Brad Neihouser CBC Shook

  Touching The 3 rd Rail: Farmland Leases   When you think of “top secret” information, what comes to mind? It might surprise you to learn that some of the most closely guarded information in the business world is not a password, account number, or safe combination, it’s Farmland Lease Rates. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. These lease rates are often set and then forgotten, never seeing the light of day again. Surprisingly, there is no clearing house of information or database of comps for landowners & potential tenants to research when trying to determine a lease rate. The agreed upon rates are, more or less, a shot in the dark and sealed with a handshake between friends. I could write a book after all of the issues I’ve helped landowners through when it’s time to renegotiate an existing lease or sell their property and the stories are always the same. Mr. & Mrs. Landowner have leased their farmland to an old friend for years and the lease rate has rem...

  Why Do  I Need To Get A Title Commitment?   I get this question from my clients a lot. The cost of a real estate title search & commitment is minuscule compared to the stress and expense of buying a property with a cloudy title. A seller will assert that in the 50 years they’ve owned the property, there was never a mortgage, and there are no current or prior issues, so why pay for a Title Commitment? A buyer will defend personal relationships, stating they have known Mr. or Mrs. Property Owner for years, and if they say the title is clean, why question it? There are many, many reasons to get a Title Commitment and very few to NOT get one. -           Credibility and Confidence :         For sellers: a clean Title Commitment will provide invaluable peace of mind to a buyer.        For Buyers: If a property does not have a clean title, I wouldn't recommend purchasing, here's ...

  What is a Due Diligence Clause? When an owner of a commercial real estate property receives a purchase agreement from a buyer there is usually a Due Diligence time period added to the contract. You might be asking yourself, “What exactly is a Due Diligence Clause?” A Due Diligence Clause can cover and effect various components in a purchase agreement. Due Diligence, in Commercial Real Estate, is the efforts of the buyer to investigate, examine, and review all aspects of the property for which they have an accepted offer on.  If the buyer is represented by a sharp real estate broker, there will be a carefully crafted “get out of jail free card” inserted into the due diligence language. What does that mean? The buyer’s broker will ascertain that the buyer may abandon the deal and walk away for any reason, or no reason at all, during the Due Diligence time period. Conversely, if the seller is represented by an astute real estate broker, there will be pushback from the o...

  Farmland Auctions: What They Are & Why They Work What do you think about when you hear the word ‘auction’? Your first thoughts might be anything from selling off household items, automobiles or someone lost their property to the bank. What you might not immediately think of, is farmland auctions, which are promoted, held, and conducted in a much different way. For decades farmland has been sold at auction and is actually the preferred avenue for getting the most money. During a farmland auction, all bidders are on a level playing field, contingency of financing is not allowed, and everyone is permitted to bid as high as they want. Serious buyers quickly stand out while fly-by-night participants are weeded out.  There is a common misconception that when a property goes to auction, that method of sale is the last resort…   Not so , this method of sale is often the first and best way to sell property. Farmland auctions are often conducted with the current owner ...

  The Farmland Market & What it Means for YOU When it comes to the Commercial Real Estate market, what kinds of properties come to mind? I bet I can guess: Retail, Office, and Industrial – The Big Three. However, there’s another sector of CRE that you might not think of immediately – Farmland. If there was ever a market that flew under the radar, it would be this one. While there might be little attention paid to current farmland/agricultural listing inventory, there’s even less paid to who’s buying it.    So, what is the current activity in the farmland market? Recently there has been much doom and gloom surrounding the agricultural sector, especially in the last five years. However, values have remained steady and seem to be trying to push upward again, despite all the negativity. What does all of this mean? How are values trending upward with so little visible activity?   What has been happening behind the scenes? Many agricultural operators have quie...

 A Year in Review A few reflections as the year 2020 comes to a close. This past year began with immense promise and abundant hope. The economy was strong, consumer confidence was high, businesses for the most part were booming, and all seemed to be well. However, as is the case, life threw some unexpected twists and turns into the mix. I do not need to belabor or spend much time discussing what we’ve all been trudging through these past eight months. We’ve all felt the struggle and are now anxiously awaiting the new year and what it will bring with it. So, how did your commercial real estate brokerage handle the challenges of 2020? Were you an ostrich? Burying your head in the sand, waiting for it all to go away? Or were you a bull? Did you face this year’s obstacles head on, put your nose to the grindstone, and ferociously represent your clients and customers so they can achieve their goals, despite these difficult circumstances? In my (humble) opinion, those were the only ...