Selling timber on land before development

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I have 38 acres of wooded land under contract and I'm thinking about having it logged. I have read a little about the process but would like to hear from people that have first-hand experience. Would you recommend hiring a private forester to survey the trees? How were they paid? Did you have to pay upfront or after the sale? How much of the selling process did they handle? 

My plan for the land is to eventually sell it to a developer. Would you recommend having it cleared before listing it? Does it make it more or less attractive to the developer? 

[Jay Hinrichs]

Originally posted by @Bill B.:

You might be on the wrong coast for detailed help. But @Jay Hinrichs has years of experience including purchasing timber. 

This can be regional for sure, one thing folks can do to really understand what they have is hire a 3rd party independent forester and have them do a cruise on the property. This will identify species  any logging hurdles  and prices for delivered logs, Mills to take them to etc. well worth the dollars. And its like any appraisal you pay for it up front or when its completed. Many foresters will also have the ability to hire out all the logging actives as well and do that for you.

You can hire a Gypo logger to log it. what is being described above as pay as they cut it  is commonly known as a % contract.. logger takes a certain % land owner gets the balance.. the Mills are used to split payments.  Or there are probably firms like us were we bought the timber deed and paid cash before we started Land owner takes zero risk on the income.

Buying timber is no different for the companies as described above as a wholesaler in SFRs operates today,  you identify timber that is worth money and you solicit them. And its far easier to do this today with Google earth than it was in my day. However that's exactly how we ran our business direct mail and telemarked.. 

Also out this way there is replant that must be done. So need to negotiate the replant if any.  I have no doubt delivered log prices are up as lumber as we know has sky rocketed but I have not seen that be a direct correlation to the delivered log price its the mill and the lumber brokers that are killing it.. 

On the Developer side of things leaving a stump farm is not optimum for a developer many times developer wants the Timber so they can off set the pulling of the stumps.. those have to be removed to develop.

And then you have Land use issues and tree protection all this has to play into these developments.