In Illinois, for instance, Martin recommends the web site agrinews-classifieds.com. This site functions as an unofficial multiple-listing service for land.

Here are a number of web sites we like with either national or regional listings.

LandandFarm.com This is one of the best, most interesting sites around. You can peruse their featured properties, such as the 40-acre horse and orchard propoerty in California, or conduct your own search, say, for hunting property in Georgia. There are also links to realtors in dozens of states.

UnitedCountry.com As extensive as any listings in the country, this alliance of rural-oriented realtors has representatives/branches in nearly every state.

RedfieldGroup.com Based in Alabama, The Redfield Group finds and markets some of the most unique country properties in the U.S. We were intrigued by an auction of a contemporary hilltop home—worth $2 million—in New York with views of the Adirondack foothills.

E X T R A: What Makes a Rural Area Hot?

Eaglestar.net This service lists property in numerous states. The site had 65 new properties listed, one with a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for $64,900.

Farmers-National.com Farmers National has gotten into recreational land in a big way. Farmers National also offers landowner workshops, news on land ownership, even information about natural resource leases.

FarmCreditBank.com This is the web site of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas, a federally sponsored lender doing business in a number of southern states. This bank carries its listings on the web site, in addition to the listings of other realtors/brokers.

WilliamsAuctions.com This site for Oklahoma-based Williams & Williams does business in states from Vermont to Nevada. They specialize in rural and small-town properties, farms and ranchland. They also conduct auctions featuring high-end and not-so-high-end properties. We liked the four-bedroom, 3,700-square-foot house on 3 acres near Greenville, S.C. The opening bid: $25,000.