She hesitated before she spoke. You could hear it in her voice—the pause, the careful choice of words, the underlying question she wasn’t quite ready to ask yet. “Hey… I’m not sure if I’m ready to sell,” she said. “I just had a few questions.” That’s how the call started earlier this week. What followed wasn’t a sales pitch. It wasn’t pressure. It was a conversation about her property, her situation, and what might make sense if  she decided to take the next step someday. Abo

Over the last few years, it felt like just about any piece of land would get attention. That’s not really the case anymore. Buyers are still out there, and serious ones at that, but they’ve become a lot more selective about what they’re willing to move on. And honestly, that shift is starting to separate average properties from the ones that truly stand out. Buyers Want Something That Feels “Complete” A few years ago, raw ground alone could carry the deal. And for first time

Rolling farmland across western Illinois often includes marginal acres where CRP can outperform traditional farming returns. Every few years, the same question comes up around the coffee shop and at the local elevator: “Is CRP still worth it?” With grain prices softer than they were a couple years ago and input costs still high, more landowners are once again looking at the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as a way to generate steady income while improving their land. But l

A Landowner’s Guide to 1031 Exchanges and Other Smart Strategies Long-held farmland often carries a very low cost basis — which can create large capital gains when selling. For many landowners across the Midwest, a farm is more than just an asset. It’s something that’s been in the family for decades — sometimes generations. And while land values have risen dramatically over the years, that appreciation creates a dilemma when it comes time to sell. A farm purchased decades ago

You don't need 500 acres to build habitat. You need a plan. If you’re like me, owning a few acres isn’t just a piece of property — it’s a living, breathing landscape. You want more than just a place to hang your hat. You want wildlife . You want turkeys gobbling in the tree lines at dusk and dawn, deer cruising through in the early morning quiet, and songbirds and timber doodles putting on a show come spring. But how do you make that happen on a small acreage  when bigger isn

A serious Midwest buyer’s checklist for finding hunting land that actually produces mature bucks Great hunting properties reveal their strengths from above — terrain, water, and edge drive movement long before improvements are made. The Farm That Taught Me What Actually Matters There’s a farm in my neighborhood that I’ve sold twice in my career. Three different owners. Three completely different management styles. The open ground has been grassland, then prairie and food plot

If you’ve looked at land sales long enough, you start to notice something interesting. Two properties can sit in the same county. Same acreage. Similar soils. Similar price per acre. Yet one sells quickly (sometimes with multiple buyers competing) while the other lingers on the market. The difference usually isn’t luck. It’s features. After years of selling land across northwestern Illinois, certain patterns show up again and again. Buyers consistently place higher value on

(Without Turning It Into a Second Full-Time Job) Owning land has always meant opportunity. But today, more landowners are realizing something important: the land doesn’t have to work harder — it just has to work smarter. In western Illinois and eastern Iowa, most farms and recreational properties already have the ingredients for multiple income streams. The challenge isn’t usually the land itself. It’s knowing where to look for opportunities that don’t require a second career

Buying land can be one of the most rewarding decisions you’ll ever make. But for first‑time buyers, it’s also a journey rife with hidden traps that turn exciting dreams into costly headaches. If you’re thinking about buying land — whether for hunting, farming, building a barndominium, or planting roots — here are the top five mistakes you absolutely don’t want to make.

Most landowners feel it. Few understand it. Farmland prices have climbed to levels that don’t make sense on paper. You can run the numbers, farm well, do everything right, and still wonder how anyone can afford to buy ground at today’s prices. And yet… it keeps selling. In western Illinois and eastern Iowa, it’s not unusual to see good farmland sell for $14,000, $16,000, even $18,000 an acre. That leaves people shaking their heads and asking the same question: Why is land so

If you’ve spent much time around rural property listings over the last few years, you’ve probably noticed that barndominiums and shouses have become more common with each passing year. I’ve watched that shift happen in real time, and I understand why. I’ve built two barndominiums from scratch, we live in one as our primary residence, and I’ve also sold a number of them for clients across western Illinois. I’ve seen how well they can work, and I’ve also seen where people get c

This week, I read an article on AgWeb that stopped me for a minute. It featured Alex Harrell , a young, large-scale Georgia farmer who made a calculated—and difficult—decision: he’s letting go of more than half of the acres he’s rented for years. Not because he can’t  farm them, but because the numbers no longer work. With today’s input costs and current commodity prices, farming all those acres would mean accepting losses. By farming thousands fewer acres , he expects to hav

Farmland values remain strong in Western Illinois & Eastern Iowa. See 5-year price trends and why land is still a smart investment in 2026.