Land Report November 2011 Newsletter

Take a moment to scan the November edition of The Land Report newsletter. You’ll be amazed at the amount of activity going on in land markets currently.

Impending auctions of key parcels, record-setting new listings, fire-sale prices on bankrupt holdings – the number of transactions taking place in all sectors is quite encouraging and, as you will soon read, in all parts of the country.

For more up to the minute reports on listings, auctions, sales, and breaking news pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter.

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Trump Buys Kluge Winery at Auction

Donald Trump has increased his holdings in the heart of Virginia’s horse country when he paid $6.2 million for the 776-acre Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. Trump bought the majority of the vineyard holdings at an April 7 foreclosure auction conducted by J.P. King Auction Company. Auction sales totaled $8.02 million.

“I’m really interested in good real estate, not so much in wine,” Trump told the Washington Post. “This place had a $28 million mortgage on it, and I bought it for $6.2 million. It’s a Trump deal!”

According to the Post, Trump will keep former owner Patricia Kluge, 62, and her husband, William Moses, on board to run the winery. Said Trump, “She has a great instinct for wine, which I don’t.”

Read the entire story HERE.

 

Sold! Washington’s Hunt Ranch

A spectacular 15,548-acre tract on Washington’s  Columbia River in Douglas County sold for $5.5 million on September 28. Known as the Hunt Ranch, the original plan was for the family-owned property  to be divided and sold in 31 tracts by J.P. King Auction Company, but it went instead to a single buyer, who stepped up before the bidding began and acquired it in its entirety.

“Since Hunt Ranch was a third-generation family property, we were excited to be able to sell it to a single owner and keep the property intact,” said Craig King, president and CEO of J.P. King Auction Company. “Land is a great investment. It will always be in demand, and its availability is decreasing.”

Given the historic nature of the impressive parcel, it was a coup for both buyer and seller. “The property is quite diverse,” said Rusty Hunt. He and his father had added additional acreage since his grandfather’s initial purchase of the property. “It looks over the Columbia River and the Cascade Mountains, and it features everything from flat plateaus to lakes and meadows.”

In addition to breathtaking views, the property includes barns, sheds, silos, and two newly remodeled farmhouses. Wheat is currently being grown as the property’s principal crop. The ranch also has FSA contracts, which the new owner has the option to maintain, and its abundant wildlife  includes grouse, mule deer, ducks, geese, quail, and dove.