Financing for raw land

Land banks are your answer
first south farm credit has been good ( much better than 10%) to me

Id reach out to First South Farm Credit at their Thibodaux office (Ben or Tommy). I've dealt with them a few times for timber/hunting land purchases. Good people to work with and I closed with them recently, it'll be better than 10%, but keep in mind that interest rates in every loan sector are terrible right now and raw land financing is higher risk in the eyes of the banks, so set your expectations accordingly. The days of 3% interest land loans are a few years in the past.

I have a couple of guys that would attend the LSU Football signing day Bash. They are in the timber business. They know timber sales. If you could get a little money out of the timber, that would offset your cost.

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raw land planted in loblolly pines.

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At $3500/acre

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And you said it is in a rural community? Geez. Sounds like you are paying recreational land prices not timber investor prices. Have you had a forester look at the land to see what you would have in timber? How far is it away from mills?

1. As mentioned before, call your local Land Bank, First south farm credit or Southern Ag and see what they have going. They will provide you with various financing possibilities. I know Louisiana Land Bank has been providing a patronage check back of at least 1% of your outstanding loan balance every year.
2. Someone mentioned an LLC getting a better rate, I have never seen that. If you did buy it in an LLC, they would base the loan on your credit and you would have to sign a personal guaranty as well. However, there MAY be some added tax planning opportunities available by putting it into an entity. Ask your cpa.

Remember, if you are buying this from a large company like Weyerhaeuser, they are selling the land for a reason, i.e. they think they can get more money than it is worth.

Did I miss where you were buying? $3500 is pretty cheap unless it is a cutover.