Walter Hatchett
Walter has been advising plantation, farmland, ranch and timberland investors for over 30 years.
He has an extensive knowledge and the respect of brokers, foresters, and others in this business. In 2015, after retiring from Rock Creek (after 26 years of exclusive service), he joined Jon Kohler & Associates with which he already had a long history of deal collaboration. Today, in his new roles as a real estate salesman and advisor, additional clients benefit from his extensive knowledge in selecting or selling high-quality properties and managing them for high financial rewards. Since the beginning of 2016, Walter has successfully closed over 75,000 acres totaling over $246 million in sales.
Walter grew up in Monticello, Florida and now resides in South Georgia with his wife of 42 years, Phyllis. Phyllis is also a licensed real estate salesperson and assists Walter. They have two grown children, Audra and Brandon, and three grandchildren. Audra manages a law office in Tallahassee. Brandon is an Associate Director of Timberland and Forest Products, Agriculture Finance, with MetLife Investment Management. Walter has a passion for the outdoors, hunting, and fishing. Walter is a particularly noted turkey hunter and has (with a partner) won the prestigious Georgia Florida Turkey Invitational four times. He has personally guided Former Governor Lawton Chiles, a Supreme Court Justice, and a who’s who of successful businessmen. He is also a noted bow-hunter, and some of his exploits have been featured on several television shows and videos. He has a very strong faith and love of God and country, as evidenced in a partnership with a friend in establishing the Red Hills Wounded Warrior Group, Inc., a non-profit group for America's wounded warriors that organizes outdoor hunting and fishing events for our country's heroes.
In October 2018, Walter received the prestigious Realtors Land 
Institute Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) Designation and has officially joined an elite group of over 500 land specialists who hold this designation across the globe. As an Accredited Land Consultant, Walter has access to the best industry knowledge, an unprecedented network of fellow land professionals, and a multitude of resources to help best serve clients. In March 2019, Walter was recognized as an APEX 2018 Top 20 National Producer by the REALTORS® Land Institute as a part of the RLI APEX Production Awards Program. Again in March 2020, Walter was recognized as an APEX 2019 Top 20 National Producer by the REALTORS® Land Institute, where to qualify for this high honor, land professionals must have a minimum of $40 Million in sales in 2019. He also was recognized with this prestigious award for 2020 sales, as well as RLI's 2021 and 2022 APEX Producers Club. Also, for 2021 sales, he was recognized for the top agent award with LandLeader for acres sold and outstanding sales achievement, as well as the $40 Million Dollar Club Award.
I am happy to recommend Walter Hatchett for his excellent service and success. My company has worked with Walter for about 5 years on several real estate transactions. We found him to be extremely helpful with any question/obstacle we threw in his path. I grew to trust him for his honest opinions, his tactful manner, and his in depth knowledge of the forest industry as well as real estate. --William Wingate, Springhill Farms, LLC
When we engaged Walter to sell real estate, he did very thorough searches for data, potential clients, and solutions. He always presented us a range of options and a recommendation that was well reasoned. He works incredibly hard and spares no effort to bring clients and close sales. We could not have chosen a better "partner" for our situation. --William Wingate, Springhill Farms, LLC
I've known Walter Hatchett since 2008 when I purchased Honey Lake Plantation. He is as knowledgeable about land, wildlife, and timber as any person I've met and he helped me immeasurably in getting it established. What I admire most about him however is his honesty, integrity, and dedication to his God and his family.
--Bob Williamson, The Jesus Alliance
It has been my pleasure to work with Walter Hatchett for more than 25 years. As a highly valued member of our team, he was instrumental in providing sound advice and enhancement implementation on more than 300,000 acres of the land we have owned and managed. Walter is both a friend and professional colleague. He has a unique expertise in identifying value and implementing decisions for the long-term enhancement of land investments.I am confident he will do the same for his future clients. --Arthur L. Cahoon, CEO, Rock Creek Capital
Quite frankly, few people in this specialty niche today command the professional respect that Walter has, nor do they have Walter's experience in understanding and recognizing the value of plantations, ranches, and high quality timberlands. Jon Kohler & Associates is very proud to have him as part of our team, and our clients will benefit greatly. --Jon Kohler, Jon Kohler & Associates
The property requirements for our Elephant Refuge North America project were numerous and complicated, but Walter Hatchett of Jon Kohler & Associates persevered and found exactly what we were searching for. Although at times Walter questioned if such a particular location existed, he searched for two years, throughout several states, until he found the perfect property. --Carol Buckley, Elephant Aid International
Walter was instrumental in my purchasing a piece of property, and introduced me to a quality of land management and stewardship. His knowledge and passion of land and game management has begun an excitement and passion in myself as well; and I look forward to working with him in the future. He not only is very knowledgeable in finding the perfect property for his clients, but he is willing to assist his clients in making the property the best it can be. Being a Christian man myself, I also appreciated Walter’s Christian values, as well as his dedication with his non-profit organization, Red Hills Wounded Warrior Group, which assists our wounded veterans. --Alberto Li
I am happy to recommend Walter Hatchett for his excellent service and success. My company has worked with Walter for about 5 years on several real estate transactions. We found him to be extremely helpful with any question/obstacle we threw in his path. I grew to trust him for his honest opinions, his tactful manner, and his in depth knowledge of the forest industry as well as real estate. When we engaged him to sell real estate, he did very thorough searches for data, potential clients, and solutions. He always presented us a range of options and a recommendation that was well reasoned. He works incredibly hard and spares no effort to bring clients and close sales. We could not have chosen a better “partner” for our situation. - William Wingate, Springhill Farms, LLC
Bruce Ratliff is a retired elected official (Property Appraiser Taylor County). Bruce brings years of experience in ad valorem tax knowledge. His property tax background gives JKA Associates & clients a unique insight into the complicated tax process. Bruce held several positions in the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, including member of the Board of Directors, President, Vice-President and Secretary, and served on the Agricultural & Legislative Committees for the Association. The real estate business has been part of Bruce’s life since childhood. His mother, Shirley Ratliff owned Professional Realty of Perry, Florida and his father, Buster owned Ratliff Land Surveying which Bruce was General Manager of before his political career.
From murky farm ponds to pristine glacier-cut lakes and everything in between, Knox Daniels’ expertise stems from a lifelong fascination of water and the creatures that live in and around it. He recognizes and helps clients appreciate the value water features bring to a property. “My goal is to help buyers realize and sellers maximize the value different water bodies bring to a property, not only in a recreational sense, but also for social storm reasons.” After extensively traveling the country for collegiate BASS fishing tournaments, Knox graduated and worked for the Southeast’s finest fisheries and wildlife biologist, Greg Grimes. With Grimes’ company, AES, Knox managed many of the southeast’s finest private lake estate/impoundment properties, and learned the intricacies of upscale property management. Learning from Greg and other biologists, Knox honed in on the specific conditions and habitat needed for optimal gamefish growth in private lakes. He has also worked as a property manager on several thousand acres and for a commercial developer, facilitating the dirt work and builds of several apartment complexes, but his true passion has always been in the outdoors. “I’ve always had an insatiable fascination with ponds/lakes and am grateful to be able to help to place clients on the properties of their dreams and make their personal fisheries/wildlife goals reality with JKA.” – Knox Daniels
As a landowner of his own family farm, Lick Skillet, along with family land that has been passed down and enjoyed together at Keaton Beach for 40 years, Jon knows what it means to be a steward of the last best places. As a third-generation land broker with more than 30 years of experience in advising landowners in this niche, Jon is known for his innate ability to harvest a land’s unique intrinsic value. Touting several notable sales under his belt, Jon personally closed Rock Creek/Molpus – 124,000 acres of premium timberland at $142,000,000 – which was known as the largest timberland land sale in the Southeast for eight years running. He is a co-founding member of LandLeader and achieved the real estate industry’s highest honor, “2022 National Broker of the Year – Recreational Land Sales,” by the Realtors® Land Institute.
Prior to joining Jon Kohler & Associates, Walter Hatchett served for 30 years as a land manager to several of the south’s most esteemed properties, including Rock Creek. As a former property manager himself, and a consistently ranked “Top Sales Producer” nationwide and achieved “APEX Top 20 Land Broker” multiple times, Walter has a keen eye for the best in habitat management.
With Madison County roots, Lori grew up on her family farm at Pettis Springs along the historic Aucilla River. A love of the land was instilled in Lori very early on by her father who was a local farmer. Lori understands the importance of good land stewardship and has witnessed first-hand how her own father, a former 2-term member of the Florida House of Representatives whose district encompassed many rural counties of the Red Hills Plantation Region, with a little bit of sweat equity, so lovingly worked their own family land. These are core values she carries with her today, and nothing gives her more personal satisfaction than to represent some of the south’s best land stewards.
Hailing from a long line of outdoorsmen, Tim learned a great deal from his father and grandfather. He saw first-hand what it means to be a good land steward. He believes land is so much more than a place to hunt, fish, and grow timber or crops. “It’s an identity, a resting place, a safe haven and a way of life, said Tim.” Tim’s family ties to Alabama run deep. During his grandfather’s first term, Governor James was responsible for signing into law Alabama’s first state duck stamp which helped to ensure funding for the procurement, development, and preservation of wetlands for migratory waterfowl habitat. He also established Alabama’s lifetime hunting license, so it is no surprise that Tim is an avid outdoorsman with a keen eye as to how best to improve habitat for the greater good of its wildlife.
Jason has been assisting landowners for the last 28 years in Georgia and South Carolina obtain achievements the owners did not realize were possible. His degree in Biology from Georgia Southern stemmed from the desire to know how things in nature work. His plantation roots began at just 16 years old outside of Albany, GA and the last 20 years were spent in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His entire career has been spent developing a global approach to plantation management. That plan included sales. Sales is in Jason’s blood- his mom had a 45-year career as a real estate broker. After college, he chose to pursue his passion of making properties great. In 2011, Jason sold his first plantation. Since then, he has assisted buyers and sellers with over $20 million in sales while most of that time working as a full-time General Manager of a large Lowcountry plantation. Today, he is committed to using his unique skill set and experience to guide landowners through the many challenges of plantation ownership.