Trevor from Missouri asks,
Hi Bill, Thank you for these posts, they are extremely informative and entertaining at the same time. I have a question regarding how you have approached neighboring landowners in the past when you have been interested in their property. My family owns a mid-sized hunting farm in northern Missouri and we are interested in an adjoining property. The owners do not hunt or farm (outside of haying pasture) but do lease out the property for firearm hunting. My family lives in the same town as the owners but does not know them personally and to our knowledge the owners have not expressed an interest in selling the property. How have you approached contacting landowners in the past that you do not know personally? Do you send them a letter describing your interest? Would you recommend trying to acquire the entire property or just the portion you are most interested in? I understand that each situation is likely quite different but also understanding the importance of first impressions, any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for all that you do and have a great day. Trevor
Bill responds,
Topic: Approaching Neighbor with Offer to Buy Land:
Take the time to engage your neighbors whenever possible, but always be respectful of their time. You need to know them anyway and they may be able to help your hunting (which is always useful). At the very least, this creates a relationship where can comfortably suggest that if they are ever interested in selling to let you know.
Trevor,
I appreciate the support. I think this is pretty straightforward. The best way is to meet them. They are your neighbors and it is only natural that you want to meet your neighbors even if you never want to buy their land.
They will want your contact information and likewise, you will want theirs in case something comes up in the area that needs attention. Neighbors just need to know each other. That is the order of things. You can find their phone number somewhere and call them first.
Don’t ask them if they want to meet. Just say you would like to swing by sometime to introduce yourself. Keep it very simple and low key. You won’t take much of their time – just want to put a name with a face and say hello.
Or you can just stop by without a call, though that can often be taken as inconvenient. In the country, that is the way we do it – just stop by, but town-folk may see that as being too forward.
You don’t have to manipulate the conversation. Say hi, tell them a bit about yourself, why you own the property, your goals (just keep it short) and mention that you would be interested in buying more land to make your property a bit bigger – and if they are ever interested in selling you would probably be interested in buying.
Don’t ask them if they want to sell. They will almost always so no.
Just plant the seed and this may spark some conversation at that time – or at least give them something to consider for later. Of course, leave them with your contact information.
Then, over time, just keep in touch with them – no pressure, just saying hello every six months or so. If they show any interest in selling at all, ask them if you can make them an offer. If they say something like, “We may sell in the future, but not right now,” ask for permission to inquire about it occasionally. Again, no pressure. Keep it very soft.
I have a guy that I do that with. I would really like to buy his farm and he told me that he may sell it someday. I asked him if I could contact him every year about it and he said, “yes”. Now I call him every year around Thanksgiving, ask him how he is doing and ask if he’s ready to sell yet.
I make sure to tell him that if I am annoying him, that he can just tell me to stop. He has never told me to stop. I think he enjoys it. I am not sure if I will ever own that property, but we have a comfortable relationship and if he ever decides to sell, I believe he will contact me first. That is all I can ask.
Regarding how much you want to buy, that will really depend on them. If they want to sell it all, buy it all. Don’t screw around trying to pick off some part of it. They will tire of that process very quickly. You may find that you can actually afford the whole thing or you can always sell off the part you don’t want at your convenience later.
That’s the way I would do it. Good luck. (1/24/22)
