind rights, etc. requiring specialized knowledge which a typical residential or commercial agent may find unfamiliar. Moreover, the marketing of your ranch is entirely different from typical real estate sales. A working cattle ranch is not typically place on the “MLS” – the exclusive listing service accessible only to real estate agents in a particular geographical area. A cattle ranch must be marketed nationwide through use of websites, social media and a few well-established ranch real estate marketing publications. Prospective buyers are located anywhere, both within and outside the United States. Prospective buyers have varied reasons for buying a ranch. The reasons may be to make a short or long-term investment, to subdivide, tax opportunities, to buy a hobby ranch, to actually raise cattle for a profit, or simply to buy a cattle ranch to live 34
©Paul Ramirez
and raise a family. An objective, honest look at your ranch in order to analyze the motive of prospective buyers, evaluate comparable sales and the highest and best use of the ranch will a help in determining the right listing price to ensure a sale in a reasonable time. Given the dollar amounts involved, hiring a ranch real estate appraiser is often a good idea to ensure your ranch is listed at a fair price in order to sell within a reasonable time period. Ranches come in all sizes and shapes and in every type of environment. In the southwestern United States the habitat, grasses, browse, flora, fauna and environmental influences on a particular ranch may vary greatly. It is not unusual for a single ranch to exhibit radical differences in feed, water, climate, and topography within its boundaries and during different seasons. As an example, the La Cienega Ranch we owned for several years in western Arizona was approximately 300 square miles in size consisting of private and public grazing lands. Elevations on the ranch ranged from 1400 feet in the Lower Township Pasture near the Colorado River up to 7,200 feet in the Hualapai Mountains. The variety of grass and browse species available for grazing was markedly different from the
