Investment Strategy
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Acquisition Strategy
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In order to be considered for acquisition properties must have stunning beauty, live water (the more water a property has, the more value it creates) and proximity to amenities including:
- Airport
- Ski Resort
- Hunting & Fishing
- Medical Facilities
- Retail, Restaurants & Entertainment
Properties must also have characteristics that can be enhanced including:
- Access Issues
- Lack of Utilities
- Neglected Fishing Habitat
- Poor Aesthetics
- Low Quality Fencing
- Unsightly Structures and Equipment
- Overlooked Income Generation Components
- Lack of Conservation Programs
SRCM has sources that provide investigation and legal services for:
- Restrictions
- Floodplain
- Mineral Rights
- Environmental Investigation
- Porperty Surveys
- Divisibility Issues
- Project Estimates
- Conservation Easements
- Access
- UCC Searches
- Septic Feasibility
- Habitat Enhancements
- Water Rights
- Title Matters
- Local Zoning
- Building Inspections
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Enhancement Strategy
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Enhancing a neglected fishery is one of the most effective ways to add value to a recreational ranch. Fishery enhancement is complicated and involves more than simply aesthetics. Improvement is achieved by analyzing all of the hydraulic, ecological, biological and recreational characteristics of the entire drainage and repairing it to a state where all of the aquatic inhabitants thrive. SRCM has relationships with several industry leading fishery enhancement firms known for creating Gold Medal trout waters. To learn more about one of our fishery enhancement partners, CFI Global, click here.
Creating or enhancing upland bird and big game habitats also creates value.
SRCM intends to take advantage of state and federal incentive programs including:
- The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - Targets erodible farmland. Qualifying owners receive payments to keep arable land idle.
- The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) - Provides technical and financial support to restore wetlands.
- The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) - Offer 50 – 100% cost share incentives for establishing sound land management practices.
- The U.S. Forest Service Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) - Offers 50 – 70% cost share incentives to owners of 1,000 acres or less who implement sound forestry practices.
Value can be created by solving legal issues concerning access, divisibility, local zoning, water rights and mineral rights.
Adding roads, utilities and septic creates value as do improvements such as installing high quality fencing and removing unsightly structures and equipment.
SRCM does not intend to encumber ranches with conservation easements. Conservation easements can provide considerable tax breaks for owners but also diminish property values. SRCM intends to let end buyers determine whether or not conservation easements are right for them.
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Monetization Strategy
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SRCM intends to create a new end-market. Never before has there been a professional effort to acquire ranches in the most desirable locations, enhance the sporting attributes and monetize the assets. SRCM believes that most amenity ranch buyers would prefer to purchase a property that has already been enhanced and spend their time and effort on the design and construction of a home. SRCM has also concluded that the finest properties in this asset class are rarely on the market long when they are fairly priced.
SRCM is not depending on the return of double-digit appreciation rates to sell ranches at a profit but rather on its ability to acquire properties “right.” Specific enhancement programs can also add significant value.
From January 2008 through March 2012 the Federal Reserve estimates the U.S. money supply almost doubled. When the economic environment improves capital may return into the economy in the form of consumption resulting in inflation. Trophy sporting ranches can be an effective hedge against inflation. A new class of non-traditional amenity ranch buyers may emerge as investors diversify into “real assets.”