Where Time, Liquidity, and Certainty Coincide
There are some very good benefits to the landowner in this unique system. Typically, open outcry auctions are too risky and irreparably damaging to both the seller and the property’s reputation. We negotiate from a position of strength and all bids are sealed and the public will not know the bids, only the public record of the final sale price.
In our experience and for the properties we sell, price and value is the number one hindrance. We have the buyers who have been following our properties for years looking for the best fit and the best value to them. With our sealed bid model, the price is removed as an obstacle. This eliminates 50% of the reason a buyer won’t step forward and engage with us. Although there is no established asking price, as the brokers, we discuss the property’s value with the seller before entering into this program. If it doesn’t sell at the auction, then it transitions into a listing and is immediately positioned as an extremely well-marketed property with zero marketing money wasted.
We acknowledge that alternative sales approach may be necessary to help meet your goals. Our team is available to help walk you through your options. Contact us today for more information at Land@JonKohler.com.
The Sealed Bid Auction Process is Ideal for
Sellers that:
- Want or need certainty of sale on a set day
- Have high lost opportunity cost and carrying cost, or wish to put their money to use somewhere else with greater return.
- Want to do explore every marketing opportunity and get the loudest bang for the buck- they may not sell at the auction itself but know the property is the most heavily promoted property in the market.
Buyers Gravitate Towards the Sealed Bid
Process Because:
- When price is their chief concern, this process helps them overcome that concern and fall in love and try to buy the property at a price they set (and the seller accepts or not).
- The offering looks very popular, they see opportunity, and the interest and excitement from others is contagious.
- They are forced to make a decision on a certain day which this type of buyer is classic for delaying.
Past Auctions & Results
Honey Lake Plantation
• 613 +/- acre Main Plantation Block Historic Red Hills Plantation
• Featuring a Rare 80-acre Deep Water Lake
• Jefferson County and Madison County, Florida
Oldfields Plantation
Very successful auction, closed after the auction to one of the bidders. The seller had very high opportunity costs and essentially the plantation sold at a discount to what it would take in a normal market absorption. The plantation had a very strict conservation easement which typically increases the absorption period; however, the sealed bid auction had the property closed within two and one half months and the seller was extremely happy.
Lake Sugar Plum
Very successful auction. Sellers were investors who needed to sell a rare and unique property for the highest price in the quickest amount of time. The process brought $6,338 per acre.
“Unlike traditional auction companies that rely on seller desperation and cater to the same following of “bottom feeders” over and over we needed an advocate who could negotiate a sale on a level between retail and wholesale. The results speak for themselves. Kohler brought us $6,300 per acre at an auction in a “post bubble” market!” – Jim Ellis & Tom Wilkinson
Old Agency Reserve
aka River Bluff
Brought a record high of $4,333/acre. We found a buyer from North Carolina who later placed a conservation easement on the property with our help.
The Kohler & Associate’s
Difference
Didn’t find what you were looking for? Or want to discuss today's market with the Leader in this niche?
Contact us to discuss one of our properties, for information on properties that are not yet released to the market or to discuss the market.
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.