Hageman Realty · 1976 to 2026

50 Years on the Land

Fifty years of farm families, and the land they trusted us with.

Read our story Call (219) 261-2000
Hageman Realty's six brokers standing in front of a cornfield, 2026
The Hageman Realty brokers, 2026.
Sara Hageman Schenck
Sara Hageman Schenck, ALC
Owner and Managing Broker

A note from Sara

What we carry forward.

My earliest memories are in the back seat of my dad's pickup, learning the back roads, and the back roads of the business behind the scenes. I didn't know it then, but I was already learning this business.

This year Hageman Realty turns fifty. The business started on the land, with lessons my great-grandfather and grandfather passed to my dad and my dad passed to me. It grew from those roots into work across Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas. The territory changed. The responsibility didn't.

Fifty years isn't our story alone. It belongs to the landowners, buyers, tenants, brokers, neighbors, and farm families who trusted us with a decision that mattered. Some of those relationships began with my dad and now include the children and grandchildren of his first clients.

The next fifty years will bring different questions. We don't know what farming will look like, but it sure changed a lot over the last fifty years. Families will decide whether to keep, manage, or sell land they've inherited. Our job is to keep learning without losing the part that matters most: do what's right, treat people well, and leave it better than we found it.

Thank you for the foundation behind us, the people beside us, and the chance to keep earning your trust.

With gratitude,Sara

The story

For the People Who Own the Land, Hageman Realty Turns 50

Fifty years in the land business isn't a count of acres. It's kitchen-table conversations, visits to farms, and families deciding what they'll carry forward.

Hageman Realty is marking its 50th year in 2026. The family-owned firm sells farmland, manages farms, and brokers recreational land across Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas from its office in Remington, Indiana.

The work belongs to the people who own the land. Tenants, buyers, and neighbors are part of a careful process. The client is the landowner making the decision.

Steve Hageman built the firm in 1976 on lessons from two sides of his family, one in farming and one in buying and selling land. He has since passed the torch to his daughter, Sara Hageman Schenck, ALC, who owns and leads Hageman Realty as Managing Broker. Steve is no longer involved in the business.

Sara is the fourth generation of her family to farm and work in the land business, and the family still farms its own land. The work still starts with what the land means to the people who own it.

We are farmers. We are farm managers. We are farm real estate brokers.

Fifty years at a glance

Four generations. Fifty years.

The brokerage opened in 1976. The standard behind it started earlier, on the land.

The family line

  1. Grandpa Murt
  2. Grandpa Gene
  3. SteveBuilt Hageman Realty, 1976
  4. SaraOwns and leads the firm today
  5. The next generation
  1. Before 1976

    The family farmed. Drainage, fertility, careful reinvestment, improvements, and embracing opportunities turn land into the base for everything that follows.

  2. 1976

    Steve Hageman builds Hageman Realty, bringing farming knowledge and real estate experience together in a business made for farm families.

  3. The 1980s

    The farm crisis tests the young firm. Indiana land values fall by more than half, and the firm learns to weigh risk, method, and timing for its clients, and to advise for more than one season.

  4. Sara's chapter

    Licensed at 18, educated at Purdue in Agricultural Business Management, trained by the family in real estate, and shaped by real estate work in Europe, Sara joins the firm and widens its view without leaving the farm behind. She holds the Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designation from the REALTORS Land Institute.

  5. Today

    Steve has passed the torch to Sara, who owns and leads Hageman Realty with a team of farmland specialists and support staff, and brokerage and farm management relationships across Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas. The firm keeps learning, embraces technology, and stays out front in consulting and serving its clients well.

Land values since 1976

Fifty years of cycles, and what they taught us.

Average-quality Indiana farmland, dollars per acre Selected Purdue survey years, nominal dollars
  1. 1976$1,225The firm opens
  2. 1981$2,100Early peak
  3. 1987$913Farm crisis low, 57 percent below 1981
  4. 2000$2,173Back above 1981
  5. 2011$5,468
  6. 2021$8,144
  7. 2022$10,598
  8. 2026$12,121June survey estimate

Source: Purdue Farmland Value Survey. Eight selected years from 1976 to 2026, not a complete annual series.

Purdue's survey shows Indiana land falling 57 percent from 1981 to 1987, and not passing its 1981 value again until 2000.

We learned what can happen, how to hedge as much as possible, and how much method and timing matter in looking out for our clients' needs. We still do.

What fifty years looks like in numbers.

Indiana farmland rose almost tenfold since we opened. The price of the corn it grows only doubled.

Measure19762026Growth
Average-quality Indiana farmland, per acre$1,225$12,1219.9×
Regular gasoline, per gallon$0.59$4.096.9×
First-class stamp13¢82¢6.3×
Federal minimum wage, per hour$2.30$7.253.2×
U.S. corn price, per bushel2026 is USDA's forecast for the 2026/27 crop$2.15$4.402.0×
States where we're licensed155×
Brokers166×

The number behind the numbers. Statewide averages never tell the whole story. Soil, drainage, access, improvements, tenancy, location, and the buyers at the table still decide what an individual farm can bring.

All dollars nominal, not adjusted for inflation. 2026 figures: Purdue's June 2026 land survey, USDA's 2026/27 corn price forecast, EIA's August 24 gas price, the USPS July 2026 stamp, and the U.S. Department of Labor. 1976 corn is the U.S. season-average price.

Steve Hageman beside a framed early Hageman Realty For Sale sign listing phone numbers in Brook and Remington
The original sign. Steve Hageman with the original Hageman Realty sign.

Steve and the sign

The foundation under the sign.

“Any generation, when you find success, there's somebody that built a foundation for you.”

Steve Hageman

When Steve Hageman tells the story of the work, he doesn't begin with himself. He begins with the people who came before him.

One generation taught him the real estate and trading business. Another taught him how to farm. Steve remembers his father as the best farmer he'd ever seen and a man of total integrity. When he built Hageman Realty in 1976, those lessons came together: know the land, understand the deal, and keep your word.

The market tested those lessons early. During the farm crisis, Purdue's estimate for average-quality Indiana land fell from $2,100 an acre in 1981 to $913 in 1987. The lesson lasted. Strong markets don't erase risk, and hard years don't erase responsibility.

Steve's idea of a fair sale is practical. Represent the client and protect their best interest. Cooperate with the broker who has the right buyer. Work toward an outcome where the buyer gets the land they wanted and the seller knows the market fully tested its value.

His advice on farming lands in the same place. Be the best steward of the land for the long term, but be sharp enough to survive the years. Know the costs. Take a profit when it's there. Leave the land, the business, and the relationships ready for the next generation.

That's what he did. Steve has passed the torch to Sara, who owns and leads the firm today. Steve changed the sign along the way, and Sara kept his. The territory grew. The standard stayed rooted in land, fairness, and relationships.

The people carrying it

Six brokers. Five states.

Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas. Licenses vary by state, and we connect each client with the appropriately licensed broker.

The firm opened in 1976 licensed in one state, Indiana. Today its brokers are licensed in five.

  • Indiana. Founded in Remington in 1976.
  • Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas. Licensed today.
Hageman Realty's territory, 1976 and today A map of the central United States. Indiana is shaded dark, with Remington marked, where the firm started in 1976. Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas and Texas are shaded in a lighter tone. Together the five are the states where Hageman Realty's brokers are licensed today.
  • Sara Hageman Schenck

    Sara Hageman Schenck, ALC

    Owner and Managing Broker

    Farmland, agribusiness, and farm management, with a Purdue degree in Agricultural Business Management and real estate experience in Europe. The fourth generation of her family in the land business.

    Licensed in Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas

    Sara's bio
  • Hinnerk Wolters

    Hinnerk Wolters

    Broker and Farm Manager

    Farmland, farm management, and complex agribusiness, with an MS in Agribusiness from Purdue and an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

    Licensed in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin

    Hinnerk's bio
  • Kyle Scott

    Kyle Scott

    Broker

    Recreational and hunting land and wildlife management, backed by a civil engineering background and years of hands-on experience hunting and managing recreational property.

    Licensed in Indiana and Illinois

    Kyle's bio
  • Landon Wellman

    Landon Wellman

    Broker

    Farmland and complex commercial deals, with an engineering background and an MBA. Landon also farms.

    Licensed in Indiana

    Landon's bio
  • Suzy Hageman

    Suzy Hageman

    Managing Broker, Hageman Realty Residential

    Steve's sister and Sara's aunt, with 46 years in residential, commercial, and farm real estate and a degree in business management.

    Licensed in Indiana

    Suzy's bio
  • Brandon Edwards

    Brandon Edwards

    Broker

    Southern Illinois farmland, backed by his work as an attorney and professional land surveyor.

    Licensed in Illinois

    Brandon's bio

Sherri Zimmerman, Maddison Clark, and Isaiah Foster keep the details, the communication, and the daily work moving.

A 2025 Land.com Land Star Award Top Producer belt buckle in a wooden display case

Recognition

Recognized for the work today.

Land.com named Sara Hageman Schenck a Mid-West Individual Top Producer for total sales in its 2025 Land Star Awards, then for total sales and total acres in the first quarter of 2026.

The awards are based on closed rural real estate transactions.

2025 Land Star Awards Q1 2026 Land Star Awards

The next fifty

What the next fifty asks of us.

No one can predict the next fifty years. We can see the questions taking shape, and we're preparing to meet them with the same long view. If you own land, here's what we'd look at with you.

  • Keeping it

    Productivity, drainage, access, soil, water, and local demand will still decide what a farm can do and what it can bring. Farmers will weigh new technology against tighter margins. Know where your acres stand.

    Farm evaluation

  • Managing it

    More land will pass to heirs who live off the farm and want to keep a family legacy without guessing at management. A lease that fits the farm and regular reports take out the guessing.

    Farm management

  • Passing it on

    A transfer goes better when the family, the attorney, and the accountant work from the same facts about the farm. We help put those facts on the table.

    Generational planning

  • Selling it

    Soil, access, tenancy, timing, and the buyers at the table decide what one farm can bring. A fair sale leaves the seller knowing the market fully tested its value.

    How we sell land
  • Wind
  • Solar
  • Water
  • Competing uses
  • Development

New opportunities for good acres. Landowners will hear about more of them. Proposals bring opportunity and tradeoffs. Lease terms, neighboring uses, and the long horizon deserve a careful read.

For landowners who live somewhere else

We manage farms for families who own land but don't live near it. Our free guide walks through how that works.

Get the free guide

With gratitude

Thank you for fifty years of trust in the land.

To every family who trusted us with a farm, and to every tenant, buyer, employee, broker, lender, attorney, accountant, appraiser, surveyor, neighbor, and referral partner who carried the work with us: thank you.

Hageman Realty. Since 1976.

Thinking about your own land?

Whether you're keeping it, managing it, passing it on, or selling it, call us. We're glad to talk it through.

Call (219) 261-2000 Send us a message

Hageman Realty, Inc. · 18390 S. 480 W., Remington, IN 47977