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I'm looking at buying 80 acres from a seller who might be willing to sell, but neither I nor she really knows a good starting point on what would be a fair price. The land has 100% timber in mixed pines and hardwoods of varying maturity. The seller hasn't listed the property, I just approached her about buying and she started asking me about price.

I'm guessing the first step would be to hire a qualified forestry guy to appraise the timber, then go from there. Would the seller typically pay for that? Depending on the cost, I wouldn't mind paying for it potentially. What would a rough fee be for cruising 78 acres?

I'm not looking to get a steal on the property, just establish what a fair price would be that we can agree to.

If you want it and she hasn't listed it, I wouldn't count on her coming out of pocket for any survey, cruise, or closing costs. I'd guess $1k for the cruise give or take a few hundred.

A 10% timber cruise will probably cost you $6-8/acre. If you pay for the cruise, it is yours. It will be your decision to share it with the landowner or not. If you give them a copy of the timber cruise then you just paid for them to get a timber cruise. May not be a big deal unless they use the cruise to help them sale the property to someone else.

If you would be satisfied with just a "ballpark figure" for the timber value, you may be able to get a forester with the MS Forestry Commission to take a look at it with you.

Timber prices have been stronger south of I-20 and the closer you get to AL the better. This is for pine timber. I've seen some pine timber sales not even get a bid recently in far north MS. Proximity to a mill will strongly dictate the timber's value.

Thanks SB. I'd probably go sit down with the seller and let them view it but not provide them with a copy unless they'd like to reimburse me, at least partially, for it. Of course the seller can always use the knowledge in a future sale, but any other potential buyer is probably going to want to see some documentation on the timber.

Don't think a survey would be required, and closing costs are normally paid by buyer anyways as far as I know. She's definitely not desperate to sell.

If there is any other land for sale around that area look to see what it is going for an acre, and that would give you a rough idea of a starting point I would think.

Does a buyer ever dare make an offer on some land that's not listed? Or is that a cardinal sin of negotiating?

In my opinion, a timber appraisal is only good if your wanting/willing to cut the timber. Get some comparable sales data and make she an offer.

Yes a buyer can dare to make an offer.

This is from a real estate book I read: Three types of "buyer" offers. (1)100% of what it is worth to you. Normally, because it touches your land or has a sentimental value. (2) 75-80% of your top value. You want it but don't want to pay to much. These offers normally don't make the owner mad or insult them to a point that they will not counter. (3) The just "fishing" offer. 50-75% of the value. you don't need it, but would own it for the right price. It does not matter.

Good Luck.

Yeah, I'm probably going for Halfway between #2 and #1. Not going to leave 0 room for a counteroffer, but not going up much from the initial offer.

It shouldn't be hard to come up with a fair market price. Dirt+timber+improvements (if any) = price

Pull comps for the value of dirt in your area, hire a Forester to cruise for timber value, value placed on improvements other than buildings are only worth what you would pay for them. Throw seller a fair price that you can live with and remember it's business, don't buy on emotion. If owner is unrealistic (and it's amazing how many are) keep moving.

Cruise price will vary, we get $10/acre in baton rouge.

If financing you may have to pay for a survey if lender isn't comfortable with acreage on deed. Personally I'd get one anyway, you would be surprised how often they pay for themself.