Jacob Bowen, his brother Joab Bowen and their father, Paul Bowen hired The PoultrySouth Team to market and sell their 16-house broiler farm located in Hall County, Georgia in 2018. Since then, Joab has gone on to help establish a very successful earth moving and land clearing business, Precision Land Solutions, serving the thriving economy northeast of Atlanta and Jacob joined the PoultrySouth Team with Southeastern Land Group in December of 2020. He worked right through Covid and became a top producer in 2021. Jacob was one of the fastest ever to rise to the top three producing agents in the company in 2022. Jacob and his family still live in Hall County where his wife, Megan, has been assisting Jacob full-time for the last two and a half years. Jacob is not only one of the top producing PoultrySouth Team members, but a very accomplished land agent with Southeastern Land Group as well.
Melanie King, Robert King’s wife, co-owner of PoultrySouth, LLC, and administrator for the company interviewed Jacob in August about their experience with the PoultrySouth Team and how he came to be part of the PoultrySouth Team himself.
– Jacob Bowen
“It’s nothing to see agents who will just get in a car and drive wherever to show somebody a farm and not know any of their background. They might not be qualified to buy a doghouse much less a 16-house poultry farm.”
How did you first hear about the PoultrySouth Team?
I saw a post on Facebook, that’s how I initially heard about the PoultySouth Team. I saw the post on Facebook and clicked on it and started doing research. I saw that Randall Upchurch (Co-founder and Team Leader with the PoultrySouth Team) was active there and started looking him up and saw we were pretty like-minded. That’s when we called him to talk about the farm sale.
What did you think of the PoultrySouth Team when you first met them for your farm consultation?
It was good. One of the things we wanted was someone with poultry experience. Poultry farms are complex businesses, and it honestly takes somebody that’s been through some sales and had poultry experience… so from our initial meeting I knew these were the guys that were experienced enough to handle the job…and with their professionalism, I knew that the direction we wanted to take with the sale was with them, that’s for sure.
What made you think the PoultrySouth Team could handle a farm the size of the one they helped you sell?
In looking at the Facebook post, I did some intensive research looking at some of their past farm sales. I tell a lot of folks in this business that it’s about as easy to grow in 12 houses as it is six and for that reason, I think that from a selling standpoint it’s just all about numbers. But going back I had looked at the website and went through about a weeks’ time of posts and I didn’t have any question as to the confidence in them being able to handle it and make something happen with this magnitude of a farm. Not a problem at all.
What stood out to you about the way the PoultrySouth Team goes about doing business?
It was seamless! From the initial consultation all the way past the closing table. It was a great experience. Very knowledgeable… just a seamless process there.
Had you talked with any other agents before you went with the PoultrySouth Team?
We did. So honestly, what kind of set this in motion was we had talked about it a little bit with the families. My parents are on up in age and had been in the business for nearly 33 years. In poultry, it is hard to get out of the business without either tearing the buildings down or selling. You still have tax liability there. You can’t just close the farm down. We actually had a visitor (agent) come by the farm and asked if we would have interest in selling and we told him we did. Him coming by and visiting kind of set things in motion even more. After that, we met him and talked with him a few more times. We just didn’t see the same things in him we saw in Robert and Randall, even though he was experienced. Not by a long shot. That lead us to never signing anything with him because I just didn’t have the confidence there. Meeting Robert and Randall, the professionalism was there, and we were like minded. I had 100% confidence in the PoultrySouth system and processes that they had put together. Like I said, just a seamless process. Looking back, we wouldn’t have changed a thing, it was a great experience.
What did the PoultrySouth Team do that you did not expect?
The personal service you get with PoultrySouth…it is way beyond the perception most people have of real estate agents. Especially in poultry farm sales. When a buyer is brought to your farm, a seller needs to have confidence to know that the buyer that’s standing there is qualified to make it happen. Having been on that side of the fence before, I know when you see a vehicle pull in the driveway and it’s a buyer with an agent, you automatically think that this could be it. This might be the buyer. I’ve seen these other agents that will roll up and they don’t know anything about their buyers. Theres no vetting process there whatsoever. I had full confidence that when the PoultrySouth Team came with a buyer that they were well qualified to make it happen.
Given the complexity of your farm sale, do you think you would have put as many dollars in your pocket if you had sold it yourself or with another agent?
I don’t think so. With everything we had going on keeping the farm going we stayed so busy. There was just zero time to expend. Going down rabbit holes with buyers, that’s the kind of thing that good agents do and that’s their job to mitigate those buyers. That’s one thing I loved that the buyers they brought to the farm would be qualified and they weren’t just tour guides. That’s the biggest thing that stood out to me versus other agents. It’s nothing to see agents who will just get in a car and drive wherever to show somebody a farm and not know any of their background. They might not be qualified to buy a doghouse, much less a 16-house poultry farm. That really stood out. They did a fantastic job. Everybody was really pleased. We were very satisfied.
It was sometime after the farm sale when you joined the PoultrySouth Team. What made you want to help other poultry farmers?
Our family had always bought and sold land in the area, so I had some experience there with dad and of course my brother and other family. It was just a good opportunity from a poultry standpoint to utilize my past work experience. I knew how poultry farms operated and worked. Combine that with land sales and it was just a super good opportunity to pursue. I knew with my experience in both, I could help others through some of the biggest decisions they will ever make.
If you have land or poultry sales needs and you want to talk with someone that understands the sales process from the seller’s viewpoint and has successfully helped many other sellers accomplish their goals, call Jacob at 678-931-8975 or email him at jacob@selandgroup.com.
You can find Joab’s business at PrecisionLandSolutionsLLC.com, or you can call him at 678-725-3523.