What Could Go Wrong?

So Now You're Ready to Buy

You have everything you need.  The property you're looking at has good soils.  You have obtained the production history and that comes back strong.  The property is priced reasonably.  You have all the information you need.  What could possibly go wrong?

Not So Fast My Friend!

There still may be some hidden problems.

What Else Could Go Wrong?

You could get fooled by high rental rates.  Previous farmers could have cherry picked the history and it may include share cropping.  Not all the land may be included in the history.  The recent rental may not be typical of what that land yields.  You may be looking at numbers that only make the land look good during high commodity prices.

Other mistakes are some people don't shoot for the best farmland.  They may only buy land that is marginal.  The buyer may decide to be unrepresented forcing them to rely on the word of the seller's agent.  You may be buying land that's seems too good to be true.  Remember the old saying?  If it's too good to be true it probably is.  You could drive too hard a bargain with the farmer making it not worth the farmers time to really take care of the land.  And a common mistake is not doing a written lease.  Often farm deals are done verbally but that leaves the land owner vulnerable.  Always, and I mean always, do a written lease.