Guide
Selling land to a buyer who lives hours away
Give a remote buyer enough to decide from home (film, aerial, a 3D model, maps and a full info pack), then make the one trip out count.
By Jordan Johnson, Founder, Kedron Co.Updated 7 min read
To sell land to a buyer who lives hours away, give them enough to decide from home: film, aerial and ground photos, a 3D model or detailed map, and a complete information pack. Then make their one trip out a confirmation, not a first look. The buyer in Chicago or the Twin Cities who can't get away until a weekend in the fall is often a serious buyer. They just need the listing to do the first two showings for you.
Who is the remote land buyer?
Hunting and recreational land in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa draws buyers from the metro areas: the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Chicago, Des Moines, and farther. Some are nonresidents. Minnesota alone sold 14,002 nonresident firearms deer licenses in 2025 (MN DNR 2025 deer harvest report). Each of those licenses went to a hunter who lives outside Minnesota.
What they have in common:
- They can't drive out on a weekday to look at a parcel that might not fit.
- They usually see the listing first on a phone.
- They are comparing it with listings in other counties, sometimes other states.
- They have to justify the drive, often to a spouse or hunting partner who will watch the film before agreeing to go.
That buyer rules parcels out fast. Anything the listing leaves unclear is a reason to move on to the next one.
What a remote buyer needs to decide from home
A remote buyer needs to understand the land well enough to know it fits before the first visit. That takes more than a photo gallery.
- Aerial photos and video. The only way to show boundaries, acreage and how the parcel sits against roads, water, crop fields and neighbors.
- Ground photos. The access road, the gate, the trails, the cover, the water, the view from the best stand site. Land.com's listing guide warns that listings "with too few images or unclear photos leave buyers guessing" (Land.com Network, July 2026). For a remote buyer, more is better as long as each one shows something new.
- A film tour. A walk through the property in order: road, gate, access route, cover, water, food, stand sites. An FPV drone can fly the actual path a hunter would walk. See FPV drone tours for land.
- A 3D model or detailed map. Terrain matters on hunting ground. A buyer who can turn the model and see where ridges, draws and benches sit understands funnels and entry routes without being there. See 3D property models for hunting land.
- A boundary map with layers. Boundary, access, field roads, cover types, water, food sources, stand sites, and what borders each side.
The remote buyer information pack
Put everything a buyer would ask about in one place, as one link or one PDF, and send it the same day they inquire. The buyer should not have to call four offices to learn what they're buying.
| Item | Why a remote buyer needs it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Boundary map and legal description | They can't see the lines from the road | Seller, county GIS, survey if one exists |
| Access details | Frontage or recorded easement, where to park | Seller, county, title work |
| Soils map | Tillable value, wet ground, building sites | NRCS Web Soil Survey |
| Most recent tax bill | Holding cost | County treasurer |
| Leases | Who farms or hunts it and until when | Seller |
| CRP contract | Payment, practice, end date, successor steps | Seller, county FSA office |
| MFL order or SFIA covenant | What the buyer inherits | Seller; WI DNR (MFL); MN Department of Revenue (SFIA) |
| Buildings, wells, septic | Condition and disclosure | Seller, county |
| Neighbors and public land | Pressure and access | Plat map, agent's knowledge |
| Dated trail camera photos | Honest picture of deer use | Seller |
For enrolled land, spell out what the buyer must file after closing. On Wisconsin MFL land, the new owner files a transfer form within 30 days with a $100 fee (Wis. Stat. 77.88). On a CRP contract, the buyer has 60 days to become the successor, or the contract ends on that land and the seller owes back payments plus interest and liquidated damages (7 CFR 1410.51). A buyer three states away needs this spelled out, and should confirm it with the DNR forester or county FSA office.
Rules that matter more to nonresident buyers
Nonresidents buying hunting land often assume ownership changes their license status. In Iowa it doesn't. The Iowa DNR 2026 nonresident deer guide says: "Owning land in Iowa does not confer residency." What a nonresident landowner does get is first preference on an optional antlerless-only license, sold first-come starting July 25, valid only on the landowner's farm unit, with an affidavit due to the DNR at least five working days before purchase. Co-owners with a resident, tenants and family members of the landowner don't qualify.
That is one of the first questions an out-of-state Iowa buyer asks, and a wrong answer shows up after closing, when it can't be fixed. Link the buyer to the DNR guide, or to Iowa deer tags for nonresident landowners, rather than answering from memory.
On Wisconsin MFL land, open acres must allow public hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing, sight-seeing and hiking (WI DNR). A new owner can request a change to closed at transfer. A remote buyer who plans to hunt the parcel privately needs to know its status before they make an offer.
How to run a live video walkthrough
A live video call is the closest thing to a showing without the drive. Run it like a showing.
- Check signal first. Walk the property ahead of time and note where the phone holds a video call. If the back 40 has no coverage, record that part in advance.
- Start at the road. Show the frontage, the gate and where to park. Access is the buyer's first question.
- Walk the access route. The same path they'd take to a stand, at walking pace.
- Show the boundary. Stop at corners and markers you can find, and say what's on the other side.
- Show cover, food and water. Point the camera the way a hunter would look.
- Answer questions as you go. Keep the pack open on a second device.
- Record it. Send the recording afterward. The buyer will show it to the partner who wasn't on the call.
Keep the call to what the buyer asked to see. If they want to see the whole property, schedule a second call or send the film.
Making the one visit count
When a remote buyer drives out, they have already decided the parcel might work. The visit is to confirm it.
- Book it around their schedule, and the seller's. In the fall, check whether the seller or a tenant hunts it. Showing hunting land during deer season covers the timing.
- Flag the boundaries before they arrive, or walk with a GPS map on a phone.
- Meet at the gate with printed maps and the pack.
- Walk the route they'd hunt before the parts that look best from the road.
- Leave time for questions at the truck. That's often where the offer conversation starts.
Closing when the buyer isn't local
A remote buyer doesn't always need to come back for closing. Ask the title company early how they handle a buyer who can't be there: signing by mail, a closing in the buyer's city, or electronic signing where the company and state allow it. Put that plan in writing before the purchase agreement is signed.
Wire instructions are the risk to guard against. Tell the buyer at the start that wire instructions come only from the title company, and that they should confirm them by calling a number they already have, not one in an email. Changed wire instructions by email are a warning sign.
Before the next out-of-state inquiry
Build the information pack now, for every active listing, so it goes out the same day a remote buyer calls. Walk the property once with a phone to find where a video call will hold. And shoot the film and aerial before launch, not after the first few calls; the 3-Day Listing Launch System is built on that order. More on how buyers decide is in land buyers.
