Purchasing real estate is a major investment and certainly not one to be taken lightly. Anyone in the market to buy real estate should always be represented by their own qualified broker to insure that their best interests are protected. One should always remember that the listing broker has been hired by and is working for the seller. The listing broker’s fiduciary responsibility is to the seller. It is the listing brokers responsibility to protect the best interest of the seller and to sell their property to a buyer at the highest price possible.

Surprisingly, a large majority of buyers purchase real estate directly from the listing broker without being represented by their own qualified broker to protect their best interests. After all, when we go to make other major purchases such as buying a car, we simply go to a car dealer and work with one of the dealer’s sales agents. That car salesman is employed by the car dealership and rest assured, he is working to protect his or her best interest and that of his or her employer. When buying a car we don’t really have a choice. If we want a new car we must go directly to the dealer, however, when it comes to real estate we do have a choice. We have the ability and the right to hire our own qualified real estate broker that will be impartial and is not associated with the seller or the listing broker.

Hiring your own buyer broker is your insurance that your best interests are protected. Buyer representation provides you with a professional real estate agent that works for you, with no fiduciary responsibility to the seller or the listing agent or broker. Your buyer agent can be invaluable in providing you with unbiased professional advice and information about a property’s quality, value, and potential to help you make informed decisions prior to making a purchase. A qualified buyer representative can also provide expertise in negotiating and can save you money when it comes time to negotiate on the purchase price or other concessions. And here is the best part, it doesn’t cost the buyer anything out-of-pocket. That’s right, the buyer’s broker commission is typically paid by the seller.

When buying a farm, ranch, or recreational hunting property it’s even more crucial that you have buyer representation. Farm, ranch, and recreational real estate is a specialized field requiring specialized expertise and knowledge of rural lands. That specialized expertise and knowledge may include knowledge of soils, water, native flora and fauna, agricultural practices, commodities, tax exemptions, wildlife habitat, and conservation and management practices, just to name a few. This is not exactly the kind of expertise and knowledge most real estate agents that specialize in residential or commercial real estate possess. Conversely, you would not want to hire a buyer representative that specializes in farm, ranch, and recreational real estate to purchase a house or office building.

Always remember that the listing broker was hired by and works for the seller. It just makes good business sense to hire your own representation to insure that your best interests are protected. Your buyer representative can handle most of the time-consuming leg work and provide you with unbiased professional advice and information about a property’s quality, value, and potential to help you make informed decisions prior to making a purchase. And last but not least, always make sure you select a brokerage firm that has the knowledge and expertise specific to the type of real estate that you are in the market for. By the way, did I mention there is no out-of-pocket expense to you the buyer?

Ed Ritter is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, Licensed Real Estate Broker, and owner of Wildlife Management Enterprises, LLC (WME). WME is an exclusive real estate brokerage, consulting, wildlife habitat development, and wildlife management company specializing in farm, ranch, and recreational hunting properties in Texas. Ed has over 20 years of real estate and wildlife management experience and provides both seller and buyer representation with a distinct clear cut advantage over other competitors in the market place. Visit WME’s website at http://wildlifeme.com/ and contact us today to turn your dream of owning your own Texas farm, ranch, or recreational hunting property into a reality.

Texans have a deep rooted passion for hunting and wildlife-related outdoor recreation. According to a comprehensive report conducted by a private economics and statistics firm, over 6 million people participate in some type of wildlife-related recreation in Texas each year. Expenditures in pursuit of these outdoor activities generates over $8.16 billion annually. The total economic impact to the Texas economy resulting from direct and indirect expenditures from wildlife-related outdoor recreation in Texas is a staggering $15.8 billion.

Over 94% of all land in Texas is under private ownership, with very limited recreational hunting opportunities available on public land. If you want to hunt in Texas you must either own your own hunting property, know someone that does who will allow you use of their property, lease hunting rights, or hunt with an outfitter or hunting guide. Quality hunting leases, outfitters, and guides are becoming harder and harder to find across the state of Texas and the cost of these services has increased substantially over the last 10 years.

The Texas landscape is dynamic and rapidly changing. Population growth is rapidly expanding and encroaching into the surrounding suburban areas, while at the same time the Texas Agricultural Industry has undergone a rapid and significant decline. This population growth is most significant in the major metropolitan areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. Houston’s population alone is over 5,000,000 and is expected to grow to over 8,000,000 by 2020. With the economic down-slide of the agricultural industry, many landowners are now forced to sell farm and ranch lands that have been in the family for generations.

It has been said that “with all change comes opportunity”. The demand for quality recreational hunting land has seen a tremendous increase over the last 10 years and with an exploding human population that demand will only continue to increase. As more and more large ranches are divided up and sold, the opportunities for investing in recreational hunting property in Texas has never been better. Unimproved farm and ranch land in Texas is extremely affordable when compared to land in other states. Wildlife habitat enhancements and other improvements can cost-effectively be completed on these lands, substantially increasing the value of these properties to recreational hunters. The properties can then be sold outright for a profit to outdoor enthusiasts or utilized as income producing investments by developing them into hunting clubs, hunting leases, or full service guided hunting ventures.

There are a multitude of state, federal, and private grant programs available in Texas which provide funding for restoration, enhancement, and management of wildlife habitat that can greatly increase the value of recreational hunting property. That’s right, you can utilize other people’s money to increase the value of your hunting property investment in Texas. How many other investments out there can offer that? Enlisting the services of a professional that is knowledgeable in farm, ranch, and recreational hunting land and wildlife habitat development and management, can help ensure that you invest in the right property and take full advantage of available funding opportunities. When properly planned out and implemented, investing in recreational hunting property in Texas can be extremely cost-effective, and profitable. As the old saying goes “buy land – they’re not making any more of it”.

For a very long time, people have believed that consuming water is good for your health. And for a long time, people seem to strive to obtain the best quality they can afford in things they buy. Why should this be any different when it comes to water.

Water is a necessity to all forms of life, including human life. The body is made up of blood, flesh and bone. Some people believe that water is not just a beverage to drink, but instead, think it is actually a liquid form of life itself. Good, clean water is essential to healing and maintaining your blood, flesh and bone.

It is said that the perfect water for hydration is considered to be ‘structured water’. This is not the processed water from your faucet and is said to contain a life-force and a higher level of energy. Its ph (potential hydrogen) balanced to about 7.5. This is close to what the body requires and it is clear and clean. Is has a larger caloric capacity, which may allow it to work, protect enhance and influence or energize the body. Structured water is a complicated area of study. Some say it increases solubility of blood, delivers higher amounts of oxygen and increases blood flow. It is said it may effect the biological process through Bio Photon Energy which may influence cell regeneration and growth.

We depend on water as part of having a healthy lifestyle. Life and health can be greatly improved just by drinking water. Water found in nature is usually alkaline. Water from the ground is often acidic. In further contrast, it is believed that structured water feels wetter, tastes better and is perfect for your body. It carries with it what is needed for life. Vitamins and minerals good for life is delivered to cells through structured water. It is believed that structured water molecules, as they passes through your body, will collect detrimental items they comes to, which the water will help to expel from your body.

Structured water is is a special kind of water that is found naturally in nature. For example, it can be found in clean mountain streams and in rain. Rain water may be the best natural source of this kind of water. It is good for humans. It is good for crops we eat. And it is good for animals – including those we raise for food consumption. Some say this water adds value and is used in the treatment of illness. And that it has had a major influence on life and shape of cells and contains benefits to biological events in the body.

Highly structured water is may improve life and health. Health benefits in plants, animals and humans are being claimed. For instance, some say it may provide a healthier life and a longer life for certain crops. Increasing freshness and agricultural crops longevity and useful life after harvest, and beauty and may have huge benefits for producers, shippers, suppliers, and for the buyer of harvested crops. Some cattle ranchers are saying they are seeing compound structured water’s influence on cattle and livestock. Ranchers and feeders are seeing better feed conversions, weight gain increases, and increased milk production in dairy cattle. Highly structured water in animals and crops is enhancing liquid nutrients. Producers using structured water say bottom line they are seeing more pest resistant crops, higher nutrients, higher yields, great quality in crops and livestocks, lower costs and higher profits.

Highly structured water may offer great opportunities for farming crops, ranching and to man kind. The reader should investigate claims people in this industry are making, do their own investigation, and decide if claims some people are making are legitimate and if it will also bring them these desired benefits.

Along the Texas Gulf Coast lies a broad coastal plain that extends up to 80 miles inland and encompasses over 9.5 million acres. This ecologically important geographic area is commonly referred to as the Texas Coastal Prairies and it provides important habitat for one of the largest winter concentrations of waterfowl in all of North America. Historically this regions flat topography was dominated by tall prairie grasses interspersed with a mosaic of natural ponds or “potholes”. During years of average to above average rainfall these natural potholes were inundated, providing habitat for ducks and other wetland dependent wildlife.

The flat topography and long 270-day growing season of this region made it well suited for agricultural production of rice. Rice soon became the primary crop with rice-pasture rotations and rice-rotation crops such as milo and soybeans becoming standard agricultural practice by the 1960’s. Production of rice in Texas is limited to the southeastern Gulf Coast; an area commonly referred to as the Rice Prairies or Texas Rice Belt. This area encompasses 18 counties between the Guadalupe River in the southwest and Sabine River in the southeast. There are 10 distinct prairies ranging in size from 195 to 1,160 square miles located within the Texas Rice Belt. In most years this region winters over 2 million snow geese and 1.5 million ducks making it one of the top destinations in the U.S. for waterfowl hunting enthusiasts.

The rice prairies of the Texas Gulf Coast have long been an important wintering ground for waterfowl migrating down the Central Flyway. The infrastructure utilized for rice agriculture make the Texas Rice Belt well suited for development of recreational hunting property and waterfowl management. Harvested rice fields inundated during wet cycles or by mechanical means provides a food source that waterfowl quickly exploit. When properly managed residual rice grain left after harvest provides waterfowl with a dependable high-energy food source. In addition, fallow, set-aside, and retired rice fields can easily and economically be converted to waterfowl impoundments managed exclusively for native moist soil vegetation. These native grasses, sedges, rushes, and smartweeds typically referred to as “weeds” by Texas rice producers are high in protein and make up an important food resource for waterfowl.

The greatest potential for developing hunting properties for waterfowl management exists in areas where wetland hydrology has been altered or modified by agriculture. Areas that are poorly drained with a reliable water source to allow shallow winter flooding are well suited for waterfowl management. Land with clay or silty clay loam soils are best suited for development of waterfowl impoundments because these soils compact well, creating a tight seal when flooded. Water and soil dynamics play an important role in determining habitat condition and utilization by waterfowl. Food resources must be provided in a manner that makes them available to waterfowl. Impoundments that are shallowly flooded (6″ – 12″) place food within the forage zone of the greatest number of waterfowl species as well as other wetland dependent wildlife.

If you are searching for Texas Farm and Ranch Insurance, chances are you know that your property has a highly specific set of insurance requirements. Dealing with a seasoned professional that is well versed in this field of insurance can help you get a comprehensive policy that covers all of your specific needs. Coverage is available for cattle ranches, dairy farms, commercial growers, Horse Farms, Estate Farms, Family Farms & Ranches, Homes located on a few acres and much more. And because farming and ranching is a way of life, a comprehensive policy can get you coverage to insure your personal assets as well. It can seem like an overwhelming process, but with the right agent, you’ll feel good about your coverage selections.

Finding an insurance provider that offers an array of policies and coverage with payment options tailored for your needs can help make the insurance process pleasant and easy. A qualified agent can educate you regarding policies that cover your farming equipment, livestock, machinery, crops, saddles and tack, ATV’s, barns, shops, fencing and more. If an accident happens, you want to feel confident that all aspects of your home and business are covered. Your agent can help you choose from special endorsements that cover the items you need covered.

An insurance agent that works closely with you to help you decide what you need to cover and how much coverage is ample for you needs is a necessity. Your provider should understand that as a farm or ranch owner, your insurance needs go beyond traditional home insurance policy coverage. If you are a dairy farmer, for example, and an unexpected event contaminates all your milk for distribution, the loss can mean a financial catastrophe for your family. Having the proper coverage can give you peace of mind in an unfortunate event like this.

Professional insurers understand that what you do is a way of life. And because they are sensitive to that fact, they will work hard to get you policies with the highest rating, the most comprehensive coverage and the most reasonable prices. Irrigation systems, theft of livestock, death of livestock due to a collision, income loss, broken farming equipment and farm liability must be kept in mind. These are all aspects of your life and livelihood that traditional home owners don’t need to worry about. But you do. Whether it’s the tractor or the whole farm you are looking to insure, Texas Farm and Ranch Insurance will make sure you’re covered in your time of need.

For additional information on Texas Farm and Ranch Insurance, please visit our website at http://www.Quotes4insurance.com or contact us directly at (972)771-7373 or (800)553-8102.