# Pella, IA



## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

The Mrs. is being flown out to Pella IA (west of Des Moines IIRC) for a job interview. Providing she gets the offer to relocate, I am curious as to land prices and the over all economy of that area. 

We want to buy farmland within the next 2 years of moving, ideally spending no more than 400k on the property. More land, less house is what we're looking for. Can anyone speak generally to land prices, and land rent prices in that area? Ideally we want 150+ acres, but I think that we'll end up settling for under 100 acres and renting the remainder. Farm enterprises are mainly row crops to be processed into poultry feed, beef cattle, hay/pasture.

I have looked online (hard to find a decent real estate site for farm land) and seen some in the 5-7k/acre price range, is that accurate?

Any other comments, observations are welcome, thanks !


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

131 views and no comments =/

Nobody on HT lives near Des Moines?


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## ihuntgsps (Mar 10, 2008)

Ok, I'll bite. I live in Western IA but have family around Des Moines area and know people in the Pella area. 

I think you need to speak to some real estate professionals and see what land values really are in the area.

I do not think you will not get anything close to 100 acres of bare ground for $400k let alone a place with farmable land or any kind of home or outbuildings on it.


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## ihuntgsps (Mar 10, 2008)

After a very quick search I have found 3 properties close to Pella.

Bare ground with some timber, no homes, or buildings. These properties range form 60-75 acres and sell for $600-725K.

I am sure with some searching you can find something in the 20-50 acre size maybe with a home needing work for your budget in that area.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

Over on the Eastern side of Iowa. Here good farm land has gone for over $10,000 an acre. That is no house just land. Some places are buying the farmsteads and taking out all the buildings to farm every little bit of the land. Last I heard about rent was it was something like $600-$700 an acre and a lot of farmers just couldn't make that work but apparently some are as it gets rented out every year. 

A lot of people plant corn on corn every year even though prices really bottomed out last year. To mitigate this you should of seen all the silo's pop-up like mushrooms last year. It was amazing. Plus make sure you get any propane and trucking stuff you need before the corn harvest starts. Near impossible to get those guys to come to a residential place.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Thanks for the replies, I looked at various website and came across a range of pricing. Guess we'll wait to see if she gets the job offer and start calling around. We can go over the 400k mark, just really do not want too. 

Also, this isn't a residential setup, we are farming 165 acres right now, and would love more than that, but Iowa might not be the place to afford it. Corn, Soy, beef cattle, poultry, and custom feed operation.. so yea I'm well aware of combine season hehe.


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