Barn, Shed & Facilities Designs to Improve Resale Value of Property

[PeteyPie]

Gloria posted an interesting comment on the thread about whether you like having your horses at home with you. She said,

I love having my horses at home as it allows me to ride much more than otherwise. However, financially, it is a disaster. When all said and done, the small barn we built cost us 80K. When figuring fences and all the equipment necessary to run a small farm (15 acres), it is easily more than 150K investment, and we don’t even have indoor arena. Assuming boarding is $500 a month, that is twenty five years of boarding, with someone else to muck the stall and feed!

It seems like a barn and fencing would be capital improvements, but several people have commented on the fact that horse facilities do not add much to the value of the property, they are kind of like a swimming pool; some people want them and some don’t. On the other hand, a garage or shop always add value, probably equal to the cost of building the basic structure. So in light of that, has anyone built a barn or shed with an eye toward future resale and flexibility in design? I’m thinking of things like building a barn with stalls in the center (which could be removed) so the barn could easily be sold as a shop or large garage.

In the old days, they had the carriage houses which make such beautiful conversions because the architecture was charming.

I can’t think of how to make fencing pay for itself.

So any comments or experience in selling a horse property and appealing to a wider audience than just horse people? For those who have added horse facilities, how have your barns and structures affected the appraised value or tax value of your property?

[Blume_Farm]

I think it also really depends on where you are. If you are in Wellington, Southern Pines or other horse centric neighborhoods then all those things have direct value improvements. If you live in the middle of upstate NY surrounded by farm land the value will not be as great.

For example, I live in central NC about 1 hour from Southern Pines. All my horse improvements will not be as valuable as if I lived there but it is still pretty good as we have many, many horse farms in my area.

[normandy_shores]

We live in rural nowhere. Nobody stalls horses, mostly pastures with run ins.

That said, there’s a rickety old shed that the previous owners used for tack and feed, with a covered wood shed area off the side. They added a makeshift area behind for chickens or something.

We plan to rebuild it. I want a tack/feed room, a covered groom area, and a woodshed. We decided doing it linear, with 3 bays, gives it the most flexibility. Somebody could use the woodshed on one end or the groom bay on the they as a lean-to or run in, or convert for chickens, or park equipment, etc. the whole design is to make the walls as easy to reconfigure as possible so you could leave the end open or leave it so the front and back are open with a closed end.

We know we won’t get value or use out of an equestrian barn as I’m used to. Our property is only 5 acres with a big ring and maybe 2.5 acres in small fields. We figure doing it how we’re doing will give us the best use and also make it slightly more appealing to equestrians, as that’s who would buy our place.

We also have a huge shop (think logging truck size) and a 25 x 25 covered structure that I park the trailer under. Shop has a massive hay shed attached, can store 400 squares.

[normandy_shores]

Oh, recently saw a big property that was mostly hay but also had horses. It was fenced entirely with temporary metal fencing. Expensive, but it goes with you when you leave and let’s you reconfigure your fencing as needed. They can rotate the horses to a different part of the field year to year as well. The horses still had probably 5 acres.

[Sweetums_Mom]

We built a 30 X 50 pole barn and have 6 stalls made with priefert frames and wood on all four sides, meaning nothing is attached to the barn itself. The floor is all gravel with mats down the aisleway. If necessary, we could sell the stalls and would be left with an empty pole barn.

Built on to the original barn is an additional 20 x 50 side which has the tack room and a run in shed. I assume this could be used to store stuff or vehicles. We also have a second small shed perpendicular to the main shed. We also have a separate large 3 sided shed with two bays that house the hay and sawdust. It could also be used as storage or for vehicles.

All of our fencing is Electro Braid and other electric ropes so taking it down would be fairly easy.

So what you’re left with for non-horsey folks, is a nice house on 19 acres with outbuildings for whatever they want to use them for. At least that’s what I like to think when it comes time to sell although my DH thinks we will never sell as I would never want to leave and he may be right…:yes:

As far as tax value goes, only the outbuildings had any effect on our place. The outdoor sand ring and fencing meant nothing.

[arapaloosa_lady]

[QUOTE=Blume Farm;7855525]
I think it also really depends on where you are. If you are in Wellington, Southern Pines or other horse centric neighborhoods then all those things have direct value improvements. If you live in the middle of upstate NY surrounded by farm land the value will not be as great.

For example, I live in central NC about 1 hour from Southern Pines. All my horse improvements will not be as valuable as if I lived there but it is still pretty good as we have many, many horse farms in my area.[/QUOTE]

Do you think the added value is actually reflected in the mortgage appraisal?

That’s the problem that I’ve heard around me. The people searching for horse property are willing to pay a premium for nice facilities, but they can’t get a mortgage that will cover that increased price.

[PeteyPie]

[QUOTE=arapaloosa_lady;7856004]
Do you think the added value is actually reflected in the mortgage appraisal?

That’s the problem that I’ve heard around me. The people searching for horse property are willing to pay a premium for nice facilities, but they can’t get a mortgage that will cover that increased price.[/QUOTE]

With my property (which I am still designing) I am considering nixing the detached barn and building a supersized garage, part of which I can use as a barn. That way, it will be attached to the house and it will appraise as a garage. That wouldn’t work for everyone, but since my horses will be out most of the time it would work for me.

I’m sure that part of the equation has to do with the type of farm also. My property is zoned residential. That means the residential use has to be the main purpose. In order to get a mortgage, most residential loans require that the house be 50% or more of the total appraised value, so I can see that might be a consideration if I were to build an arena. Are detached structures considered part of the House percentage or part of the Land percentage?