The NAR National Commercial Awards program honors members who received an award or recognition for their exceptional service and contributions to their local/state REALTOR® association, one of NAR’s affiliated Institutes, Societies or Councils, the commercial real estate industry or their community.
Nominated By: REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI)
Matt Adams, a senior land agent with Peoples Company in West Des Moines, Iowa, a national advisory firm that facilitates land transactions and manages farmland, was honored by RLI as a top producer for his dedication to the industry and his clients. Specializing in auction land sales, Adams holds a degree in finance and real estate from the University of Northern Iowa.
Q. You majored in finance and real estate, got your license while still in college and joined Peoples Company upon graduation. Did you plan this career track?
No, it was more by accident. I was initially more interested in finance, but with four additional classes, I could also get the real estate degree. I joined Rho Epsilon [the university real estate organization], and I met Steve Bruere, president of the Peoples Company. He was 25 then, and I was 20. I sometimes went to meetings with him, and in my last semester I committed to working for Peoples Company.
Q. Do you ever regret not pursuing a career in finance?
Never. I interned at Aegon Insurance, and I gave up a lot of free time my senior year to study for the Chartered Financial Analyst exam, but I never took it. I graduated from college on Friday and started at Peoples Company on Monday.
Q. Who is your typical buyer?
It varies by area. Pandemic zero-interest loans and subsidies made for a pretty exciting land market. Now things have moderated, and some people feel they missed the opportunity and are less motivated to sell, so supply is lower. It’s become more of an aggressive investor market. In June, six of seven of our auction sales were to investors, or the investor was the runner-up bidder (someone who is not an active farmer). Overall, I’d say the buyers are 65% investors and 35% farmers.
Q. Are investors looking to develop the land?
Largely, no. Many like the characteristics of farmland. They will hold it long term and rent it back to local farmers. Small rural towns won’t see much development, but farms are getting bigger. Retiring farmers sell to a neighboring farmer, so a “family” farm could be 3,000 acres. The Midwest will see a lot of wealth transfer as the current generation of farmers retire, driving business opportunities for appraisals, management and sales.
Q. The REALTORS® Land Institute nominated you for the commercial broker award. Are you active with the local chapter?
I got involved with RLI early on, even serving as the executive director of the Iowa chapter for a couple of years after a long-time director retired and the organization was looking to change direction. My boss nudged me to do it, and I’m glad. I met senior industry leaders who took me under their wing.
Q. How are you using technology?
Peoples Company developed proprietary software called Farmworth, which lets us efficiently manage all our lines of business and see what our brokers are working on. I’ve seen deals get done because we connected information one of us had that we otherwise wouldn’t know about. More than a dozen APIs feed into it, such as a soil map, a plat map, crop insurance statistics, wind and solar park locations, transmission lines and more.
In minutes, I can pull up a farm, see yield trends, tell you what nearby farms have sold for and get all the details. Before, I might have spent a full day pulling all that information from 10 different websites. The AI world is definitely here, and every day there’s something new that is going to benefit the industry.
Q. What advice would you offer someone just starting in the commercial land niche?
Be patient. You have to put in the time to understand your market. Also, be a little fearless about reaching out to people you can learn from. Invite them for coffee. You’ll be surprised how willing people are to share.
