This column is part of a regular weekly series highlighting the largest land sales recorded each week through the Lands of America Comparable Sales program. To learn more and participate in the program, or to subscribe, click here.
Congratulations to Sam Middleton of Chas. S. Middleton and Son, who sold the 21,747-acre Thompson Ranch in Chaves County, New Mexico. This sale occurred on April 14, 2017, and was submitted through the Lands of America Comparable Sales Program.
View property listing on Lands of America
Located on the gently rolling high plains of east-central New Mexico, Thompson Ranch is an excellent livestock ranch in a known production ranching area of New Mexico. The ranch has been under the same family ownership since 1926 and last week’s sale was the first time the property has been sold to new owners.
Terrain here undulates between elevations of 4,400 and 4,700 feet, comprising a mix of native grasslands framed by canyons and draws to the north and south that provide winter cover and relief for livestock and wildlife. Water sources are plentiful through a variety of submersible wells and reservoirs, as well as seasonal creeks and arroyos. The ranch is fenced and cross-fenced into four main pastures, with excellent livestock processing and management facilities, along with easy access to local roadways.
The land on Thompson Ranch is divided between its deeded acreage (9,438+/- acres plus a 640-acre private lease) and some 11,669 acres of BLM land. Hunting here includes antelope and deer, with the ranch currently enrolled being in the New Mexico Game and Fish A-Plus Antelope system. It has received two private land authorizations and two public authorizations. The private land authorizations are transferable to third parties. Quail and other small-game hunting is also available.
The ranch is set in a largely underpopulated, agricultural area of New Mexico. At 6,076 square miles, Chaves County is the state’s ninth-largest county and comprises some 5 percent of the Enchantment State’s total land area. Chaves is centered around the county seat of Roswell, famously known for a 1947 UFO sighting and the reported military cover-up of the alien flying-saucer’s crash landing during a storm.
View Sam’s other listings on Lands of America
Land and Property Sales Summary: April 10-16, 2016
For the week ending April 16, 2017, there were 347 properties listed as sold in the Lands of America Comparable Sales program, representing a total of $137 million in sales value and 107,474 acres. The sale of the historic Stuart Ranch in Palo Pinto County, Texas, also brokered by Sam Middleton, was the most expensive property sale ($17.5 million). The ranch had been on the market since September 2016. Nationwide, property listed as sold last week had been on the market for an average of 278 days, compared to an average of 292 days for sales recorded in April 2016.
Land buyers can access Lands of America’s comprehensive database of historic sales information by purchasing a LandsInsight account ($199/year), while platinum and basic sellers receive complimentary access through the Land.com Network’s Property Control Center.