As a Realtor & Auctioneer, I often get asked by friends and family how much a specific piece of land sold for recently. It’s human nature for people to be curious about area land prices, either because they maybe own similar land or want to buy land like it in the future, or perhaps they are just being nosy! Regardless, I think having current, accurate data about the market is important for many people. Here are a few ways you can research land prices if/when the need arises.

  • You can visit or call your county recorder’s office and ask for a list of recent ag land transactions or deeds to review. In North Dakota for example, most recorded deeds in the county will likely include the sale price right on them, unless they are between family members or title is exchanged via a Quit Claim deed (prices are exempted on those).  Some counties maintain a monthly or yearly spreadsheet of ag land sales that they may provide to you for free or for a small fee (Clay County, MN has one for $20 for example where Cass County, ND will send you one for free).
  • In North Dakota, you can subscribe to a service called NDRIN (North Dakota recorder’s information network @ http://ndrin.com/). This website aggregates digital copies of ALL recorded documents across the state so you can search by things like Grantor (seller), Grantee (buyer), or even section-township-range. It costs money each month to subscribe but for people who need regular access to sales data it is a great tool. Minnesota has an online tool as well at https://www.mndor.state.mn.us/ecrv_search/app/openCustomSearch to research sales history but I haven’t found it as current or helpful as NDRIN on the North Dakota side.
  • Call your local agent/auctioneer! Most people “in the business” should be up to speed on the local market. If they really have it together they can provide you with a wealth of recent transactions, even the ones they weren’t a part of. Worst case they may be willing to share details on the deals they were involved in, since once they have been recorded they are a matter of public record usually anyways.

If you are curious about recent land prices in the Southern Red River Valley, do not hesitate to contact us as we have a wealth of sales data we would be happy to help share should it be helpful to you!

Until next time,

Andy Westby

Author Andy Westby

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