Land appraisal with extenuating circumstances

[mp2277]

I have an assignment that is unusual. 51 acres, access by prescriptive easement (similar to adverse possession but only allows access not ownership), cannot be subdivided and can never be developed and can only be used for hunting, fishing and presumably other recreation. There are no comps available with similar restrictions. I am having difficulty determining the adjustment for restricted non development use. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Look for properties purchased as hunting clubs - you might contact some of the regional Realtors who specialize in marketing such properties.

Whitetail Properties and Mossy Oaks Properties sell such properties all over the Southeast.

 

[WestMichiganCG]

I have an assignment that is unusual. 51 acres, access by prescriptive easement (similar to adverse possession but only allows access not ownership), cannot be subdivided and can never be developed and can only be used for hunting, fishing and presumably other recreation. There are no comps available with similar restrictions. I am having difficulty determining the adjustment for restricted non development use. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I would look at recreation land. You could also look at land that is leased for hunting then sells and get a cap rate. You could make an argument that vacant land that is leased for hunting leases for x, sells for a y cap rate.

 

[TamarackValuationSvc]

I have an assignment that is unusual. 51 acres, access by prescriptive easement (similar to adverse possession but only allows access not ownership), cannot be subdivided and can never be developed and can only be used for hunting, fishing and presumably other recreation. There are no comps available with similar restrictions. I am having difficulty determining the adjustment for restricted non development use. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Do you have any active conservancy organizations around you? Oftentimes, they will know of parcels that are restricted similarly by conservation easement that have also sold.

 

[Mark K]

I don't see the easement being a big issue as long as its perpetual. The land sounds like some rec/hunting land I've seen sold. The restrictions on development, again, I don't see a problem because most of the land similar to this, in this area, are not suitable for crops, building or developing, etc. They don't have any recorded restrictions but in reality, they'll never be developed.

Prices, for example: Good farm land: $11K/acre, pasture, $6-7K/acre, rec land with possibility of building a cabin, $4-5K/ac., and land that is limited to nothing but rec/hunting is about $2-$4K/acre. These are tracts similar in size to yours or larger.

It also depends on location, obviously. In upper Michigan you can buy some 40-80 ac. remote tracts with good access for $1,500/acre or less. I have a buddy that recently bought an 80 ac. tract w/old single wide to use for hunting mostly and paid $100K for it.

YMMV.

 

[Elliott]

I'd start researching land sales from 10 to 200 acres that have sold in the last two years and try to figure out where the subject fits between those sales in feature, use, zoning, and access. Rank them by SP/Acre.

 

[TerryRohrer]

How was the determination of the existence of a prescriptive easement arrived at? As an appraiser, I would never make that determination, as here, the term is used but almost entirely baseless. The very narrow legal definition here essentially renders them non-existent. I would require that determination be provided to me before acting on it.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Google recent land purchases by nature conservancy in Virginia

 

[JTip]

and can only be used for hunting, fishing and presumably other recreation.

What does the signing CG suggest since its H&BU is recreational, outside the scope of CR license?

Your assessment/tax card provider should have a robust search engine, allowing multiple criteria to be selected.

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[KHS445]

Do you have any State or Federal land in your area, that may surround a private parcel that has sold separately? In my area the State/Feds own large tracks of land that are open to the public and there are a number of 10 to 80+ acre parcels that are basically landlocked within this Government owned property. If pushed, generally by a lender, the State/Feds will provide a non-exclusive easement for ingress and egress, and due to the rural nature, limited access (unimproved two tracks), lack of utilities, zoning, etc. these are hunting parcels and will not be developed in the foreseeable future.