Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.
Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large
landed estate for a member of the
landed gentry,
supervising the farming of the property by farm labourers and/or tenants and collecting rents or other payments. In this context a land agent was a relatively privileged position and was a senior member of the estate's staff. The older term, which continued to be used on some estates, was
steward
Steward may refer to:
Positions or roles
* Steward (office), a representative of a monarch
* Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district
* Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other ins ...
, and in Scotland a land agent was usually referred to as a
factor. Today the term
estate manager
A property manager or estate manager is a person or firm charged with operating a real estate property for a fee when the owner is unable to attend to such details personally or is not interested in doing so. The property may be individual title o ...
or similar is more common.
Other uses
A land agent, also called a warrant agent, may also be a
real estate agent or broker who specialises in land and farm sales.
[ Land and farm sales differ drastically from sales of houses, therefore there is the need for specialisation. This usage is found in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. In the UK a land agent may also advise on related law, tax and planning matters.
The land agent can also be an agent of the oil and mining industry who negotiates with landowners for mineral and surface rights for the potential extraction of those minerals. This usage is primarily found in the United States and in Canada.
In the Canadian jurisdiction of the Northwest Territories, a land agent is an employee of the federal department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs tasked with guiding through the application process individuals wishing to purchase or lease ]crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...
.
References
Real estate
Real estate in the United Kingdom
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