There are several reasons that you as a property owner should participate in a 1031 exchange. For those of you who are not familiar with 1031 exchanges, 1031s are a way to defer taxes on the capital gains from a sale of investment property.  1031s can be very complicated and you will also need the help of a 1031 qualified intermediary. There are 5 main advantages to exchanging property.

1. Preservation of Equity – 1031 exchanges allow owners to defer taxes on the capital gains from a sale indefinitely. This allows the owner to roll the gains into a new property over and over rather than pay the taxes. Keep in mind that if you do 1031 exchanges and then at some time in the future decide not to exchange you will owe taxes going all the way back to your original basis.
2. Leverage – You can exchange from a property that you have a high amount of equity or one that you own “free and clear”  into a property of much more value and has a higher cash flow.
3. Diversification – Exchangers can diversify by exchanging out of one property into two or more properties. There are time considerations that must be taken into account. Consult with an attorney prior to engaging in an exchange involving multiple properties.
4. Management Relief – If you as an owner have accumulated several single family rentals that require intensive management you can exchange them for one single investment property that requires substantially less management.
5. Estate Planning – In many cases, several members of a family inherent a single property jointly and cannot agree on what they want to do with it. The family members can exchange the property for several different properties that suit the needs of all family members.

Always consult with an attorney who is familiar with 1031 exchanges.

To find your replacement 1031 ranch for sale, farm for sale, mountain land for sale, equestrian property for sale, or land for sale visit www.landbrokermls.com.

Over the last several years, trail riding has become very popular. Trail riding can be very different from region to region and the horse required to safely trail ride in those regions is different. Riding at lower elevation and flat open country is not as demanding on the horse and riders can get buy with horses that have had very little trail experience. When riding in the high country, it becomes increasingly more important for the rider to have a very well broke, gentle, bomb proof, sound horse especially if the rider is not very experienced. Safety is paramount as most times emergency services are not nearby. For this reason, riders should always use the best horse available to them.

Good mountain horses are generally older horses (13 years old or older) that have seen it all. They have been over the mountain. Below is  a list of tasks that any good mountain horse is comfortable doing or having done on them as well as tasks the rider should be able to do.

1. Rider can mount and dismount from either side without assistance.

2. Horse will cross streams, step over logs, step onto ledges etc. without balking.

3. Horse should not spook at the site of rain slickers, jackets, tarps, or other gear.

4. Horse should not spook at the sound of rain slickers or jackets being put on.

5. Horse should be able to trail with other horses without conflict.

6. Rider should be able to maintain complete control of horse at all times.

7. Horse should have no buck in them.

8. Horse should have good feet free of cracks in the hoof wall.

9. Horse should be comfortable with having ropes wrapped around his feet.

10. Rider should be able to easily bridle and saddle horse.

11. Horse should not shy away from rider especially when dismounting.

The gentler the horse the safer the rider will be and the more a  horse has seen the gentler they will be. It is also good while not a necessity if the horse can be packed on. Generally if a horse is a good pack horse he has seen and heard just about everything from tarps to rattling pans. For this reason good pack horses also make excellent trail horses. An experienced rider can spend time working with a horse to get them comfortable with different obstacles and objects that will help make them a safer mountain trail horse.

If you are looking for mountain land or equestrian property where you can trail ride, visit www.landbrokermls.com.

When looking for Montana ranches for sale and Wyoming ranches for sale, you may want to consider the difference between Montana’s and Wyoming’s wolf management. Wolves will have significant impacts on your ranching operations and wildlife populations.

Last May, wolves were delisted in both Idaho and Montana and management was turned over to the states. Both Montana and Idaho initiated wolf hunts to begin this year. Montana limited wolf kills to 75 or 15% of the Montana wolf population.

The USFWS however, exempted Wyoming from the wolf management. This means that currently wolves cannot be hunted in Wyoming and remain under federal protection. What does this mean for landowners in Wyoming and Montana? With the new hunts in Montana, wolves will become more wary of humans and give you the landowner an additional tool to help control livestock and wildlife depredation by wolves. Wyoming landowners currently do not have this additional management tool and will suffer higher losses due to depredation by wolves.

It is worthwhile to consider the impacts of wolves and any management options that landowners will have have when looking for ranches for sale in Montana and ranches for sale in Wyoming.

Log homes have provided shelter for thousands of years. Over that time, they have evolved from simple crude structures to extravagant finely crafted structures. As you begin to plan to build a log home, there are several details you will want to consider.

Cost is obviously one of the primary factors for any home and is even more so with log homes. You can get economical log home kits that you can easily construct yourself. However, they will not give you the rustic high-end elegance of a handcrafted log home. Handcrafted log homes will cost considerably more than kit homes however they of a much finer quality.

Log shape is another consideration. Log kits can come in full round (typically not fully round- round on exterior and interior but flat tops and bottoms), D logs (flat interior and round exterior), and square. There is very little advantage of any one type construction wise. It mainly comes down to personal preference. hand crafted log homes utilize raw full round logs. Crafters then fit each log into place by hand. As you can imagine, this requires much more time and skill thus increasing the cost of handcrafted log homes significantly.

Another detail you will want to consider is whether you want your home chinked or not. Chinking is the weather proofing between logs. Originally chinking was made of a mixture of mud and straw. Today it is comprised of a foam backer rod covered with a silicon or latex coating. All log homes do not require chinking. Kit log homes use a weather stripping that is compressed between the logs and therefore do not need to be chinked. Also tightly fitted handcrafted log homes can be sealed in the same manner and therefore do not require chinking. If you like the look of chinking, any log home can be chinked. Just remember that this will be an additional construction cost. Chinking also comes in a variety of colors to match the stain that you use on your log home.

Another factor that affects the overall cost is construction time. Kit log homes require substantially less time to erect compared to handcrafted log homes. Kit logs are milled so that all logs are uniform and just need to be stacked with little or no handcrafting. Handcrafted log homes are usually erected twice. The first time the logs are fitted into place at the log yard. The logs are then taken down and shipped to the construction site where they are fitted back together.

There are numerous log home companies that provide both kit and handcrafted log homes. Prior to selecting a company gather all the info that you can on the company, their logs and construction techniques and if possible visit one or two log homes they have constructed.

When you are ready to buy that special piece of land to build your log home on, visit www.landbrokermls.com to search land for sale.

When you begin your search for hunting land for sale, you will want to consider several factors. Species you desire to hunt, quality of species you desire, species population size, species acreage requirements, and management goals to name a few. Below we have taken a couple big game species and discuss some of these factors. We will start with Whitetail deer hunting land in Texas.

When looking for whitetail deer hunting land in Texas, you will first want to determine if you are looking for a place that has high populations of deer simply for the enjoyment of hunting or if you want a place that has trophy quality deer. You will also want to determine what your goals will be. Do you want to buy  land that has not been managed previously and start your own management program or buy land that has already been managed? If you want to buy place to manage for and hunt trophy whitetail, you will want a place that is at least 1000 acres or more if it is not high fenced. If it is high fence,d you probably would not want a place smaller than 3-400 acres. In addition, you will want to manage the deer population according to your management goals.

Now lets look at Colorado Elk hunting land. You will still want to decide if you want a place for hunting trophy animals or simply for the enjoyment of hunting. Once you have determined what type of hunting you want to be able to do, you have several options. You can by small acreage that borders National Forest or BLM land giving you access to 1,000s of acres to hunt or you can buy large parcels of private land. You will be very limited on your management options if you elect to buy smaller parcels that simply give you access as opposed to the options that will be available if you purchase large private tracts of land. You will also need to decide what unit you want to purchase land in. Some units are draw only and some have 2nd, 3rd and 4th season over the counter tags. If you buy private land, you may be able to get land owner tags. The draw only units will generally have better trophy quality but lower overall herd numbers so unless you have land owner tags you will be required to draw your tags and it may take several bonus points in order to draw. You will want to keep these factors in mind when looking at Colorado Hunting Land for Sale.

It is important to understand that there are different beetles affecting the forests of the Rocky Mountains. The primary beetle impacting Colorado Mountain Land is the Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus Ponderosae). The Mountain Pine Beetle commonly attacks Ponderosa, lodgepole, Scotch, and Limber pine while Bristlecone Pine, Pinyon Pine, firs and spruces are less susceptible. Things to consider when looking for Colorado Mountain land for sale, New Mexico Mountain land for sale, or Wyoming Mountain land for sale:

1. What species of pine are present on the property?
2.. Are any of the pines infected by pine beetle?
3. What type of beetle is infecting the trees?
4. If there is an infestation present how much of the forest has been affected?
5. What are the remedies available to mitigate any infestation?
- Spraying
- Logging
- Chipping

In the Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana Mountain Land and Wyoming Mountain land are also being ravaged by beetles. in Montana it is primarily a bark beetle that is killing trees and to a limited extent in Wyoming. Montana Mountain Land for sale will most likely have at least some pine beetle infestation however do not let this discourage you. There are many uses for the timber and many alternatives for mitigation.

- Firewood
- Furniture
- Pellet Production
- Construction lumber
- Wood chips

Also remember, that once the dead falls have been removed and cleaned up the forest will be more diverse and healthier.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people fail to put in place a proper overall plan for their ranch, farm, or recreational property. They decide where they will put the house and maybe a barn but never think further down the road and ask themselves “What do I want my property to look like in twenty years and how do I plan to utilize it?”

When putting a property plan together you need to consider at the very minimum:

1. What do I want to utilize the property for? Raising cattle or horses, hunting, recreational….

2. What type of facilities will I need? Barns, corrals, cattle working facilities, fencing, feed storage, etc. You will want to plan out placement of facilities as far out as you can even if you cannot afford to build all of the facilities at once.

3. How will the facilities work together? ie. You would want your feed storage close to where you will do most of your feeding yet allow for easy access for trucks for unloading. You will want your cattle working facilities to work with your pasture layout so that you can drive cattle to them easily.

4. Where will your utilities be located?

5. Where will your water wells and storage be located and how will I transport water to where I need it?

Depending upon the use planned for your property you will need to consider other factors. Planning in advance will save you many headaches and result in an aesthetically appealing, well planned property instead of a hodgepodge property. You may be limited on what you can do if you purchase a property that already has facilities in place. However, you will still want to layout an overall use plan.  For example you may have bought a Montana ranch that already has facilities built for working cattle but you plan to utilize the ranch for a horse breeding, boarding, and training property. Therefore, in your plan you will want to address the change in use and determine what existing facilities can be used, which existing facilities will need to be replaced and which facilities will need to be added in order to utilize the property to the fullest extent as a Montana Horse Ranch.

If you are a horse lover and your dream is to own your very own horse property, there are several factors that you will want to consider when you begin to look at equestrian property for sale. You will need to determine what your goals are. Do you simply want a property where you can pasture and stable your own horses and ride elsewhere? Or do you want a property where you can ride for miles, or breed horses, or board horses, or train horses?

The answers to these questions will help you determine what features your property will need. For example, if you are looking for a Colorado Equestrian property for sale where you can stable and pasture your horses but want to limit the cost yet be able to ride for miles then you will want to look at small Colorado equestrian properties that border National Forest,  Bureau of Land Management land, or state land. On the other hand, lets say you are looking at Oklahoma Equestrian property for sale and would like to stable and pasture horses and have the ability to ride long distances. You will want to  look at Oklahoma equestrian properties with large acreage.

You will also want to consider what other features your property will need. If you are planning on breeding horses, then you will need breeding facilities with a number of paddocks where you can keep your mares and stallions separate. You will also need vet facilities, exam stocks, breeding dummies, stalls, etc. If you plan on boarding horses, then you will need to consider the number of horses you will want to board and then look for property with an equal or greater number of paddocks and stalls. You will also need feed storage, tack storage, farrier area, riding areas such as indoor and outdoor arenas, and possibly jumps and other equipment for riders to use while training.

These are just a few areas you will need to consider when looking for your perfect equestrian property. Good planning will save you a lot of time when looking for property as well as time and money saved after closing.

When you began looking for land, it is important to understand how land is measured and priced. For instance, if you are looking for a farm for sale in Kentucky, farms would be represented in acres and either be priced by the acre or given as the total asking price. However,  if you are looking at New Mexico ranches for sale, the ranched may have size given in acres or sections with the price give in dollars per acre or as the total asking price. For those unfamiliar with the measurement of sections, 1 section = 640 acres or 1 mile X 1 mile.

Kentucky farms may range from a few hundred acres to several hundred acres while ranches in New Mexico may run from several thousand acres to several hundred acres or from several sections to upwards of 100 sections.

For those of you who may be interested in purchasing land in South America or Europe, you will most likely see land size given in number of hectares. 1 hectare=2.47105381 acres.

It is important to understand land measurement and be able to convert between them so that you can compare prices. For example, if land size is given in sections, you will want to convert to acres so that you can easily compare price per acre of other parcels. This will give you the ability to compare properties to ensure that you do not overpay.

Many buyers began searching for land to purchase without first taking steps to get approved for financing. Getting financing for land can be more complicated than financing a home. Especially for bigger parcels of land.  If you plan on attending auctions that have land auction listings, it is even more important to plan ahead and get your financing in place. There are many sources for obtaining land financing. You may check the land lender and mortgage sources on www.landbrokermls.com.

Ranch auctions have special financing needs and it is good to enlist the assistance of a good financing company that has options that suit your needs. United Country, Farm Credit Services,  and Ag Credit are good sources with various financing options. Jimmy Flowers with Farm Credit Services of the Mountain Plains will be happy to assist you with your financing needs in Colorado.