TIMBER SELLERS KNOW HOW TO USE THE INTERNET; SOME BUYERS ARE STILL LEARNING
35 tracts are now listed for sale on www.se-timbersales.com. 21 of them were listed by persons not
connected with JMV&CO. Although the
listings vary in the amount of detailed information in them, they are all
nearly adequate to describe what is offered.
In addition to these listings, 599 others have expired since we launched
the site in early 1998.
On the same site, we began to list buyers about six
weeks ago, and so far 14 persons had listed their wants. It takes a while for something new to become
widely accepted, but since 654 persons who registered on the site classified
themselves as “Timber Buyers,” this number will surely increase.
631 other registrants on the site classified
themselves as “Investors.” These seem
to be still learning how to use the Internet to satisfy their wants. They do not realize that all buyers from
General Electric and General Motors to John Smith must describe what they want
in as much detail as possible. Jim
Vardaman, in talks with many of them by telephone, learned that their desires
are extremely varied. A banker in Georgia
wants to swap $500,000 in timber in Arkansas for that much land-and-timber
there or elsewhere. A foreign investor
who often visits Washington, DC, wants to buy a $100,000 PPICâ anywhere in SE U.S. for one lump-sum payment
and no buy-back privilege. A
professional man wants to buy 60-80 acres of natural pine and hardwood timber
within 25 miles of Augusta, GA, for a home site. A doctor in central Georgia wants to buy 150-250 acres of
10+-year-old pine plantations anywhere, and another in eastern North Carolina
wants 500 acres of young pines near his present ownership. This list could go on and on. Not one of Vardaman’s contacts has listed
his desires.
The only person who has done so and thus has a good
chance to buy at attractive prices is Wendell Todd, Atlanta, GA, who wants land
in three Mississippi counties: Benton, Leake, and Newton. His chances are good because of the manner
in which most landowners arrive at the decision to sell. Being human and faced with a big decision,
they usually begin thinking about it a year or two in advance. As time passes, they begin to talk to other
owners, friends, and advisors about doing so.
Next they investigate prices of land or timber and possible markets for
theirs, often by talking to the buyers they can locate. Eventually, they may list it on www.se-timbersales.com, where
hundreds of buyers can see it each week.
Then they ask for sealed bids, which always bring competition and top
dollars. By getting involved earlier in
the game, Todd has a chance to buy at a negotiated price. If profit is your objective, go, and do thou
likewise.
