Editor’s Note: The land rush has arrived, and wise investors in Mossy Oak Properties will venture further out from their urban surroundings to search for second-home opportunities on less-expensive land. Since no one can create more land, as the demand for land increases, so will the price of that land. Do you dream of purchasing a large tract of forestland to subdivide into 1- to 40-acre lots? What happens if an owner’s ready to sell at a right price, and you know customers waiting to buy, but you don’t have the cash to purchase and develop the land? Don’t worry, a strong forestland real-estate market means that companies like Developer Finance Corporation and Farm Credit Bank will help you buy and build that subdevelopment. Today, we’ll talk some more with Joy Upchurch of AgFirst Farm Credit Bank and learn more about getting a loan.

Mossy Oak Properties: Can you tell us any funny or interesting anecdotes related to getting loans? Upchurch: One of our loan officers wanted to build a home on some rural property he owned. He got bids from Farm Credit and a couple of other lenders. He chose another lender because its interest rate was slightly lower than Farm Credit's. He later regretted his decision. The loan closing was delayed for weeks because the other lender wasn’t experienced in financing rural properties. When he arrived at the loan closing, he found that he had to pay much more in fees than he’d expected. The result was that his APR was higher than Farm Credit's original quote. Now, he keeps his own loan-closing statement in his desk drawer and shows it to applicants who are considering using other lenders to finance their homes in the country.

Mossy Oak Properties: What are some other things a rural home/land buyer needs to know, such as insurance requirements, etc.? Upchurch: If you want to build a house on your land, you may want to have a perk test completed before you buy the land to ensure you can install a septic system on it. Too, before you buy the land, you’ll want to ensure that you’ll have legal access (ingress, egress and regress) to the land. When you borrow from Farm Credit, you become a member of our cooperative and are eligible to receive patronage refunds, which is our way of sharing our profits with our borrower-owners. We like to say that we put our profits in your pocket. We give our borrowers competitive interest up front and then further reduce their borrowing costs with patronage refunds. Do you remember the movies from childhood that showed Conestoga wagons lined-up across the prairie waiting for a shotgun start during the land-rush days? Today the wagons have lined-up, and many land developers already have staked their claims. Financial institutions like the Farm Credit Bank and Developers Finance Corporation will help these developers of recreational lands to reach their goals.

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