Buyer trends
Landmaxxing: When Land is the Ultimate Legacy Play
Affluent buyers are shopping for large parcels of land for themselves—and future generations
Recently, buyers of high-end real estate have added an urgent priority to their wish lists: expansive tracts of land. “Wealthy buyers have always valued land but while buyers used to focus heavily on the house itself and its square footage, now I hear much more about privacy, neighboring properties, acreage, and what developers can build around them,” says Cicily Sterling, an agent at The Agency in Carmel, California. “At the highest end of the market, the luxury isn’t necessarily about having a bigger house. Rather, it’s about having more space around you.”
The finite nature of land itself is a contributing factor. “You can remodel or rebuild a house, but you can’t create more land,” she says. “Buyers want to know their views and privacy are protected and that someone isn’t going to build right next to them five years from now.”
“Landmaxxing” and extreme privacy are no doubt on the rise across the board, but when you ask Joy Vance, Managing Partner of The Agency Big Sky, Bozeman, and Whitefish, she’ll tell you that the goals are often different in Montana. While buyers are certainly buying land en masse—65% of land in this Western state is privately owned and over 18% is owned by the US Forest Service—they’re thinking seriously about stewardship, too.
“If you’re buying 10,000 acres, the question is ‘will I leave it better than I found it, in terms of better grazing practices, restoring waterways, preserving the agriculture, and improving the overall habitat,’” Vance says.
For example, she recently met with a buyer who was in the process of building a nearly US$20 million home on a private bay in the lakefront town of Bigfork Bay. That same buyer expressed concern about disturbing the ecosystem of a particular fish that frequented the waterway. “He was very in tune with that particular fish and wanted to design the landscape accordingly,” she says. “Land can be valuable because of what you decide not to do on it. The more sophisticated luxury buyers here are looking at the enormous role they play in wildlife habitat and conservation.”
“A trophy property is about the owner, while the legacy is about what remains afterward.”
joy vance
managing partner, the agency big sky, bozeman + whitefish
Creating Generational Spaces
What will likely never change among high-net-worth buyers is the desire to buy land for two reasons: to make sure their family has an expansive place to gather and to secure that acreage for generations to come. “Our buyers want guesthouses for their children and grandchildren,” Sterling says. “They’re thinking longer term and looking for properties their families can enjoy for generations.”
In the Bahamas, for example, prospective buyers have long upped the ante by buying their own private islands—for this exact reason. “We have an enduring trend of affluent buyers and celebrities that look to purchase private islands to serve as multigenerational compounds,” says Danny Lowe, Managing Partner of The Agency Bahamas, who sees this often in the Abacos, Eleuthera, and Exuma islands. “We have multiple islands that offer large parcels that are just right for this.”
David Ayers, Managing Partner of The Agency Cleveland, says flexibility is top-of-mind for his high-end buyers. “Buyers want to make sure that if the grandparents or in-laws need to move in, they can,” he says. “Whether it’s having enough land to build on, a multigenerational suite, or an in-law space, being able to accommodate family members is very appealing to buyers.”
Space, Views, and Privacy for Days
On the West Coast, places like Big Sur, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley, Teháma, and the Santa Lucia Preserve are intriguing to high-end home buyers who are increasingly focused not just on the house, but on the land around it and protecting it in the future. “For example, buyers can own significant acreage in the Santa Lucia Preserve and Teháma, while the actual area designated for development is much smaller, preserving the natural landscape and creating an incredible sense of privacy and open space around the residence,” Sterling says. “At the Preserve, this is taken even further through permanent conservation easements protecting the surrounding land. It gives buyers something increasingly difficult to find—confidence that the landscape and privacy they are buying today will largely remain that way for generations.”
Buying land that provides privacy remains critically important to land buyers in the resort town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado too. “There are a lot of transactions in the more rural areas among buyers who don’t want neighbors looking in on their business,” says Chris Paoli, Managing Partner of The Agency Steamboat Springs, adding that one of the unique things about this northwest Colorado town is that buyers can still buy upward of 1,000 acres of land—near town.
In fact, two land transactions close to town recently sold for US$20 million each. “There was one buyer who wanted a private compound and bought 1,200 acres—even though it was clear the parcel could be subdivided.”
In the Cleveland metro area, snatching up bordering lots is commonplace in neighborhoods such as Hunting Valley, Gates Mills, and Waite Hill, which are among the most affluent in the Midwest—and there’s a financial reason for this, Ayers says. “With interest rates where they are, people are in some ways hunkered in place a bit,” he says. “That’s why some homeowners who might have said let’s trade up from a US$3.5 million to a US$5 million home are saying let’s spend US$1 million on neighboring land to insulate ourselves instead.”
Taming the Land
Agents keep coming back to one major caveat: Land accessibility varies, and prepping a site for living can end up driving costs up and slowing plans down. “The highest-value land comes down to what can be done on those acres,” Vance says. “This includes whether there’s water, wildlife, and recreational value. If I’m selling 4,000 acres, the price would look different if it’s got recreational value or conservation potential.”
In Texas, outlying and rural areas may come with large acreage, says Amanda Cunningham, Managing Partner of The Agency Waco, but there can be a catch—mostly in terms of access to trees and water. “We’ve got many options in the 200-acre range, but these ranch-ettes aren’t always near schools, and they may not have access to water,” she says. “That can be an issue... because you’ll then have to dig a well, which can be quite expensive.”
• 2026 Global Survey
OF AGENTS SAY privacy is more important to clients than it previously has been.
And buying an island in the Bahamas can pose similar challenges. “A large parcel of land may be everything you’re looking for, but it may lack accessible roads, water, or electricity,” Lowe says. “This means you’ll have to look at renewable energy sources or pay for infrastructure to get the power to the land.”
In the end, with the rise of landmaxxing, whether it’s a large farm estate, château, sprawling ranch, or just an endless vista of space, one thing is clear: Luxury land buyers are in it for the long haul. “Legacy land is a term we’re hearing quite often now,” Vance says. “This is an important distinction because buying a legacy property is different from buying a trophy property. A trophy is about the owner, while the legacy is what remains afterward. ■
