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Lease Prices - New Level of Insanity

daniel93077

daniel93077

Active Member
Some of you may have seen it but earlier this week on Hunting Lease Network there was a 600 acre lease listing in Woodbury county that had about 110 acres of timber, another 40 of cover in ditches and waterways/river. The rest was all crop fields. I will say, if one were to own it, it could be a real dream farm. The only larger block of timber in the area, great access, plenty of water, really only one neighbor that might be able to hunt on your border next to the cover(and it looked like theirs was pasture with some trees and no apparent habitat modifications/food plots for hunting) and just a lot of habitat that you could improve with all the fields and ditches. I do think, unlike many properties, if you pass deer there you could reasonably expect that most wouldn't be killed by other hunters. All that being said, I was shocked when I saw that piece, with only 150 acres of cover, lease at auction for $19,100 (Lease ends in May)

I can only assume that with land prices what they are we'll continue see lease prices climb to insanely high levels too. I know I've seen lease prices rise quite a lot in just a few years but this one just reached a whole other level for what it actually was. Obviously, at least two people drove the price up to that amount so it's not like only one person was willing to pay around that price.
 
Is there a mega giant or world record buck on that farm? Lol. That's the only reason I could think of where someone would spend that much. Holy smokes.

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In Illinois it is common to see lease prices at $50 acre because there is so much competition to find a good hunting farm. People say hunters are at record low numbers, but I don't believe it. Practically every farm in the Midwest is hunted. It's almost impossible to find a farm that is not hunted, and that pushes up lease prices.
 
I know what you mean. I’ve definitely seen $50 per acre. I think what shocked me on this one is that if you consider the actual cover that could hold deer it went for $127+ an acre.
 
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Ishi said:
Money can’t buy love but it can buy trophy bucks
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What’s pretty wild is that so many lease properties don’t hold anything too special that you can’t find on public…or on leases cheaper than that…granted perhaps the person leasing knows of a giant there. Or perhaps, they hope to build it up due to its potential of holding and keeping them safe from neighbors.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
$31/a... its been like that for quite a while.

Leases have been driven up by outfitters. They are getting 5-7k on average for 5 days. Doesnt take long to pay for it for them.
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I’ve definitely seen $31 per acre. I lease two 240 acre farms averaging out to about $27 per acre. But across that 480 acres there’s 200 of CRP, 150 of timber, and 130 in row crops (one of these farms closer to Des Moines which usually brings a premium). I just can’t recall seeing a property go for $127 per acre from a cover available standpoint. I wasn’t going for that farm (too far from home) but I anticipated it’d go for about $12K. I was way wrong (I could see about $16K if people value the timber at $50 per acre and row crop at $20…which is the extreme I’d expect) .
 
Everyone has different strokes & this is preaching to the choir but WHY?! Few years in a row and that is a great down payment on something you own, control, and can manipulate at will. There is great hunting out there not far away while you save, I promise you.

Unless you have inside, off market intel/connection, a majority of these one year public leases are just high graded from years of being pimped out. At least in my area anyway. There must just be a LOT of people that just don't know any better. Insanity.
 
daniel93077 said:
I’ve definitely seen $31 per acre. I lease two 240 acre farms averaging out to about $27 per acre. But across that 480 acres there’s 200 of CRP, 150 of timber, and 130 in row crops (one of these farms closer to Des Moines which usually brings a premium).
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Sweet deal, that actually sounds like fantastic value
 
Snail3496 said:
Everyone has different strokes & this is preaching to the choir but WHY?! Few years in a row and that is a great down payment on something you own, control, and can manipulate at will. There is great hunting out there not far away while you save, I promise you.

Unless you have inside, off market intel/connection, a majority of these one year public leases are just high graded from years of being pimped out. At least in my area anyway. There must just be a LOT of people that just don't know any better. Insanity.
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Here’s my thinking. Personally I do the leases because the math works out better (at least while I wait for some sanity to return to the land market) the nearly $3M (conservatively…probably more like $4-5M) it’d take me to buy those properties would require at least a $750K down payment. That down payment alone currently kicks off $37,500 per year in interest which is nearly 3x the lease payment on those properties. Even after taxes there is money to reinvest and grow that down payment. Meanwhile, the $2,250,000 I’d borrow at let’s say 8% for 20 years would require a nearly $19K per month payment. The property might kick off $60K in income but that’s probably not even covering interest until the last few years of the loan. Meanwhile I could take that $19K per month and invest it in cash flowing properties that are of better current value that I can later 1031 into land when values are better.
 
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Did that lease actually go for $19k? I looked at it the day of, and I didn't see a bid on it. I thought it no saled.
 
I need to lease my farms out!!!!! & some guys that might read this hunt my farms for free. Most I’ve asked is they put in some plots, keep eye on it or any little project help I can get. I know most folks are driven by the $ so who am I to say anything? I’m not.
I do know, if an outfitter gets ahold of that- GOOD BYE to any decent quality hunting…. Best 2-4 yo’s be shot off there every year & the #’s outfitters push through to pencil things out is “distasteful” at best. A few exceptions but 90% of outfitters I’ve seen- complete disasters.
Man oh man, $19k. I personally wouldn’t do it but…. Way of the world. Just like my buddy who makes “$50k” & has a $750 truck payment every month. People always have done stuff like that and always will. Hope the dudes get some amazing hunting for that kinda coin…. My gut, based on seeing this for decades…. Dudes paying that $ are likely pretty disappointed with the outcome. Id bet a nickel on it!
 
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