From Data to Deals: Using Market Research to Lead in Land Real Estate with Todd Davis

Todd Davis is a senior advisor at SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate. With 25 years of real estate experience covering a diverse range of properties including farmland, timberland, recreational, and commercial, he is a trusted industry leader with highly-respected expertise. Watch the video below to learn how Todd and SVN leverage market research and Acres data to lead in the land real estate market.

Rush Evans (00:00):
Rush Evans here with Acres. Today we're pretty excited about having Todd join us for an expert interview to discuss how SVN uses market research and data to support their clients and to get a few highlights from their recent Alabama report.

Todd Davis is a senior advisor at SVN with 25 years of real estate experience covering a diverse range of properties, including farmland, timberland, recreational and commercial land, Todd is a trusted industry leader with highly respected expertise.

So Todd, thank you for taking the time today. I'd love it if we just started this off by telling us a little bit about your current role with SVN and what region you're working in.

Todd Davis (00:47):
Currently, like I said, I'm a senior advisor for SVN & Saunders, Roslyn Dantzler. I'm based out of Thomasville, Georgia. I mainly work in the Georgia market and the West Alabama market, but we have agents covering Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas. So we're spread out throughout the Southeast and covering those states.

We mainly deal in land, and some commercial. I do some commercial properties as well, but the majority of our volume is through land transactions.

Rush Evans (01:24):
Well, providing industry-leading research, I'm sure, is a key part of your business. Your firm is known for its Lay of the Land market reports. Can you tell us a little bit more about these reports and how your clients benefit from this research?

Todd Davis (01:30):
It is, yes sir. Yeah, the Lay of the Land report is a comprehensive insight into the land market. We currently do a Lay of the Land report for the state of Florida and Georgia, and as soon as we find a managing director for Alabama, we'll start it in Alabama.

What we do is we hire researchers, and they research sales in every county of the state. We compile all that data—not only sales trends, but also market trends. We compile all that data and put it into a publication called the Lay of the Land.

In conjunction with the Lay of the Land reports, we also have the Lay of the Land conference where the report is introduced. In Florida, we have a two-day conference, and we have expert speakers come in and speak on various topics from forestry to farmland to development.

Down in Central Florida, residential development is just going crazy, basically. Land values are going through the roof. Last year was the first year we had it in Georgia, and we had it in Thomasville. It was a one-day event.

We had the Georgia Forestry Association come in and speak on topics relative to the timber industry, and then we had two local farmers come in and speak about the challenges of farming today—one being high inputs and low commodity prices. What are they doing to overcome those challenges?

So not only does the report give someone information about what's actually going on in the real estate market, but we also have speakers come in to talk about what is happening today within that sector of real estate.

Rush Evans (03:33):
Okay, great answer, good summary there. Kind of moving on to the next question, Todd, how are you using Acres data to support your researching clients?

Todd Davis (03:44):
So it's one platform. You can run a broker price opinion and a property analysis. The broker price opinion provides the maps, all the comps, so you can easily explain it to that client because you want it as simple as you can to explain it to a landowner.

Then you have the property analysis, which breaks down all the wetlands, the soils, the topo—all in one report. Everything's right there, and you don't have to juggle between three or four different platforms to create these documents. You can do it in one shot, and most of the time you can do it in under 15, 20 minutes. It's produced for you, and there it is—nice professional PDF, or you can share a link to the client.

I mean, it's simple, easy, and... very easy to understand, which is the biggest thing for the client because it explains everything out. Usually, I don't have a lot of questions after I've sent them the reports. So, yeah.

Rush Evans (04:46):
Yeah, that's awesome. How do you think that, I mean, just Todd, going off that a little bit more, how do you think some of those land insights and comparable sales from the eyes of the client help them understand your professional opinion being quickly displayed and showcased there?

Todd Davis (05:17):
Well, I'll say this: we have found out that Acres has sales updated before most of the tax assessor sites have them updated. And so that alone saves so much time. And for the client, just to see that, to see their whole property analysis right there... or you can send them a link to it, whether you print it out or send a link.

Rush Evans (05:29):
Yeah.

Todd Davis (05:46):
It really helps explain what we're trying to achieve as far as pricing goes.

Rush Evans (05:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I know you recently collaborated with our team to compile some sales data from the state of Alabama. What were a few of the main takeaways from that Alabama report?

Todd Davis (06:04):
You know, one thing we've seen is a steady increase in prices across the state of Alabama. As far as land agents go, you usually work in one area and you're not really familiar with areas across the state or north of you, but this report gives us an overall view of the state and breaks it down into each region.

What the report showed, which was not news to everybody, is that the Black Belt of Alabama is probably one of the hottest areas where people are selling and buying property. It also has seen the greatest appreciation in the whole state in that area over the last... I think the report ran from 2018 to 2024. But it just gives us an overall snapshot of each sector to help us understand what the land values are doing.

One of the interesting things is what timberland owners are discovering now: if they want to sell, their property is worth more as a recreational property than it actually is as a timber investment. One of the pages in the report shows that. It's no news that timberland is the number one property being sold in the state of Alabama, whether it's recreational or timber investment. It has outsold all the other classifications year after year.

Rush Evans (07:34):
Yeah, no, absolutely. Even on that kind of last note of you finding out that some of these properties are worth more as a recreational parcel and piece more so than timber, I think that really feeds in directly to one of my next questions for you as far as what are you seeing in the Alabama land market that investors should take note of?

Todd Davis (07:36):
Okay. As compared to adjoining states, Alabama land is affordable, and it's a great value. We pulled some comps on a property last week in southeast Alabama. We pulled some similar comps in Georgia.

The comps in Alabama came back at around $2,900 an acre. The same comps over in Georgia came back at about $4,500 an acre. And it's still good land. Alabama has great ag land, great timberland, and great recreational properties.

What's kind of driving the recreational properties is Florida landowners selling down there to a developer for $50,000 an acre and bringing a 1031 exchange money into Alabama and purchasing recreational property. They could be moving their family up here... We've run into all types of situations like that.

Another thing in Alabama: property taxes. Property taxes are low in the state of Alabama, and they can help you maximize your investment over time. So, you know, that's good. I pulled a comparison: I sold a property over in Lee County, Alabama, and the property taxes were $3.46 an acre. A similar property in Lee County, Georgia, had taxes of $23 an acre.

Rush Evans (09:06):
Mm-hmm.

Todd Davis (09:26):
So that's a significant difference, and it does play a role in people buying property—so, expenses.

Rush Evans (09:37):
Well, it sounds like you really know your market well, given your specific regions and being in the state of Alabama. So on that note, what's the best way to get in touch with you directly to learn more about this report and also working with SVN Saunders?

Todd Davis (09:57):
The best way to contact us is probably through our www.svnsaunders.com. You can access those reports on our website—the Georgia report or the Florida report. Like I said, we're coming with the Alabama report as soon as we hire a managing director.