Who is NIHO?

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Who is NIHO?

The Nielsen Family

NIHO Land & Cattle Company (NIHO stands for Nielsen Holdings), is a British Columbia company, wholly owned by the Nielsen family. The company is managed by the company president and majority shareholder, Rudy Nielsen, R.I. (B.C.) F.R.I. NIHO has been in operation since 1972, and is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. The company's offices are located in New Westminster, B.C. The company ranch is on the shores of Nulki Lake, south of Vanderhoof, B.C. in central British Columbia.

In the spring of 1972, NIHO purchased one property of 119 acres, consisting of nine islands in the Fraser River at Crescent Spur, located between Prince George and McBride in central British Columbia. Crescent Spur sits at the bottom of a small valley, surrounded by rugged snow-capped mountains from which numerous glacier-fed streams run into the Fraser River.

The main island was an old abandoned homesite used during the middle and late 1800's, when river traffic was the main means of transportation in British Columbia. A hundred years later practically all that was left of the original homestead was an old hay rake, found on the edge of a large open meadow beside the river bank.

Access to the property is either by water or trail, but the easiest route is by canoe, travelling downstream through a small set of rapids to the islands. Here, on the main island, the Nielsens built a very private recreational retreat, and Rudy passed to his sons what he had learned from his father, a trapper, including canoeing, fishing, hiking, and about nature and basic wilderness survival.

Wildlife along this stretch of the Fraser was plentiful then, as it still is today, and the Nielsens enjoyed frequent visits from moose,deer, wolves, coyotes, and even the occasional black bear. Smaller mammals, such as otter, beaver, martin and mink are numerous in this area, and there are also many species of birds, including eagles and hawks, which hunt along the river banks.

It wasn't until the early 1980's that NIHO began to actively buy other recreational properties, which again, were used for camping, fishing and general enjoyment of the great outdoors. At this time the original islands were sold, and the capital was reinvested in more holdings. NIHO management decided that instead of investing the company's future into commercial and residential real estate investments, which they had done for some 14 years, they would change their focus and make a business out of investing in recreational properties only.

Over a six year period, Niho bought some 30 properties. In 1986 NIHO evolved from a recreational land holding company into a land business development company

Over the next several years, NIHO's inventory grew from 30 properties to over 300. Only a few properties were sold along the way, and it wasn't until 1992 that large numbers of holdings were marketed at one time.

Today, NIHO is one of the largest private owners of recreational land in the province of B.C., selling 30-100 properties per year, and is recognized as an industry expert in recreational lands, property valuations and market trends in B.C.

NIHO owns and utilizes a huge in-house system for defining and valuating rural property, www.landcor.com. Landcor updates all sales in B.C. on a weekly basis. This unique system includes sophisticated computerized databanks of information on recreational lands, aerial photography and analysis, mapping information, and analysis tools. This system enables speedy compilation of property data and constant tracking of the changing market trends.

NIHO is diversified and specializes in recreational land by purchasing, developing, and then marketing ocean, lake and river-front properties, islands, exotic hideaways, small ranches, timber holdings, and even small vacant ghost towns. NIHO purchased 210 properties from Imbrook Properties of Toronto in 1989 and bought out Kanaka Creek Holdings in 1995.

NIHO is also diversified throughout the province of B.C. so that if one area lost its demand for recreational real estate, another area could still remain active. Diversification is also by price. NIHO has, in the past, offered properties for sale from property for RV users for $3,900 to $6,900 to islands and peninsulas, both ocean and fresh water in the $300,000 to $800,000 range for exotic retreats. NIHO also owns a large number of prime park properties.

NIHO looks for the highest and best use of properties for added value, which could include include timber value, gravel deposits, peat moss, or subdivision potential. NIHO has purchased, developed, and sold well over 700 acreages and projects over a 10 year period.

NIHO also specializes in purchasing small vacant towns, developing them, and then marketing them through our aggressive marketing campaigns and through exposure on our website, www.niho.com. In the past 10 years, NIHO has sold all of its RV lots in some of these old ghost towns: Ferguson, Sheep Creek, and Nashville. NIHO has also developed and marketed subdivisions at Cluculz Lake Estates, Fort St. John, and the Thompson River Estates. NIHO is developing at the present 795 acres at Pitt Lake and two separate 160 acre subdivisions of prime oceanfront in the Queen Charlotte Islands.

NIHO has a wide range of expertise. It has developed private lakes on properties, renovated cabins and resorts and built miles of fences and gates. NIHO has also taken land with very little value and turned it into top quality hay production land.

NIHO is the founding partner of LandQuest Realty Corporation, a top licensed real estate firm with nine real estate professionals, specializing in marketing recreational and rural properties throughout British Columbia. LandQuest specializes in the marketing of ranches, resorts and recreational properties.