What is a Sale Leaseback?

There are many reasons why ag land is sold, and there are many different methods it can be sold by. A rising trend among farm land sales in the recent past has been something commonly referred to as a Sale Leaseback. You may have heard the term before, but I still find some people aren’t all that familiar with how they work. Here is a good example of what they are and how they work:

  • For various reasons, fictional owner “Valley Dirt Farms” needs to sell some land but does not want to give up farming the acres.
  • For many years they have owned and farmed a quarter of land that is a solid producing parcel that they would prefer to keep farming, and they could justify paying a strong rent to do so.
  • They decide to sell this quarter but only on the condition they are able to lease it back from the new buyer (hence the “leaseback” portion of the sale). Valley Dirt Farms is willing to offer a multi-year rental agreement at a good cash rent price.
  • The land is marketed with this condition and a focus on the returns that a potential buyer could achieve. Naturally, this marketing focuses on the Investor category of buyers, not the owner/operators who still tend to dominate the land buying market.
  • Once a buyer/investor steps forward and final terms are negotiated, a long-term lease is usually signed at or near closing that provides A) the seller with the opportunity to continue to farm the land, and B) the buyer with the income and return they were interested in. Win-win!

We have handled multiple Sale Leasebacks here and have found great success in marketing to this category of buyers with our deep network of regional and national investors. If you have interest in exploring your own Sale Leaseback (on the buy OR sell side), please do not hesitate to contact us!

Until next time!

Andy

 

Author Andy Westby

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