Rural Property Transactions: Realtor Chance Futrell's Perspective

[00:00:00.000] - Chris Griffin
Welcome to Back to your Roots, a podcast that provides insight into all things farming, financing, and farm life, guiding you Back to your Roots.

[00:00:17.460] - Chris Griffin
Thanks for joining us today on Back to your Roots. I'm your host, Chris Griffin. Today, we have a special guest, Chance Futrell, with Housman Partners Realty Land & Farm. I've known Chance for a long time. We've done a lot of deals together, and he's really well known in the community and well known in the real estate market and built a lot of great relationships. Chance, we're glad to have you and glad you can make it over today.

[00:00:39.360] - Chance Futrell
Yeah. Thank you guys for having me, especially throwing in that special.

[00:00:43.960] - Chris Griffin
Hey, I mean, trying to get a referral, too, out of you. I'm going to try to butter you up a little bit.

[00:00:49.060] - Chance Futrell
Well, hey, we've done it a time or two in the past.

[00:00:51.260] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, we've done a few deals together. I'll tell you what we were talking about before you came in here. You can always tell when it's a lender that knows what they're doing or a realtor that knows what they're doing, the transaction sure goes a lot smoother, I feel like. There's always good communication. We have our deals, luckily, have always, knock on wood, have always gone pretty smooth.

[00:01:08.260] - Chance Futrell
They have. We haven't ever had any obstacles.

[00:01:10.640] - Chris Griffin
No, we'll probably get one. We'll probably get one eventually. It's a weird situation. Time always allows for that.

[00:01:18.520] - Chance Futrell
For sure.

[00:01:20.260] - Chris Griffin
Chance, tell us a little bit about yourself, your real estate career, how you got into that. Then I know for a long time, you were part-time, you were working another job.

[00:01:29.100] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:01:29.560] - Chris Griffin
Now you're I'm on a transition into going a full-time, so diving into that a little bit for us.

[00:01:33.420] - Chance Futrell
This is actually my third week full-time. I've done plumbing, been around construction my whole life. I actually worked at the Gaseous Diffusion Plant West Paducah, which was a blessing. I've met so many people out there. I think combined between that and working for myself, I think really helped me in the real estate world. Got my name out there, met a lot of people, knew a lot of people. I'll be 40 actually in a couple of weeks and grew up in Paducah.

[00:01:59.280] - Chris Griffin
I'm not too far I'm behind you.

[00:02:00.480] - Chance Futrell
July 10th, I'll be 40. Grew up in Paducah, went to Lone Oak High School. My wife went to Carlisle. Kirsten, we've got two kids, Nolan and Adelyn, so they go to Lone Oak. We are big into sports, hunting and going to the lake every chance we can.

[00:02:14.220] - Chris Griffin
I know you're a big hunter, so I know that.

[00:02:16.700] - Chance Futrell
Yeah. Paducah right here is where I've grew up, and I've always tried to, in my younger days, I tried to run around in every county I could.

[00:02:27.160] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, you hadn't met me in strangers. I know that. I've I knew you for... I'm pretty introverted, but you're definitely extroverted.

[00:02:34.560] - Chance Futrell
Yeah.

[00:02:35.040] - Chance Futrell
My wife, every time we go out to eat somewhere, she's, Oh, my gosh.

[00:02:38.300] - Chris Griffin
You know somebody here, too. I joke about being introverted because Shea always gives me a hard time because I always say I'm a little introverted. She doesn't understand why because every time we go somewhere, she can't ever find me because I'm talking to somebody. You're talking about working at the plant. I think that's a great example of you were able to get into real estate and come from an area where you work with a ton of people. You're obviously great at building relationships and making friends. People I like to do business with people that they enjoy being around and then trust. You have a familiar face. Probably was a huge blessing, like you said. It was. It gave you some time to build up your real estate clientele and reputation, and now diving full-time. I think you're going to do great. Actually, I always joked. I always thought you were full-time anyway. I mean, you sold enough and did enough, and now you're just going to have more time to do it anymore.

[00:03:24.440] - Chance Futrell
Most people did. Most people didn't even know that I worked a full-time job.

[00:03:28.660] - Chris Griffin
That's good that they know that because that means you're available and able to take care of them.

[00:03:33.220] - Chance Futrell
That was my biggest... You asked me about going full-time, and that was one of my biggest hurdles was having time. I mean, both my kids are into sports. I want to be a good dad. I want to be a good husband, but there's only 24 hours in the day, and I was burning all 24 of them. Now, more than ever, I get to be in front of people more, and that's just a service to my clients.

[00:03:55.000] - Chris Griffin
Well, we're glad to have you full-time, and you're going to do a phenomenal job. But I know you're at Housman Partners. I've known Jessica and Kevin for a long time. Can you go over... Most people are familiar with the real estate side, the residential real estate. I know you still do that, but can you go into all of what Housman Partner covers and the areas that they cover, and do they cover most of Western Kentucky and anything beyond that?

[00:04:19.250] - Chance Futrell
Yes.

[00:04:19.470] - Chance Futrell
So, Housman Partners covers all the Western Kentucky. Of course, Paducah is where... That's where they planted the seed. You can't go anywhere in Paducah anymore, I feel like, without seeing a Housman sign.

[00:04:29.220] - Chris Griffin
I completely I agree.

[00:04:30.700] - Chance Futrell
I hear that from so many people. It doesn't matter where you live, what county in Western Kentucky, there's a Housman sign somewhere. But Kevin and Jessica started that out. Jessica is the king and the queen of real estate. I've learned so much from both of them, though. Kevin, what she doesn't cover, he does. I mean, it's great. They actually, just a few years ago, expanded and opened up a Lake office. We took on some new agents up there.

[00:04:56.250] - Chris Griffin
Who's the agents up there?

[00:04:57.540] - Chance Futrell
Monty Collins, Jennifer Fisk, and Melanie Thompson. They've done really well up there. It's been perfect because got to expand to the lake and cover a lot more ground. But as far as what Housman Partners covers in real estate, anything and everything. My favorite and my specialty is the land and farm, but the house sales have been so good. You've got a lot of people come to you. Every house sits on a piece of land, so they just go with each other. I've dabbled in a little bit of commercial. I wouldn't say I would be your go-to guy on commercial as much I would be land and farm and residential, but we do a lot of commercial. So, Housman Partners checks every box.

[00:05:35.650] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, they definitely do. I've known Jessica for a long time. Kevin, I've known pretty well, but Jessica is the one I've known the longest, and she knew my dad, and they did a lot of real estate deals together. Jessica's the best, man. She'll be your biggest supporter, but she'll put you in line if you're out of line.

[00:05:53.940] - Chance Futrell
She can do it.

[00:05:54.620] - Chris Griffin
Which sometimes you need.

[00:05:56.000] - Chance Futrell
Yeah.

[00:05:56.410] - Chance Futrell
The good thing about them is it's still like a family. But Housman Partners, they're huge, but they're still the family atmosphere.

[00:06:05.180] - Chris Griffin
I love going, doing your own sales meetings because it's definitely a lot of familiar faces. Tony and Brooke and all that crew, and they all do a great job. I've always appreciated the relationship we've had with you guys. But you piggyback on something you said, but you're talking about the housing market. Obviously, you'd want to do land and farm solely, but obviously the housing market has been so good. Can you dive into that a little a little bit and talk about the pulse on the housing market? And once you finish up that, dive in on the land side because I know a lot of people are like, Oh, my gosh, I can't believe the price per acre that people are buying stuff for. Dive into that a little bit, too, and then talk about what you're seeing and what's going on there.

[00:06:45.180] - Chance Futrell
So everywhere, and you guys are the same way in the line of business you're in, everywhere you go, somebody says, How's the housing market? Is anything selling? It's dead right now, isn't it? I heard last week, a man that I know very well, he said, man, the housing market's just terrible right now, Nobody's buying nothing. I said, well, we actually just had our sales meeting yesterday at Housman, and we had our record month.

[00:07:06.420] - Chance Futrell
The best month we were at.

[00:07:07.840] - Chance Futrell
So May of

[00:07:09.160] - Chris Griffin
Higher rates and everything.

[00:07:10.080] - Chance Futrell
May of 2025, Housman partners had their best on record month. That being said, the first of the year, I would say, started off iffy. There was a lot of questions and not as much inventory. When there's no inventory, obviously, there's nothing selling because we had a couple of things hitting us at one time. I feel like that wasn't good. But man, it is houses right now, in my opinion, even with interest rates where they are, they're selling really good.

[00:07:36.400] - Chris Griffin
Well, we were talking about that before you came back here in my office. You're talking about construction loans, and I was telling you how many construction loans I've done over the last year and a half. You're talking about the highest interest rate environment we've had in a long time. You would think, Nobody's doing construction. Well, I've done... Because you were shocked. I think I said from probably March of '24, '23, all the way through, probably... Because a lot of them now, I'm just dealing with servicing them and making sure they're getting built, luckily. But I would say probably in that 18 months stretch, probably did 20 plus construction loans, which even for me, I was like, There's no way this is possible. And so it's really crazy because I even know here, and Shay can nod yes or no, but I know, was it last year or the year before that, we had one of the best years as far as volume-wise, new volume on the books. And you would think, well, there's no way that's possible because rates are so high. Nobody's going to be doing anything. I think almost sometimes people just get tired of waiting.

[00:08:36.720] - Chris Griffin
I think they get acclimated to it and they're like, well, heck, if this is what it's going to be, then we're just going to have to do it. We can't wait forever.

[00:08:42.910] - Chance Futrell
I talked to Kevin before I came here and was talking to him about the same thing, and he said, the good thing about interest rates are they move. The land you're buying, the house you're buying, that never changes. So, ride it out. You just can't sit around and wait on that all the time.

[00:08:58.400] - Chris Griffin
I think I think once the initial shock, I know when I started here in June of '22, rates had been really good, most of '22. Then I always think it's funny because literally, I felt like the day I walked in the door for five straight months, every day I came in there inching up. I think the initial shock, that first year of the rates coming up, getting out of the COVID era with where rates were, which they were ridiculously low and out of whack, too, and an outlier.

[00:09:27.960] - Chance Futrell
3% and 4% was way to common.

[00:09:29.220] - Chris Griffin
Got away I always joke because people was like, Man, I really wish we could go back to 2. 5%, 3%, I'm like, Yeah, but there's a lot of extra stuff you're having to deal with that it shouldn't have ever been that low either. There was obviously something going on. It is crazy because, like you said, people are still buying People are still looking for land. People are still building. And a lot of it, I think you hit the nail on the head, it's just at some point, they just get acclimated and accustomed to what that rate is. If they were going to build a $800,000 house, they may only build $650,000 house to adjust for what they want to pay a month, but they move it around and they go from there.

[00:10:06.310] - Chris Griffin
So as far as the demand for rural land, I know since I've been here, I think it's gone up because they're not making I need more of it. I think you get more and more people buying it or building on it or whatever. What have you seen there in recent years and your listings and the amount of sales you've done and things like that?

[00:10:24.190] - Chance Futrell
Well, I think now, and especially since COVID, you talk to a lot more people that are just more independently minded about wanting to do their own thing. Gardening got... I mean, my family has had a garden forever, and they can their own food. My parents do, I have. But during COVID, you couldn't even buy mason jars. All that had been absorbed. When we talk about farm, we're not talking about your 1,000 acre row crop guy. I mean, that starts at 10 acres and goes all the way to the sky's the limit. So many people, especially in Western Kentucky, the people we deal with day to day, that's a big thing. I want 10 acres. I want a farm. So, I think definitely the demand for land is, I think it just keeps growing. I do, because like I said, everybody wants to have their own little piece of heaven, something they can control. But I don't see the demand for land coming down anytime soon.

[00:11:22.610] - Chris Griffin
Well, and I also even hear you get a lot of... If we come to your sales meeting, let's say somebody's not familiar with River Valley, a lot of times they me, well, do you have to be a farmer? I'm like, No. I mean, if it's what we consider an act asset, we can do it. And so, a lot of times it's even just people, let's say you and your wife are like, hey, we've got some money that we want to take out of the market and park it in a long-term asset and let it appreciate over here. You're just diversifying your portfolio. I mean, you get a lot of people that just do that. Then they just use it as a piece of recreational property where their kids can go play and ride their four wheels around. Then one day, when they're older, they may end up building a house on it, or they may sell it, or they may get their kids or whatever. It's just another investment, too, besides just being a hunting property or whatever, that you can put your money somewhere else that sometimes you feel like is a little bit less volatile or whatever.

[00:12:13.160] - Chris Griffin
In saying that.

[00:12:14.200] - Chance Futrell
I think the size parcels of land really affect that, too. The 10 to 20 acres, I mean, those are obviously the most popular because not everybody has a need for 100 acres. When you compare land sales to home sales, the land, it obviously is a lot different just because-

[00:12:32.880] - Chris Griffin
Does it move quicker, you think, too?

[00:12:34.460] - Chris Griffin
Once you list it or time on market?

[00:12:37.940] - Chance Futrell
Man, I think if you can get those 10 to 15 acre, 20 acre parcels.

[00:12:40.880] - Chris Griffin
That move pretty- That move pretty. Because I do a lot of those, really that 10 to 40 acre is really my- I may get a phone call today and somebody say, Hey, I'm looking for land.

[00:12:48.400] - Chance Futrell
Well, how much?

[00:12:49.100] - Chance Futrell
I'd like to have 10 acres.

[00:12:49.600] - Chris Griffin
Most time it's people want to build a house. They want to buy 30 or 40 acres.

[00:12:53.460] - Chance Futrell
Yeah, and I hear all the time, Well, I want 10 acres because I want to be farm exempt. Well, you really need 11.

[00:12:58.860] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:12:59.320] - Chris Griffin
Got to be You got to be over that 10.

[00:13:00.420] - Chance Futrell
You got to be over that 10. Where you're going to put your house on an acre, then you've got that other 10. That's what makes it a farm for you. But now you get up in your bigger farms, especially just your hunting farms. Sometimes that can be the turnover is a little bit shorter because you start looking for just a certain individual at that point.

[00:13:16.820] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:13:17.300] - Chris Griffin
He gets a lot more unique for sure. I think that's the reason a lot of these auctions you see take like Harris, for example. They parcel, they sell it often. It may take a 100 acre piece of property and sell it often seven or eight, nine different tracks, maybe more. You're bringing a lot more people in the mix because if you're just selling that 100 acres, there's a lot of people that, number one, wouldn't be able to afford it.

[00:13:40.340] - Chance Futrell
For sure.

[00:13:40.800] - Chris Griffin
Or they don't have a use for it. What are they going to do with it? It just diversifies who's going to buy it. It really drives up the price, honestly. It's a smart way to do it for the sellers, but it made total sense what you're saying. You get a lot of people, they're not... If it's 100 acre piece of property, just like your property in Carlisle, there's a unique buyer that's going to buy that.

[00:13:59.380] - Chris Griffin
He's got to want to shoot a duck.

[00:14:00.700] - Chris Griffin
It's a hunting property.

[00:14:01.620] - Chance Futrell
That's it.

[00:14:02.010] - Chris Griffin
That's it. They're going to do the loan through River Valley when they come to buy.

[00:14:06.880] - Chance Futrell
There you go. We already got a sign sitting there ready for it.

[00:14:09.610] - Chris Griffin
I know we got it for it. That's a prime example. It's a pretty unique property. You've got probably definitely a smaller pool of people that want to buy that. A lot smaller. More than likely, sometimes in that case, it's probably going to be an LLC, a group of guys get together, want to buy it together.

[00:14:27.520] - Chance Futrell
That happens a lot.

[00:14:28.650] - Chris Griffin
Yeah. You're hunting properties. A lot of times, it's not one individual. It's four or five guys.

[00:14:31.860] - Chance Futrell
On those Steve Denton's, I just sold. I mean, same thing.

[00:14:34.820] - Chris Griffin
Four investors came together. Four or five guys come together and they buy it and they're going to hunt it together and work on it and go from there. When you're working with a realtor, I was a realtor from 16 to 19. I don't envy I don't do your job at all. I understand. You take a lot of calls after hours on the weekends, take a lot of griping, you get a lot of praise, but you take a lot of hardship, too, I know. But you just tell when you're working with the realtor, what's the steps? If I don't know Chance Futrell and I wanted to start working with you, what's the first step to build that relationship? Do I call the office? Do I look for your cell phone number on Facebook? What do I do?

[00:15:10.140] - Chance Futrell
Either one. I am posted all over Facebook, the internet, Housman Partners as well. But I think when it doesn't matter who you are, whether you're looking to buy land or buy a house, get to know them. You can call me and in five minutes carry on the conversation. I think getting to know somebody, having a personal relationship is that's what I would look for if I If I was realtor shopping, that's the main thing. Something else, like we started out in the podcast, I'm from here. I live here. I feel like I know a lot about Western Kentucky. We track land prices. We keep it on the tip of our tongue all the time. Finding somebody that fits you. Hey, I may not fit everybody either. You may not fit everybody as a lender. I'm going to try.

[00:15:51.840] - Chris Griffin
I haven't always. I'm going to try my honest-I never understand why.

[00:15:55.400] - Chance Futrell
But I don't either.

[00:15:56.300] - Chris Griffin
Because I feel like I can get along with just about anybody. But there are times that you get people It's just not the right fit or whatever.

[00:16:01.390] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:16:01.880] - Chris Griffin
There's something-That's okay.

[00:16:03.050] - Chance Futrell
It is. Everybody meshes different with different people. I think for the most part, I think me and you both would score very highly on customer-relation.

[00:16:11.660] - Chris Griffin
We're definitely… Sometimes people probably can't get off the phone with us because we're longer, so it's fine.

[00:16:15.390] - Chance Futrell
But I do think having somebody that is from the area, somebody that knows the ins and outs of everything, I think that's the biggest thing, too.

[00:16:24.720] - Chris Griffin
I used to always, and you can fill me in on this, but I think our area, it's pretty unique because the realtors... If you sold real estate, let's say, in Louisville, for example, I don't know how many realtors are in Louisville Metro area. There's a ton. There are people literally that sell real estate that they will never meet another realtor. They don't even know who they are. When they do a deal together. Here, it's very uncommon where if you have a property listed and a realtor comes to you that you don't somewhat know that person. It's hard to name, at least. You've at least heard the name.

[00:16:55.940] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:16:56.580] - Chris Griffin
Even on the flip side of that, if you don't do a good job, it's such a small community. It's so tight knit and work gets around so quick.

[00:17:04.770] - Chance Futrell
Bad work gets around so quick.

[00:17:05.800] - Chris Griffin
It can get buried in a bigger area like Louisville, St. Louis, or somewhere like that. Where here, it gets around pretty quick.

[00:17:12.440] - Chance Futrell
It does.

[00:17:12.960] - Chance Futrell
I mean, a bad lender.

[00:17:13.500] - Chris Griffin
Which is a good and bad thing. I mean, it's a good thing because a lot of times your buyers and your sellers say, Hey, I've heard a lot of good things about Chance and so on, so on. You're like, Oh, yeah, I remember doing a deal for them. It's right off the bat, it opens the door for you and helps you build a relationship with them.

[00:17:26.940] - Chance Futrell
Well, you're just like me. At the end of the day, when somebody talks about buying land, I hope my name is one of the first ones to pop up. Same as you. The River Valley, I feel like when people were buying land or buying farms, I feel like River Valley is just one of the light bulbs that pops up.

[00:17:43.400] - Chris Griffin
I will say, since It's been interesting, too, because I feel like us moving to McCracken has been a huge benefit, too, because I think everybody in Carlisle and Graves and those places..

[00:17:54.680] - Chance Futrell
The more rural counties.

[00:17:55.360] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, they knew. Since we moved here in, I guess it would have been October of '22. I definitely feel like we get a lot more business now from McCracken just because more people see it and they're like, I don't really know much about them. We've never done business with them. They call here and they think they have to be a farmer.

[00:18:12.300] - Chance Futrell
Sure.

[00:18:12.620] - Chris Griffin
They think they have whatever. I'm like, No, we can do. They're like, Oh, well, that's great. I had no idea.

[00:18:17.640] - Chance Futrell
Well, just saying how many construction loans you just said you did a minute ago says a lot.

[00:18:21.510] - Chris Griffin
A lot of them have been here, have been people who have called this office, and a lot of them have been people who have said, Hey, I drove down all of it and saw this big old I'll start. I don't even know what the heck that is. I didn't know what it was until I started working here, to be honest with you, Chance. It's hard to miss it. I think that's been a huge benefit for us. I think just moving here where you don't really think about a rural area, even though McCracken, in my opinion, is still rural compared to a lot of other places, a lot of our surrounding counties, it isn't.

[00:18:52.420] - Chance Futrell
I still think about, yall's, your advertisements you had at McCracken County, the high school. We go to a lot of basketball games. You Actually, I knew Matthew Shear very well. That was personal. We grew up together, played baseball.

[00:19:05.290] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, our commercial on W-Yeah.

[00:19:07.660] - Chance Futrell
There you were. Every McCracken and County basketball game, Chris Griffin and Matthew Shear, two guys that I know very well. There you are on them.

[00:19:15.380] - Chris Griffin
Oh, yeah. Matt. Good old Matt. He's a good guy. So what are some common mistakes? I know with you doing this for as long as you have now and seeing the bad situations and the good, some common mistakes that buyers and sellers make, especially in land transactions, and you can fill it into even on home transactions and give some advice there as well?

[00:19:35.540] - Chance Futrell
Well, I'll start out with sellers. I think it goes back to what me and you just talked about on sellers. Definitely shopping around and finding the best real estate person for you, the best agent, because obviously everybody wants to get the most money for everything that they can get. Me too. If anything I've got for sale, I want to get the best bang for the buck. But at the end of the day, too, you've got to be realistic. I see a lot of things on the market and they're astronomically high, they sit there for a while, then at that point, that's when they start to get overlooked. Like I said, everybody wants to make the most they can, and I get that as much as anybody. I want you to make as much as you can, too. But I think you need to be pretty close to the bull's eye a lot of times.

[00:20:16.680] - Chris Griffin
I think you got to find a balance between how many days on market you wanted to sit there-

[00:20:20.720] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:20:21.100] - Chris Griffin
And how much do you want to make out of your property. That's right. You want to maximize your profit and your proceeds, but at the same time, if it sits there for a year and you're paying taxes on it or have a loan and continue to pay interest on it, that's not helping you either.

[00:20:33.700] - Chance Futrell
I hear it so many times on hunting farms. The longer a hunting farm sits on the market, well, they must not kill nothing. It must be a terrible spot.

[00:20:41.360] - Chris Griffin
That's not always true. The small community thing goes around again. There you go. The war gets around. They're like, Oh, there must be something wrong with that house. There must be something wrong with that property or whatever. Really, it was just outpriced, probably overpriced on the get-go.

[00:20:53.060] - Chance Futrell
That happens. Sometimes, I'll have to say, our market's been crazy. Sometimes getting something priced exactly right, that's not easy either. There's no need for it. I think as a seller, that's one of the main things. But as a buyer, I think a buyer has got a lot of things to really think about. One thing I talked to Kevin before we came, and septic systems. I think a lot of times people are just looking at the house they want to build. Say they're going to buy some property, they want to build a house. Well, that is the main thing. But knowing where your septic system, things like that, or future, if you're ever going to want to add on or add a pool, add a shop, I think that's something that gets overlooked a lot. Then people end up having to just settle or find a way to make all that work out. I think that's one thing. Then a lot of times you'll see people jump on a parcel of land that really doesn't fit them. Maintenance is something they really have to think about. Upkeep You go out here and buy 50 or 60 acres or whatever.

[00:21:47.660] - Chris Griffin
You can't just let it set there.

[00:21:49.070] - Chance Futrell
You can't let it set there unless it's woods. Then that's the only piece of land you can really let it set there. But that happens so many times is just Chris Griffin goes out and buys 50 acres tomorrow, and he don't own a tractor. There's a lot that can go into that that can actually end up costing you a lot more money. I think that when you're looking for that piece of land, knowing what your purpose at the end of the day is, I think, is the main goal.

[00:22:15.500] - Chris Griffin
Well, you're talking about maintenance. I mean, land, home, whatever that is. When COVID hit, you had these low rates and people could buy a bigger house because they could afford it. They could afford it. There's a $500,000 house compared to a $300,000 It's probably got a steeper, bigger roof. It may have an extra HVAC system. It's got more square foot. You got a heat and cool. They don't think about all that -

[00:22:37.020] - Chance Futrell
Taxes.

[00:22:37.490] - Chris Griffin
Taxes. They don't think about all that. Taxes. They don't think about all that extra stuff. That it's like, Yeah, you can afford the payment, but can you afford all the extra stuff? Just like if you buy a 60 acre piece of property, if you're not going to take care of it and maintain it, who's going to go out there and do it? You're going to be able to afford to pay it. There's a lot of extra stuff that goes into that.

[00:22:55.980] - Chance Futrell
Nothing's free. It doesn't matter what you're doing, whether...

[00:22:59.720] - Chris Griffin
My wife wanted to buy some land. I convinced her not to. In Illinois, of all places.

[00:23:03.400] - Chance Futrell
I know. I'll deer hunt it for you.

[00:23:05.760] - Chris Griffin
I think we bought a camper. We bought a camper instead. We bought a camper instead. We got a camper. I think I've satisfied her outdoor need for the time being.

[00:23:17.360] - Chance Futrell
My kids and my wife-

[00:23:19.380] - Chris Griffin
No land for us for the time being.

[00:23:20.900] - Chance Futrell
My wife, she loves to camp, but she never dreamed she would love to camp.

[00:23:25.080] - Chris Griffin
Me neither.

[00:23:25.440] - Chance Futrell
It's fine.

[00:23:26.740] - Chris Griffin
The kids, and you love it. You know my wife, if she had her way, We would take the kids. She'd buy a really nice tent, and we'd be tent camping. I said, That ain't happening for us. Not for me.

[00:23:36.800] - Chance Futrell
No, I'm going to have air condition.

[00:23:38.100] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:23:39.440] - Chris Griffin
When you're looking at setting a price for a listing, especially land, I think homes are a little bit different because I think there's probably more comps, maybe.

[00:23:47.060] - Chance Futrell
Yeah, there is.

[00:23:47.900] - Chris Griffin
More recent comps. But when you're looking at land, especially, how do you go about getting that sales price? And then really dive in. This is where I get a lot of questions. You're looking at something that's tillable, hunting property. Take your property like in Carlisle. It's nothing but basically wet land and hunting property. How do you go about pricing that? Especially the hunting property, do you look at previous years on how many ducks they've killed? I mean, does that go under the price? I know it's pretty unique, but it would have to. If it's a good hunting property, it's got to increase the value. So, kinda go into that a little bit.

[00:24:21.450] - Chance Futrell
It plays a big role. Like you said, when you're looking at row crop ground, there's a lot more of those that have sold, whether it be through real estate, through auction, whatever it was. There's just a lot more comps in every county around here, which the price right now of commodities and grains, all that's playing a big part in row crop prices as well. But a hunting farm, yes, You talked about duck farms, the amount of ducks you kill.

[00:24:47.700] - Chris Griffin
My brother and I own one, and I always joke them like, If we were to sell it, I'd have no idea. We just show them right here how many we killed. Because it's only good. It's in Barlow Bottoms. It's only good for one It's a duck hunting farm. It's a duck hunting farm. That's it. There's nothing else you can do there.

[00:25:05.000] - Chance Futrell
Them little suckers flying around are worth a lot.

[00:25:06.920] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, I know.

[00:25:07.720] - Chance Futrell
I'm the same way I own a duck hunting farm. To me, it's worth a lot. The more ducks you kill, the more it's worth. And your neighbors know what you kill. Oh, yeah. But me and Kevin actually had a video not too long ago talking about upcoming farms for sale. If you're thinking about listening, if you're thinking about selling, if you have a duck hunting farm, keep a log, keep all that because people want to see it. That's a big investment. Western Kentucky, Ballard County, Hickman County, a lot of people, those farms are sought after for duck hunting. And there's the reasons, the ones that are.

[00:25:38.900] - Chance Futrell
So people love it.

[00:25:40.050] - Chris Griffin
I'm assuming if the blinds are in good shape and things like that, all that's going to factor in what you're-

[00:25:45.040] - Chance Futrell
Blinds, wells, there's a lot.

[00:25:47.230] - Chance Futrell
Backwater, River.

[00:25:47.760] - Chris Griffin
It's got electricity.

[00:25:48.890] - Chance Futrell
Electricity, huge.

[00:25:50.100] - Chris Griffin
We don't have electricity, but the big dogs next to us, they do.

[00:25:52.980] - Chance Futrell
You got to have electricity. That's just something that everybody wants. But when you start thinking about duck hunting, deer hunting, all that stuff Just like that, it all does play a part. And yes, sometimes it does seem like a guess, but there's a lot of comps all around. We try to pull the best comps we can, the most recent comps, too, because that's constantly changing. In the last few years, we have struggled in Western Kentucky as a whole. There's still been some good duck hunting, but it's definitely been different.

[00:26:20.860] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, it's definitely been different. I know, are you guys, and I don't know if I heard this from you or Kevin or Jessica, but Housman Partner, Land & Farmer, are you guys going to expanding outside of Kentucky at some point. Was that the plan? I may be dreaming that, but I thought that was maybe on the horizon at some point.

[00:26:40.360] - Chance Futrell
There's been discussions of it. Me and Kevin, Jessica, we've talked about it, kicked it around. It's just it comes to a point. Being able to service. At the end of the day, you've got to be able to service your people.

[00:26:52.040] - Chris Griffin
And still give the good quality.

[00:26:53.760] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:26:55.090] - Chance Futrell
You never know what the future holds, but I do know that we're always trying to do better, do more.

[00:27:01.020] - Chris Griffin
That's exciting.

[00:27:01.900] - Chance Futrell
We're up for whatever.

[00:27:03.180] - Chris Griffin
I guess a few other things. When you've got a buyer that's looking for land, and let's say what, they want to do some research on their own, typically home buyers, they go to Zillow or whatever. What's a good spot for them to research some land, some listings?

[00:27:18.600] - Chance Futrell
There's a lot of things out there. Of course, the internet now is so it's just changed the game for everything. Everything's at your fingertips anymore. There's a lot of things we use, land.com We use some really good apps, Land ID, OnX. It's not always 100% accurate, but a lot of times it's close. But for getting an idea or trying to figure out the ballpark, those are really good. But I still think in that situation, I think the best tool that a buyer or seller can have in their arsenal is, for one, a good lender, somebody that you can trust, somebody you can call. Somebody you can call after hours is a big deal to me. But also having a good real estate agent, somebody that knows the area, knows the land, knows the people, that's the two best tools I think that's out there.

[00:28:07.040] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:28:07.840] - Chris Griffin
One other thing, and I've had this come up before. So let's say somebody's working with you as a realtor, they're looking for land, and you've shown them some properties or whatever, well, then they find something in an auction. Let's say they've got a land auction coming up this Saturday. You can still be a part of that.

[00:28:23.720] - Chance Futrell
That's right.

[00:28:24.300] - Chris Griffin
And get a commission for that. And actually help facilitate a lot of that just like you would if it was listed and you made an offer.

[00:28:31.160] - Chance Futrell
Absolutely.

[00:28:31.810] - Chris Griffin
Just like that, right? Yes. Okay.

[00:28:33.490] - Chance Futrell
So a lot of times the auctions, of course, they advertise several days in advance. As a real estate agent, normally they'll have a deadline of when you need to have a referral put in. It's an easy process. All these guys around here.

[00:28:48.130] - Chris Griffin
Most of them, I'm sure the auctioneer probably likes it anyway because then they know.

[00:28:51.380] - Chance Futrell
You're bringing more people to the table.

[00:28:52.710] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, and it's one more person that helps help guide that buyer a little bit.

[00:28:57.130] - Chance Futrell
Yeah, and you see it. You see auctioneers and real estate We'll team up on certain things sometimes. We're all in it together. It's Western Kentucky. We all know each other. There's definitely... And even a for-sale-by-owner. I would always suggest if you're a buyer, to bring your real estate agent in.

[00:29:13.280] - Chris Griffin
Really, other than hunting property and tillable, I guess you're looking at recreational property being the other property. When you're looking at those, and this is something I get people, and this is probably my last question is, I get a lot of people that call, and if something's wooded and dense and has to have a lot of clearing and stuff. It's probably not going to be as valuable unless it's got great deer hunting or something like that. Not as valuable as something that's a little more cleared out and not have to take as much work. Just like if it was a house you're buying that needed a bunch of upgrades. I mean, really, right?

[00:29:43.120] - Chance Futrell
Sure.

[00:29:43.230] - Chris Griffin
I mean, it's the same deal.

[00:29:44.470] - Chance Futrell
It is. Something you got to think about when you're buying a wooded piece of property. Well, one of your first questions, has it been logged? Because right there's a lot of the value. But if it hadn't been logged, the timber market is... It's a lot like real estate.

[00:29:59.020] - Chris Griffin
That's something to think about.

[00:30:00.000] - Chance Futrell
Yes, absolutely. There's timber consultants you can get out there. We know some. We've got some contacts for that stuff, too. But a lot of people to the naked eye, they'll look at a piece of woods and like, No, it's just a piece of woods. It's going to be a hassle on me to get it cleared. It's going to take so much work to get it ready to build. But there may be a lot of value sitting there that you don't even realize.

[00:30:18.080] - Chris Griffin
So I might not even know until you get a recommendation on that.

[00:30:21.140] - Chance Futrell
For sure.

[00:30:21.680] - Chris Griffin
That's good to know because I get a lot of questions about that. Sometimes I'm like, I don't really know. I said, I know that somebody could log it and get the timber off of it.

[00:30:30.720] - Chance Futrell
Sure. There's a lot of value in it. A lot of money to be made at times. Of course, like I said, that market, it's up and down, too.

[00:30:36.520] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:30:36.900] - Chris Griffin
Just like everything else anymore.

[00:30:39.100] - Chance Futrell
It goes around, it comes around.

[00:30:40.320] - Chris Griffin
Yeah.

[00:30:40.680] - Chris Griffin
Well, Chance, I really appreciate you coming by and talking a little about land sales in the real estate market. Like I said at the beginning, we've done quite a few deals together. I know you for a long time. You know my brother for a long time. Chance is just a great guy and easy to deal with. I'll tell you one thing, if you work with them, you know you're You're going to get an honest answer and you're going to be completely transparent with whoever you work with. That's probably, in my opinion, if you're making a big investment, that's probably the biggest thing you could ask from your realtor. That's something you definitely are not short of. We've always appreciate you. Like I said, we really appreciate you coming by today.

[00:31:18.000] - Chance Futrell
Yeah, thank you guys because like you said, we've done a lot of deals with you. We know Shea, we know Kelty, Sheri, Kyle. There's a lot more I'm not mentioning, but we have dealt with just about every one of you guys. We've dealt with every office. It's nice to have a relationship and know the people that you're talking to. That's worth a lot to me.

[00:31:37.310] - Chris Griffin
Yeah, it is.

[00:31:37.870] - Chance Futrell
Everything you said about us, I can't say thanks enough. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to come by and do this.

[00:31:43.220] - Chris Griffin
We appreciate you coming by, and hopefully you can come back again and maybe bring your counterpart, Kevin, because I'm sure he'll have plenty to add, too. That boy can talk, too.

[00:31:52.030] - Chance Futrell
That's right. And he would love to. So anytime, seriously, we're up for anything. That sounds good. We want to be in front of as many people as we can, too.

[00:32:00.620] - Chris Griffin
Well, we really appreciate it. So guys, as always, thanks for joining us on Back to your Roots, and we'll see you next time.

[00:32:06.120] - Chris Griffin
Thanks for tuning in to Back to your roots, where we dish the dirt on all things ag. Be sure to never miss an episode by following and subscribing. While there, leave us a review about what you want to hear next. Stay in the know between episodes by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

[00:32:24.400] - Chris Griffin
For more resources, go to our website at rivervalleyagcredit.com.