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purchasing wooded land

Started by djconny, February 13, 2016, 08:45:50 PM

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djconny

I have an opportunity to purchase 200 acres of wooded land in Maine.

How can I determine the timber potential of the property?

What questions should I pose to a forest consultant?

beenthere

Try to arrange with a forester to do a cruise... which by definition will come up with the information you want.

Put the onus on the real estate dealer to come up with that determination, either from present or past management of the timber land.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

WDH

Yes, you need a timber appraisal (cruise).  That will provide the information to develop a management plan and to determine the timber potential to produce income in future years. 
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Texas Ranger

along with the cruise a soil profile would help. USDA has soil mapping for all (I think) states.  That should show productivity.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Claybraker

Another benefit of a timber cruise/appraisal is it establishes your cost basis in the timber. That's real handy when you sell timber.

petefrom bearswamp

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57 acres of woodland

djconny

I've taken the advice given and have met with a local forest consultant.

He explained the details of a timber cruise and an alternate assessment which
was a  basic walk around and a less detailed report.

Now to decide how much information I need to make a decision on the purchase.

Thanks again for the advice!

RCBS

Don't forget to factor in harvest costs.  Loggers and foresters need paid, truckers need paid and most everything uses fuel.  Locality to a mill and terrain/skid distance can be significant factors when calculating actual profit from a potential harvest. 

The value of the board feet is realized at the mill.   :)
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Ron Wenrich

To the landowner, logging costs, milling costs, etc are of less concern.  They have only one product - stumpage.  They do come into play as stumpage value, and a competent forester will factor that in when making an initial value assessment.  To the landowner, the value of board footage is what he can get paid on the stump.

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Swamp Fox

My advice would be do the quick walk through for an educated idea on the potential timber value prior to purchasing the land. Just incase something doesn't work out you won't have a lot of money tied into a cruise. If you do purchase I would have a detailed cruise done and document the values for your tax basis. This is important even if you are not going to harvest right away. You need to have the value of the timber at the time of purchase for the basis. The consulting fees are a write off from the timber sale also so save that for your taxes. Uncle Sam has a hole in his pocket so keep good records. 

Magicman

No advice but Welcome to the Forestry Forum, djconny.    8)
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