Landowners & landbuyers
It's your land.
you shoud get to decide how it's used.
Maybe you’ve spent a lifetime on your land, and “what comes next” has turned out to be harder than you thought. Or maybe you’re in the market to buy, drawn to a particular piece of ground and thinking about how to protect it for the long term. Either way, there’s pressure coming from several directions and advice pulling you different ways at once.
We sit down with you, work out what you want to accomplish, and build the plan to get there. Then we run it, coordinating the people who do the work, and staying with it until it’s done.
At West Branch, we understand.
Most of the families we talk to share a version of the same story. The land has been in the family for a long time, and they care a lot about its future. But the next generation has scattered. Or family members aren’t sure they want to farm, or they can’t agree on a plan.
Others come at land from the other side: conservation-minded buyers looking to identify the tracts most worth protecting and build a legacy that works, both financially and personally.
Whether you’re protecting land you’ve held for years or putting new land in good hands, the work starts the same way. We help you settle on what you want, build a strategy around it, and stay with you to carry it out.
What are my options?
If you already own the land—
For most owners, it comes down to two directions that you can take right away or set in motion through your will or a trust.
Keep it and protect it
You hold onto the land and permanently give up the right to develop it, usually through a conservation easement. You go on owning and using the property, often with tax benefits for the value you’ve given up.
Sell or donate it
You move the land into protected hands, by sale or by gift. A sale can be at full value or below market, with the discount counting as a charitable gift. A donation gives the land outright, with the full value counting as a charitable gift. You can even donate your land while keeping the right to use it for a set number of years.
If you're looking to buy—
Buying land you mean to protect raises questions most buyers never face. We help you work through them before you commit.
Buy land that's already protected
Some properties come with a conservation easement already in place that shapes what you can and can’t do with the land. We’ll help you make sure the land suits your long-term plans before you sign.
Buy land and protect it yourself
Placing a conservation easement after you buy can lower your net cost while keeping the land protected for good. We’ll walk you through how it works.
Reach out to explore.
If you’ve been thinking about what happens to the land,
let’s talk about your situation and your options.
