You may be on the lookout for abandoned golf courses to buy. If so, finding these golf courses offered for sale should be your priority.
Golf as a sport and business is considered prestigious for many reasons.
Many investments are made in this sport, including designing lush-green courses that take up significant land mass. While that is true, golf courses may become abandoned at some point.
What leads to such abandonment, and how can you take advantage of the opportunities presented? Opportunity seems always to present themselves in every problem.
Why Abandoned Golf Courses?
The Covid-19 pandemic alone led to the closure of around 60 golf courses across the United States.
Before that, owners had often abandoned golf courses due to several reasons. The same continues to happen to this day. In the face of such reality lies an opportunity to own such property at bargain rates.
To give you an idea of the opportunities available to you, there are over 10,000 golf courses spread across the United States. Most of these are located in the state of Florida.
Over 800 golf courses have shuttered across the United States in the past decade alone.
Due to changing lifestyles, there has been a steady but slow decline in the number of active golf courses.
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association identifies a lack of interest among millennials aged 18 to 30 as part of the decline in the use of golf facilities.
There are multiple reasons why buying abandoned golf property is considered a great idea. These reasons essentially have to do with your specific needs.
Such reasons include living the golf lifestyle, improving property value, restoring or bringing the golf course to life, and establishing exclusivity.
Of course, the primary reason for buying an abandoned golf course is to turn a profit. By restoring the property or converting it to other uses, you can bring in investments to the area.
To Find Abandoned Golf Courses, you’ll Need to be Attentive.
When looking for abandoned golf courses near you, you must be attentive to industry happenings.
This wouldn’t be a problem for golf enthusiasts as they can have an idea of happenings within the golfing community. That includes what courses are likely to get shuttered shortly.
Such information will be vital to your golf lover and investor purchase decisions. You can take advantage of opportunities that present themselves by forming crucial networks.
It’s normal to assume that you already have a specific reason(s) for seeking to buy abandoned golf course(s).
i. Supply & Demand can Impact Golf Course (Abandoned) Availability
More specifically, you’ll need to be attentive to supply and demand dynamics. This always impacts the availability or otherwise of abandoned golf courses.
When there’s more supply than demand, the likelihood of having abandoned golf courses is higher. The opposite applies when there’s less demand.
ii. Recession Plays a Role
During an economic recession, there’s less disposable income to commit to leisure sporting activities like golf. This means fewer playing rounds, eventually affecting the cost of running and maintaining a golf course.
As inflation persists, it eventually takes its toll on overall golf course management.
The golf course is likely shuttered due to increased maintenance costs and low activities. This is a great time to search for golf courses on sale within your location.
iii. Golf Courses Built as Part of a Strategy to Sell Real Estate
One of the factors you’ll need to pay close attention to is whether golf courses within your area were designed to be sustainable or not.
More often than not, developers build or establish golf courses as a measure to help sell real estate.
While these golf courses help add value to real estate, owners might not have followed due diligence before establishing them.
Golf courses need to be run and operated as a business, hence the need for proper management. In the absence of that, it’s only a matter of time before it fails.
In the end, the golf course will need to be sold. So, when looking for golf course sales near you, consider this factor part of the things to look out for.
You’re likely to find a golf course more quickly than you would have if you had no such knowledge.
iv. Be on the Lookout for Older Courses
Another way to quickly find abandoned golf courses to sell near your location is by looking out for older courses.
Older courses tend to be abandoned due to fewer amenities when there’s an oversupply of these facilities.
In other words, newer innovations in golf course construction tend to impact the inclusion or exclusion of specific amenities. You’ll mostly find older courses with fewer amenities.
Due to this factor, it’s necessary to focus on finding and being attentive to older courses, which initial owners may abandon for newer ones.
v. Where you Live Matters
Where do you live?
This can significantly impact whether or not you find an abandoned golf course for sale. Now golf tends to be more prevalent in Sun Belt states due to the temperate weather, which is more favorable to this sport.
Such areas include Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Other states within the Sun Belt include North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, & Utah.
These see a lot of golfing activities.
So, with increased golfing activities, the impacts of supply and demand on the sport tend to be more visible. You’re likely to find more abandoned golf courses for sale in these areas than in any other.
To find one, you’ll need to do your research on all the golf courses within your states. This ensures you can identify those that are active and those that aren’t.
So, consider doing online research on what’s available. You may also want to speak to real estate brokers for further information.
Finding abandoned golf courses for sale near your location won’t be as tricky if basic guidelines such as those discussed above are followed.