Selling land in North Mississippi

Before acreage, before timber, before anything else, a land buyer wants to know how you get to it legally. Deeded road frontage is the easy case. A recorded easement across a neighbor is workable. A handshake with the man who owns the field is not.

Landlocked tracts do sell in this part of the state, usually to an adjoining owner. The pool is short and the price reflects it.

Acreage and shape. Long narrow strips are worth less per acre than a usable block. Road frontage. Timber age and species. Whether it is open pasture, crop ground or woods. Whether it perks for a septic system, which decides if anyone can build. Flood zone. Utilities at the road.

Timber is a separate value from the dirt and a recent cut changes the picture. Mineral rights are sometimes severed from the surface in older deeds. Existing hunting leases can convey or not. All of it belongs on the table before pricing.

Most of the acreage that comes up around Itawamba, Tishomingo and Monroe counties has been in a family a long time. Expect a title question about heirs, and expect a survey if the tract is being split.