Before going to go preview rural land with a real estate agent, ask them what’s in their truck. I never was a Boy Scout. I would have loved to have been one, but just never got the experience. The Scout motto, “Be Prepared” resonates deeply with me. So take a look at the inventory of my truck and hopefully you will see what I mean.

• 2 Compasses
• Handheld GPS
• Plat Books for the 8 surrounding counties
• Gazetteer for Alabama
• Sundry assortment of aerial and topographical maps
• Blank copies of contracts to purchase and listing agreements
• Dozens of Real Estate Consumers Agency and Disclosure (RECAD) forms
• 3 bottles of water
• 2 blaze orange vests and hats
• Come-along
• 30 feet of heavy chain
• 20 foot tow strap
• 3 AlaLandCo signs, 4 directional signs (2 pointing right, 2 to the left)
• Shovel
• Post hole diggers
• Large and small pruning shears
• Pickaxe
• Hatchet
• Bolt cutters
• Pruning saw
• $20 bill for emergencies (such as paying someone to pull you out of the mud)
• Pistol with extra ammo
• A bundle of keys to various properties
• 2 walking sticks
• Digital Camera with extra batteries
• Flip Cam
• Smartphone w/charger
• Rope, ratchet straps, and bungee chords
• 2 rain jackets
• Gerber multi-tool
• Roll of flagging tape
• Wasp spray
• Insect repellant
• 2 pairs of binoculars
• Laser range finder
• 1 pair of snake boots
• 1 pair of taller neoprene boots
• Small towel

When I look at this list it shows there are 4 main scenarios I prepare for:

1. Know exactly where you are; don’t get lost.
2. Make your customer comfortable and safe.
3. Don’t get stuck.
4. Be prepared to do business if they are ready.

Most land companies have tools at their disposal such as ATV’s or UTV’s to make showing land easier. Many agents use laptops and tablets to aid in mapping and navigation as they travel a property. The point of this article is for consumers to know that not all real estate agents are equally competent about land transactions. If you are meeting an agent to preview some rural land and the agent shows up in their Mercedes sedan, you might want to consider taking a look with someone who specializes in land sales. I tell people not to trust an agent with a clean truck. It means they are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing: showing land. Look for some dents and a little trail-pinstriping that is proof they know their way around the woods.

It is not helpful at all to see a piece of property with someone who wants to “paint a picture from the road” and describe what the land is like. You have to get out on it and touch corners and see the ups and downs of the tract. It burns me up to see agents advertise land and only post two maps and a picture from the road. I lost a listing to another agent last year that offered to sell some land at a lower commission than I did. Once the listing was secured, the agent posted 5 pictures on their personal website and offered a 7 word description of a $500,000 tract. Now tell me if the sellers were better served by this agent at a lower commission or by paying a little more and getting exceptional marketing and service.

Let me also dispel the notion that women are not qualified to be land agents. I know some knowledgeable and real land pros like Marisa Morgan Dallman from Kansas, Susan Morrison from Alabama, Jennifer Beecher from Georgia, and Beverly Callaway with AlaLandCo. I am not ashamed to say that Beverly is a better hunter than I am too. She has lots of experience in the woods, is very knowledgeable about land-related issues, and has helped transact some large deals in the past two years. The biggest land deal in my county this year was put together by Kay Beckett with Bill Mackey Realty. She made lots of other agents in the area envious when she sold nearly 4000 acres of ground this spring.

The key is finding an agent that has the knowledge and skills to offer you the best advice and who you feel has your best interests at heart. You have worked way too hard for your money to lose it in a land deal because of an inexperienced or unqualified agent. Find an agent who can be your trusted advisor for all things pertaining to land, and get out there with an agent who is prepared and buy some dirt.

Photo by Rick Lipscomb - stormtracker2.com

Our nation has been assailed by many natural disasters in the past two months. My home state of Alabama was ravaged by vicious tornadoes on April 27. During the search and rescue process, I learned one way that real estate agents can assist in the process.

On April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa, Alabama took a direct hit from an F5 tornado, devastating the city and the area where it struck. Homes and buildings were removed, and the area looked as if it had been run over by a large lawnmower. Many people lost their lives during the storm.

Within a few days, I received a call from a Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy who was assisting the local EMA in tracking down property owners in areas affected by the storm. He asked if I was Jonathan Goode, and I said “yes”. He said there was a property listed as “Goode Investments, LLC.” that had been damaged by the storm, and he was calling to ask if I am the owner. I told him I was not, and asked him how he found my name. He said he did a google search for “Goode Investments in Alabama”, and came across my name. At once I realized what an unlikely task this man had of tracking down property owners by google search. So I told him to give me one second and I would try to help him.

I pulled up Tuscaloosa County’s Tax Assessor’s GIS website, which is called emapsplus.com. I clicked on maps, and Alabama, and then to Tuscaloosa County. I gave him a 30 second tutorial on how to search by property owner or by address, and he was instantly enthused at how this would improve his searching ability. The information provided by the tax assessor often includes the owner’s name and mailing address, but often leaves out the telephone number. By cross-referencing the information provided in emapsplus with a site like whitepages.com, it is possible to find out the best way to contact owners of properties affected by storms.

After this experience it dawned on me that the people tasked with finding these property owners were probably not given very good tools to do it with. Why would a sheriff’s deputy know about the county tax assessor’s GIS site? So I wanted to put out a call to all of our real estate agents, tax assessors, and EMA agents to let you know that it is possible to cooperate in a meaningful way to help track down property owners. In an effort where efficiency means minutes and minutes can mean lives, we need to use the expertise we have to aid the work of emergency officials. I hope to get this information to our local and state EMA offices before they need to put it into practice again. It could save resources, time, and even lives.

She told me this morning that buyers can be too nice. This comes from a woman who introduced herself to me as someone who was “nice as pie” and “friendly as a pup.”

A couple from the city–highly educated folks–bought a place out here some years ago. The seller told them that a pond they liked was on the property. They had a survey, which had no physical features and was not marked on the ground. They didn’t walk the boundaries or have a surveyor map the property on a topographical map.

The pond turned out to be not on their property.

The buyers accepted the word of the seller and the confirming opinion of the real-estate agent. They didn’t want to appear to question the truthfulness or accuracy of either one. They wanted to be nice. They didn’t do their homework. The statute of limitations has run out.

The lesson here is: do the research necessary to confirm what you’ve been told and what you think you know.

Some people decide with their heart or their gut, depending on gender. Love-at-first-sight matches can work out just fine. But many snap decisions are emotional and financial disasters—in both mates and real estate.

Don’t get me wrong. You should fall in love with a country place. I’m as dopey about this romance as anybody.

It’s just that the thunderbolt kind of love — that mysterious mix of emotions, hormones and other stuff — is a bad basis on which to invest money.

Yet, many otherwise smart-enough people buy a place in the country based on whether it sings to them on their first date.

I did.

I heard the song; I sang; I even inhaled.

Using $5,000 from my parents in 1970, I bought what I thought was 100 acres about 30 minutes north of Amherst, Massachusetts. Later, I discovered that I owned only 60 acres.

That rocket ride to the altar taught me not to buy land that lacked an acreage number in the deed. All your “DUHS!” are coming though loud and clear. But I was 25…and in a buying fever.

Three other writers were similarly afflicted.

Michael Korda tells In Country Matters (2001) how he bought a 1785 house on 20 acres in Dutchess County, New York in l980 for $250,000—in less than an hour on his first visit.

Before shaking hands, he writes that he could see almost nothing since sheets of rain were pouring down in a heavy fog. He never walked the fields. He only “glimpsed” two barns. He never inspected the house, just a hurried walk-through on a miserable afternoon.

Consequently, his self-deprecating book tells of an owner throwing tons of cash at numerous problems in the house, outbuildings and land—all of which could have been discovered before he made his offer.

Korda boasts that he became “…pretty good at writing checks….”

Laura Shaine Cunningham, A Place in the Country (2000) and Jeanne Marie Laskas, Fifty Acres and a Poodle (2000) also bought places on impulse.

Cunningham writes: “The love of city people for the country is a mad love; it feeds on impulse and pays no attention to fact. We, the buyers of country places, don’t really want to know too much about them before we take possession. …we never dwell on the nasty mathematics of cost or hear the ‘mort’ in mortgage.”

Cunningham, too, became skilled at writing large checks after closing.

Laskas writes about her purchase price: “If I have learned anything about money in my thirty-seven years of living, it is to ignore it. …never, ever add numbers up.”

Deliberate ignorance helps her buy a “house with an identity crisis…something like a chalet stuck onto a trailer.” She says that “this house needs me.”

The pond is choked with “lilies a la Monet.” The fields are carpeted with multiflora rose, an almost indestructible shrub, making the land unsuitable for crops and even pasture. The barn is a “crooked old thing.”

She finally admits. “We are stupid. And this multiflora is a symbol of our stupidity. We bought fifty acres of thorns.”

Fools learn from their own mistakes; wiser folks learn from the goof ups of others.

No need exists to be a witless buyer of country property. Here’s what to do.

Organize a process. Approach buying country property as a logical process of becoming an increasingly skilled investigative land reporter. The object is to learn before you buy, think through before you spend.

List the information you need to acquire, tasks you need to research and their rough sequence. Revise the list as you acquire more information and new questions. Develop a research routine and go through it on each target property.

Get an agent’s help in unfamiliar territory. Work through a buyer’s broker–a licensed agent who represents your interests, not the seller’s. You might even find an exclusive buyer broker who only works for buyers. Buyer brokers split the seller-paid commission with the seller’s broker, but their loyalty and fiduciary responsibilities are owed to their client, the buyer.

I advise working with an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC). These Realtors have earned a special status in their profession through considerable experience in land sales and extensive education. ALC information can be found through the Realtors Land Institute.

Certain agents also concentrate on horse properties, farms, bed-and-breakfast operations and timberland.

Find an agent with whom you are intellectually comfortable, who shares your nuts-and-bolts approach to evaluating property.

Get specialized help. Line up your team of experts before you get serious about a target. You will need a local lawyer advising you before you make any offer. You may also need a surveyor, consulting forester, farm analyst, minerals consultant, physical engineer, soils scientist, excavator and contractor, among others. Get their thoughts on a target property before you submit your offer; during escrow is often too late.

Visit land with a cop. If you are prone to impulse buying, never visit a target property without a cop to enforce your no-buy-on-the-spot rule. An old friend who thinks like a CPA would be a good choice.

Become your own university. Making yourself smart about what you’re doing will save you money.

Become knowledgeable. Learn how to research land. Research-based knowledge strips risk out of a purchase. Never depend on the kindness of strangers.

Determine what a property is worth to you before you make an offer. Your price is what you can afford given the assets of the target property and what your plan is for it.

Your price has nothing to do with the seller’s asking price, an appraiser’s opinion of market value, tax-assessed value, replacement cost, insurance value, comparable prices of recently sold or currently listed properties or what the guy at the local gas pump thinks is a “good deal.”

Never exceed your price.

Fear ignorance. With country property, what you don’t know before you buy can hurt you down the road. If you buy it, you own it–broken and otherwise. Nothing is more chancy than taking a flying leap into the unknown.

Buying property on the basis of emotion and impulse is gambling in a game where the only money at risk is yours. A few people will luck out, but the odds are always against luck. Take it from four writers who played the game wrong.