Seminar: Is it time to sell the farm?

Is now the right time to sell the farm? If you are a landowner nearing or just past retirement age, this might be the perfect time to consider selling. Cropland prices have declined recently and that trend may continue in the near future. Commodity prices are lower than in recent years and look to stay there for a while. So with land prices weakening and farm income stagnant, yet with interest rates still at historic lows, many landowners are wondering if this might be the right time to sell.

Landowners wanting to sell may have found themselves in an enviable position that only rarely comes along. While farmland prices may have declined they would still show any seller an excellent return if they have owned the land for any length of time. Farmland itself remains an attractive long term investment, so a landowner can still find interested buyers, particularly for top quality land.

So why might a landowner hesitate in selling the land? From a financial point of view the most often voiced concern is what will I do with the money if I do sell? Currently capital gains taxes, including federal, state, and other federal taxes may for some sellers, be in the 30 percent-plus category.

To help shed some light on these issues Farmers National Company the world’s largest farm management and farm real estate company is sponsoring a complimentary seminar to help landowners understand their potential alternatives.

Local broker Bill Gaughan said “Farmers National Company always encourage anyone to consult with their personal financial professionals. But we thought it might be helpful to landowners considering selling to have access to some resources that might offer them some different perspectives on how to manage their post-sale assets.”

The change in capital gains tax rates at the end of 2012 drove some landowners to consider selling their land before the current tax rates went into effect. Now that the new capital gains tax rate have been in effect for a while, some new strategies for managing tax liabilities may be of interest to landowners. Farmers National Company will hold this no charge seminar featuring independent legal and financial professionals who are not affiliated with Farmers National Company. Farmers National Company hopes that this will give landowners some new perspectives and ideas on how to most efficiently and economically manage the sale of the farm.

Some traditional strategies have included using a 1031 tax free exchange to acquire non-farm real estate thus deferring Capital Gains taxes. In some cases landowner consider selling the land on a contract basis thus reducing their capital gains taxes. Sometimes a Charitable Remainder Trust can be used. While Farmers National Company does not recommend any particular strategy it felt that providing this information may be of value to landowners.

The seminar will be held in Overland Park Kansas on Mar. 23rd from 2 to 3:30 in the afternoon. Seating is limited, so even though the seminar is free, attendees are asked to register. For location information and to register, visit www.KCLandSeminar.com, call Farmers National Company at 913-837-4665, or email WGaughan@FarmersNational.com. On the web you can visit www.FarmersNational.com/KC.

Farmers National Company is uniquely suited to assist any landowner considering selling their farm. Farmers National Company is the largest non-franchise land real estate company in the United States. As a result you get the full value of the entire company, not just that of a local franchisee. Farmers National has sold over $2.37 billion in rural Real Estate in the last 5 years. With over 200 agents across the country Farmers National has an unmatched amount of expertise and assets to help a landowner realize the full value of the farm when it sells.

As Farmers National Company is the world’s largest farm management company they have access to investors and commercial buyers of farmland that are unavailable to traditional real estate companies. When you add to that the international clients that use Farmers National it becomes clear why no one matches Farmers National Company when it comes to the marketing of rural property.

Farmers National Company, an employee-owned company, is the nation’s leading agricultural landowner services company. Farmers National Company has sold more than 3,800 farms and more than $2.44 billion of real estate during the last five years. The company manages more than 5,000 farms and ranches in 28 states comprising more than 2 million acres. Additional services provided by the company include auctions, appraisals, insurance, consultation, oil and gas management, lake management, a national hunting lease program, forest resource management, and FNC Ag Stock.

This story was originally published March 12, 2017 at 12:05 AM with the headline "Seminar: Is it time to sell the farm?."