Hunter Forbes is an Advisor at SVN | Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate who offers land management services for landowners and outdoor enthusiasts. An avid sportsman, he is also an Inshore Fishing Captain with 30A Guide Service.
In this episode of In Our Expert Opinion Real Estate Podcast, Hunter shares his unique approach to real estate, deeply influenced by his passions for the outdoors, hunting, and sport fishing. With extensive experience in managing dove fields and other hunting land, Hunter discusses how his background not only adds value to his brokerage and land management services but also strengthens his relationships with clients.
Below is an excerpt from the interview. Listen above for the full podcast.
Hunter Forbes, Advisor
How did you get into land real estate? [Bryant Peace] reached out to me a year and a half or two years ago and kind of courted me for a little while. Eventually, it sounded like a better and better idea, we had a meeting in person, and kind of hit it off. I ended up joining the team a little over a year ago.
I’ve had my license for probably six or seven years now. I got it just to have it. I was building some spec homes at the time and thought it'd be a good idea. I did a few residential sales and never really felt, because of the area that I was from, that land sales would be a thing. It's a niche market, but it's a good market.
Why did you become a land advisor? My hunting background runs very deep. From a young age through college, I started filming with TV shows and got to travel to hunt. I always knew I wanted to have some kind of job within the outdoor industry.
We started that lodge in Western Kentucky, and we did a branch off in Illinois as well. During our height there, we were probably managing and overseeing about 10,000 acres. We did that for a number of years.
With as many trail cameras you run in and all the relations you build with farmers and landowners, it was all just a natural progression to end up being a land advisor and moving forward with the land management stuff. Once we decided to have a family, we sold our lodges and that business. When Bryant found me, it was during that time and it just made sense for me to transition over to where I am now.
Hunter Forbes joins hosts Linda Schultz and Chad Mills on the In Our Expert Opinion Real Estate Podcast
How does your experience benefit business? With this business and any business, it's all about who you know and the people you meet along the way. We're very fortunate with that, we know a ton of folks, and my name has gotten out there because of it. I really don't advertise much at all, but I'm as busy as I want to be with it. It's been really good to me.
What land management services do you offer? It’s a very niche market. Ideally, a buyer with me would find a piece of ground, and then they would hire me to, sometimes on a consulting basis, help create a schedule with it, create a plan, and do quarterly site visits.
With other folks, it's a little bit more hands-on. I'm dealing with one right now; the piece sold back in February and we've been clearing out around 40 acres of fields and food plots that we put in. It’s going to be a really nice dove field.
Everyone's got different goals with what they like to do, what they like to hunt, or if they're trying to get a little bit of income through timber. Every situation is really different, honestly. Some people like deer, some like turkeys, and some want to have a really nice dove field.