Get Paid Before We Cut a Single Tree
You’ve spent decades—maybe your whole life—watching that timber grow. When it’s time to sell, the last thing you should have to worry about is whether you’ll actually get paid what you were promised.
That’s the whole idea behind Hillcrest’s Cash-First Payment Plan: You receive 100% of the agreed-upon price before we harvest a single tree. Not after. Not in installments. Not once the logs have been hauled, milled, and sold.
How It Works
- Evaluate: We walk your woods, assess your timber, and put together a clear, honest, no-obligation proposal.
- Approve: You review the offer on your own time. Ask questions. Say no if it’s not right for you.
- Get Paid: Once you accept, you’re paid in full before our crew and equipment arrive to your land.
What “Cash-First” Really Means
A harvest takes weeks, sometimes longer, from the first cut to the last truck out. A lot can happen in that window. With Cash-First, none of it is your risk to carry. The number in your proposal is settled in full before the first saw starts. There’s no waiting on your check while your logs work their way through a mill somewhere. Once you’ve been paid, the outcome of the harvest is ours to manage, not yours to worry about.
Why This Matters
Not every timber buyer pays you before they harvest. It’s common in this industry for payment to be tied to what actually comes out of the woods. When buyers work this way, you get paid in stages as logs are hauled. Or the buyer will settle with you after they’ve scaled and sold your timber.
That arrangement puts the risk on you. If a buyer’s estimate turns out to be optimistic, if a dispute arises over volume or grade, or if a buyer simply stalls, you’re left waiting, or left short.
Cash-First removes that risk entirely. Once you’ve agreed to a price, that price is yours — no matter what happens after.
Why You Can Trust a Hillcrest Estimate
Hillcrest Lumber has been buying timber in Ohio since 1974. We’re not guessing at what a mill might eventually pay for your logs because we own the mill. That means the price we offer you is grounded in what we know your timber is actually worth today, not a speculative number we hope holds up once it’s sold.
We supply lumber directly to local Amish craftsmen and furniture makers. Our name and our word are what keep that relationship going, harvest after harvest. Lowballing you or leaving you waiting on a payment is not who we are.
What Happens Next
Once you’ve accepted our proposal and been paid, the harvest itself follows a clear, communicated process.
Visit Our Process to see exactly what to expect once the crew arrives.