When your business is agriculture, real estate may be hard to come by. If you're lucky enough to live in Texas or Wyoming, you may have no trouble finding a good place for crops or livestock, but other places may take a bit of searching to find the perfect spot. The trick to finding good agricultural real estate is to have a good ag real estate broker on your side. The rest is just research and time.

There are several ways that you can acquire agricultural property. You can buy it outright, like any other real estate, or can catch something during a foreclosure and save some money. You may also be able to rent a specific piece of property to use for your business without having to invest the capital of a traditional sale. Real estate agents usually specialize in one of these areas:

1. Agricultural real estate management: this type of agent helps you find a rental property to use for crops or livestock

2. Agricultural real estate listing: this type of agent does traditional sales

3. Agricultural Realtors: they may do a little bit of everything

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Talk to your local real estate agent about farm real estate

Your first line of attack when finding a good piece of farmland is your local real estate agent. If she isn't educated in agricultural properties, then she should be able to refer you to another agent who is. If you find a property on your own that you like, you can call the listing agent on the sign and work with him directly and cut out a second Realtor if you so desire.

I recommend: Start your search with your personal Realtor. There are many advantages to starting the search with someone you know and trust. If you don't have a Realtor yet who specializes in agricultural property, you can find one at Reals.com or Farm and Ranch Realty.

Use a specialist to find agriculture real estate

After you've found a Realtor you feel comfortable with, it's time to start searching for property. This is where you begin breaking down the list of things that you want on your farmland and what you could do without. You may want a farm house on the property, or a stable for horses. For others, an irrigation system and access to a pond or tank may be at the top of the list. You may also find that some of the items just aren't possible with your budget, so be flexible.

I recommend: Explore your options. Agricultural real estate websites such as Land and Farm and Farm Seller specialize in nothing but agricultural real estate listings. This will give you a good idea of what's out there and what sort of prices you can expect to pay for amenities.

Look for foreclosures in the agricultural real estate market for the best deals

When it comes to buying real estate, foreclosures are generally the best deals around. The trouble is knowing where to look for this type of listings. Many farms and ranches are turned over to the government thanks to unpaid loans, while others are sold back to the bank or put up for auction.

I recommend: Check out the foreclosure listings. The USDA Agricultural Foreclosures list is a good place to find farms that have been turned over to the government. Or try the Farm Auction Guide site to find agricultural real estate auctions in your area.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before buying rural real estate, always check the zoning to make sure that you can legally raise cattle or grow crops on the property.