Carolin's Blog

A Quick Hello

Carolin Gibson (Iowa Realty) — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:31:24 -0500

Just a quick hello to the group. Lucky sent us an invitation last December, but due to a number of health and other issues, we haven't been very web-active. Hopefully, that is about to change. Carolin Gibson is the Realtor in the family and Larry Gibson is her husband and webmaster (not a Realtor), so it will most likely be Larry interacting here most of the time. Please let us know if we can be of any service.

Hunting Land - Don't Buy a Forest when Some Trees will do.

Carolin Gibson (Iowa Realty) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 08:56:16 -0500

What Makes Good White Tail Hunting Land?

We get calls from all over the USA from people wanting hunting land in Southen or Central Iowa. They have heard about the famous Albia Buck (The largest white tail deer buck ever havested by a hunter was harvested in South Central Iowa) and are interested in owning hunting land here in Iowa. Why Iowa? Southern and much of Central Iowa have the right combination of climate, forage, nutrients and cover to produce large, healthy white tail. The fact that much of Southern Iowa is less intensively farmed and has more timber adds to the proliferation of deer and also makes the land more affordable. The intersted thing about many of these calls is that many of the callers, even experienced white tail hunters, think that good deer land should be all or mostly timber. This is not the case.

Dense timber can provide good cover, but doesn't provide the forage and bedding grounds that white tail need to grow healthy and to proliferate. The best deer (and wild turkey) hunting land in Iowa is a combination of timber (hardwood and/or cedar) with conservation land or hay ground. Throw in a creek and/or some gulleys or hollows and you have land almost guaranteed to produce healthy white tail harvests. The picture below is an example of the most productive type of Southern Iowa hunting land - clumps of timber in amongst fields and meadow, some cultivated, some in conservation or hay.

While Southern Iowa hunting land is still relatively affordable, many agents and owners have begun to try and "flip" the land at considerably higher prices. Only time will tell if the hunting community will sustain these higher prices since Southern Iowa land in general has doubled in value in the last five years. The best hunting land in Iowa is often not offered for sale - it will be a tract that someone has been considering selling but have not yet really been motivated to sell. The best hunting land Reators are those that have a network of hunters and landowners anongst which these "unknown" tracts can be found.

Enjoy your hunting!

New Blog

Carolin Gibson (Iowa Realty) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:11:59 -0500

Greeings!

We are just beginning our new blog campaign and wanted to say hello. We will post information here as often as possible about the Des Moines and Central Iowa real estate market and other topics of interest. Don't hesitate to check my website (www.carolingibson.com) for more information.

One thing is for sure, the Downtown Des Moines housing scene is really coming on strong. We will get more specific information about individual projects as our blog campaign develops.

The other area of Central Iowa real estate that is very active is hunting land and recreational land. We are getting calls from all over the US about southern Iowa hunting land - especially from white tail deer hunters.

More soon.

Carolin