Managing Florida Land – Complex, yet simply beautiful!

by Richard Dempsey, Sales Associate and Realtor

As a native Floridian I have seen a lot of change. Growing up in north Lakeland, I was surrounded by beautiful citrus groves that eventually gave way to cold weather or development. The citrus industry has now moved south of Interstate 4, and with the exception of the ridge along Highway 27, has moved south of Highway 60.

The southern migration generally was initiated in the 1980’s with several freeze events that killed a majority of the groves in the northern regions. Developers love citrus groves, as there are rarely wetlands issues associated with the sandy soils that enable groves to thrive. As the population of our state has increased, many former grove sites have been developed into all types of uses.

During the expansion of the last couple of years, many citrus properties were purchased by investors and national developers with the intent to develop. Not much consideration was given to the value of the ongoing citrus production operation and many times the groves were abandoned. This was a very unfortunate mistake.

The short-sighted view said that the citrus properties would be developed in the short term and there was no need to continue to properly manage the groves. However, the time-consuming processes of development pushed many of these projects beyond the immediate demand resulting in losses in more than one way.

In addition to giving up the agricultural exemption for property taxes, several crop years of fruit were forfeited during a time of historically high fruit prices. The demand for developed properties has waned and generally, the values are now closely tied to the value of the agricultural operation. Consequentially, the value of all of the planning, permitting, and engineering for properties purchased for development, may now be zero. Recent losses associated with a short-term outlook emphasize the need to properly manage land.

Ranch properties throughout the state were also subject to heavy demand for development. As most people drive past large acreage tracts, they do not recognize the complexity of the required management. Cattle operations, sod and row crop farming, wetlands issues, water use and permitting, maintaining the agricultural exemption for property taxes are just a few of the issues landowners face. Operators are also required to comply with a variety of government regulations relating to any chemicals that may be used.

A prudent land manager will also be aware of income opportunities presented by conservation easements. Whether the easement is given in favor of a public or private entity, qualifying properties can generate significant one-time income.

The case for a professional land manager can be made easily. An inexperienced land owner does not know what he does not know and that lack of knowledge can be expensive. A commercial building must be properly managed in order to return the required yield to the investor. In the same way, land must be managed properly.

~~~a little about Richard Dempsey

Richard has received numerous industry awards for outstanding sales in real estate, the most recent being recognized as #21 worldwide among all associates in the Coldwell Banker Commercial (CBC) affiliate network in 2008. In addition, Dempsey received the 2008 #2 rank in the region for sales performance by FGCAR (Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors®), as well as awards by CBC, CFCAR (Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtor®) , and FGCAR. Dempsey is President Elect for the Lakeland Association of Realtors® and serves on committees at the Coldwell Banker Commercial corporate level.