Gary Hubbell: a Colorado ranch real estate agent with ranch experience
Your Dream Colorado Cattle Ranch
Is there for you. You just have to find it. In today’s market, beef prices are at an all-time high and productive cattle ranches are generating income for their owners. It pays these days to be in the cattle business, and consequently good ranches are hard to find. There has to be a good reason to sell, such as a health problem, retirement, or an unexpected financial need.
How do I find the right ranch?
Have you ever been told “You need professional help”? Well, you need professional assistance in locating the right Colorado ranch. It pays to have a strong network. I have connections all over Colorado, from Durango to Steamboat, La Junta to Sterling, and all points in between. I am a proud member of the Colorado Realtors Land Institute, an organization of land professionals with members in all parts of the state. We have quarterly meetings where each broker has the opportunity to present properties to the assembled members. This is just one way that I learn about properties all over the state from some of the very best ranch brokers in Colorado. If you’ve located a property online and it sounds great, I can make one or two phone calls and learn what you need to know about the property. We all have access to the internet and we can make assumptions about properties, but it pays to know the real scoop.
What is the current Colorado ranch inventory?
As of the time of this writing, 2014, the inventory is low! I have a couple of properties in my current inventory that would work to raise a limited number of cattle, and there are other properties on the local market, but none locally that I could positively say were solid productive cattle ranches. There are some properties coming online, however, and you need to check in with me periodically if you are in the market for a cattle ranch. There are ranches in other parts of Colorado that we can examine as well. Feel free to send me a link to the property and I’ll take a look at its potential.
What is the advantage to using a buyer’s broker to buy a ranch?
A buyer’s broker can take a more realistic look at things than a listing agent. Every seller wants top dollar for their property, but sometimes facts get in the way. That high-tensile power line? Deduct 15%. Yes, it borders National Forest, so add 10%. We need to look at a cattle ranch from all sides–climate, productivity, water rights, distance to summer grazing, hay production, quality and value of the improvements, mineral rights, fencing, irrigation improvements, weeds–it’s a long list to establish value. Quite often, the listing agent hasn’t had these hard-core discussions with the sellers, and they can’t quite defend the price that they’ve placed on the ranch.
