The Rural Voice, 1999-03, Page 53Guest Column
Your woodiot may be
worth more than you
think
By Andrew Grindlay
The best kept secret in
Southwestern Ontario is that farm
woodlots are generally undervalued
by people selling farms - both the
owners and the real estate agents.
Usually, when a farm is being sold
and there is a woodiot on it,
prospective buyers simply "add a few
dollars" to whatever they figure the
cultivated land is worth. Real estate
agents tend to encourage this
practice, not because they are being
dishonest with the seller, but because
they rarely know how to put a
reasonable price on a forested area.
Consequently, woodlots often contain
greater value than is paid for them
when they are sold.
There are many factors that should
be taken into account when trying to
evaluate a farm woodiot, whether you
are a buyer, a seller or an agent.
Most important, of course, is the
number and value of trees that are
ready to be harvested now. Often a
farmer will "log the bush" before
putting the farm up for sale, in which
case there will not likely be any
mature trees on the property. Indeed,
sometimes too many trees are
removed just before a sale, leaving
the woodiot with nothing but trees
that will not reach maturity for many
years. On the other hand, a woodiot
that has not been logged recently and
that contains a quantity of mature,
high-value trees such as hard maple,
red oak, black cherry or white ash,
can yield a substantial sum right
away.
How can you estimate what the
value of the trees might be? Count
them. Walk through the bush with a
pencil and piece of paper and record
the number of mature, high-value
trees you encounter. Then, simply
estimate an average value per tree at
something like $I00 — more if they
are large, healthy hard maple or red
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MARCH 1999 49