Did Grey Fox Farm get sold? The Property?

[Blume_Farm]

Well I am happy to say where I live! Central NC, about 25 miles west of Chapel Hill. 75 acres on my corner just sold for about $450K, had a small 1 bedroom house (not fancy, but cute), so has electric, well, etc. It was about 1/2 pasture 1/2 hard woods/ pine. Lovely piece of land. There is 10 acres for sale just down the road from me for about $80k, raw land but all in gorgeous pasture in a super neighborhood. My neighbrs just sold their place last week (to move across the street to a bigger house) and it was 8acres in pasture, 3 bedroom 1920s bungalow house (that needed some updating, but still cute house), custom 3 stall barn with tack room, wash stall and huge hay loft…all for $200K. My area is mostly a mix of custom built homes and old homesteads (ie; not a lot of run down trailers and such) on 10-100 acre pieces of land, not in developments (so no covenants), super horse friendly, great parks to trail ride, great horse shows within 1-2 hours drive, great infrastucture with all the universities and RTP, good jobs, good weather, great riding trainers.

So I consider my area ideal! And am happy to share it with other horsie folks as I think the more horse neighbors the merrier. I want those neighbors versus someone that doesn’t have animals.

[magicteetango]

What are your hay prices like Blume? DH and I have talked about someday moving further south and that sounds ideal… we live in Central PA and I thought our property values were cheap… but those are great prices and boy would I love it to be warmer!

[Blume_Farm]

40# square bales out of a local field (fescue/ orchard mix mostly) ranges from $5-7/ bale. Right now I am paying for 70# “imported” all timothy about $11/ bale, but I think if I had the time to search I could find that cheaper.

We also have great farrier,equine massage/chiropractic/body work and vet resources, as well as NC State Veterinary School within 1hrs drive. There are show grounds within an hour of me in Raleigh and Pinehurst. About a 2hr drive is Williamston show grounds which are really nice and host the BLMs and Region 1 Championships on alternate years.

I am about 45 minutes from Southern Pines which is real horse central around here. However, farm prices there are super expensive. There is the Moss Foundation in SP that is a 2K acre park solely reserved for horseback riding on lots and lots of trails. Land between me and SP is even cheaper if you don’t mind being in even more rural country.

I would love for this area to build up further to horse central to become a show stopping ground between Wellington and NY.

[QUOTE=magicteetango;7070149]
What are your hay prices like Blume? DH and I have talked about someday moving further south and that sounds ideal… we live in Central PA and I thought our property values were cheap… but those are great prices and boy would I love it to be warmer![/QUOTE]

[SquishTheBunny]

Omg, my postage stamp size lot, with my tiny 3 bedroom house within arms distance of the neighbors is $450,000

Dont ask me twice if I’d trade it up for 75 acres with a 1 bedroom house. man…I gotta relocate!

[ise]

Well after seeing those photos of what the place looked like - unless they took this house down to the studs - there could still be issues with what is in the walls and under the floors.

[vineyridge]

Back pre Civil War, the best place to breed horses in the US was Middle Tennessee. That’s where I’d look for decent taxes–ag exemption available; no income tax; and comparatively cheap land. No water problems, either, and very limited government regulation.

http://www.farmlandsearch.com/tennessee-farmland-for-sale

[Mardi]

[QUOTE=candico;7065604]
It states that “some photos are virtually staged”. What does that mean? Kind of like how she made it look like her foals grew up in grass pastures?[/QUOTE]

Yes. Although with the foal photos, the grass was real, just the location was faux (reportedly it was a neighbor’s property).

Real estate photos that are virtually staged means Photo-shopped. So that nice hardwood floor in a photo may not actually be there. The photo depicts what it would look like if YOU put in a hardwood floor.

[Home_Again_Farm]

[QUOTE=Mardi;7070604]
Yes. Although with the foal photos, the grass was real, just the location was faux (reportedly it was a neighbor’s property).

Real estate photos that are virtually staged means Photo-shopped. So that nice hardwood floor in a photo may not actually be there. The photo depicts what it would look like if YOU put in a hardwood floor.[/QUOTE]

Seriously? Oh my, talk about buyer beware! Yikes.

[mbm]

really? i thought"staged" meant furniture… not the actual floors/walls/etc.

seems like that would be false advertising?

[Indy-lou]

Wow! and Really? on the “virtually staged”. That’s ridiculous! I guess it gets people to come in and look. Even with a disclaimer, that is stretching the bounds of false advertising, imo.

[MysticOakRanch]

[QUOTE=mbm;7070771]
really? i thought"staged" meant furniture… not the actual floors/walls/etc.

seems like that would be false advertising?[/QUOTE]

That was what I was thinking too - I’d be pissed to show up and fine out the hardwood floors are actually peeling linoleum!!! Yikes.

[Mardi]

One of the brokers on Million Dollar Listing (New York) got into a heap o’trouble for doing that.

[Kyzteke]

[QUOTE=vineyridge;7070558]
Back pre Civil War, the best place to breed horses in the US was Middle Tennessee. That’s where I’d look for decent taxes–ag exemption available; no income tax; and comparatively cheap land. No water problems, either, and very limited government regulation.

http://www.farmlandsearch.com/tennessee-farmland-for-sale[/QUOTE]

My father’s people were from this area and I still have plenty of cousins there. I spent many summers on the farm as a kid.

In my racetrack days I also lived in Aiken SC and am very familiar with Pinehurst NC, as my Dad lived in that area for a time as well.

They are nice areas and winters are mild - -but oh, the summers!! Considering I was raised in this stuff, I really have grown to hate the humidity and heat of a Southern summer. I recall helping a man get his hay in early June (I think)…geezes, I think I sweated off about a million lbs!!

However, I have to say nothing that we have here can compare to a Southern spring. Then all the flowering plants fill the air with this lovely perfume so the “heavy” air is a real delight…while here it’s so dry your nasal passages basically close from lack of moisture…:yes:

Again, “Heaven” is different for us all (thank goodness we don’t all want to live in the same place!) – but to me, the lack of bugs (and all the diseases they bring), snakes, humidity, and people, plus the addition of truly wild public lands all around (I see moose cross my pasture fairly often), coupled with (fairly) cheap land is a big draw.

But this certainly isn’t the only good “horse” place. Most of the South and the Midwest also offer more bang for your buck that places like CA (or, apparently, Ottawa).

[MysticOakRanch]

Cali is expensive, but there are major benefits that you are paying for. Lots of shows (and inspections), lots of clinics - and easy access (lots of airports). Oh, and lots of people:lol: Our winters are easy - some mud, some fog, but we are shocked when night time lows go into the high 20s:lol: And summer may get hot, but at least dry - humidity is rare. If you live near the coast, there is no heat, but it is really expensive just about anywhere near the ocean.

Hay is expensive, but if you are paying $7 for a 40 pound bale, that doesn’t sound like a screaming deal either. I paid $13 this year for 3 string bales delivered - that was for an entire truckload, individual bales are running around $15 - 17, but they are 100+ bales. Do the math, it isn’t much different.

And food - omg, our choices - we are the “fruit and breadbasket” state - so much wonderful produce - I’m always in shock when I travel out of state and visit a grocery store - the produce often looks sad.

It isn’t a perfect place, but there is a reason it is expensive. And we don’t have tornados and hurricanes - just plane crashes and the rare earthquake:cool: I’m a wimp, I couldn’t survive too many cold winters!

[ise]

I love Aiken and went to Southern Pines this spring for the Steeplechase. Great horse country but I have be honest …I did get really tired of seeing Pine trees! I think here in the Mid-Atlantic we have such a variety of trees and not just Pines. If we could have the Carolina winters here in NJ, I would vote for that.
We do have Farm Land assessment here in NJ - if we didn’t there wouldn’t be any farming - taxes are hideously high.

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=mbm;7070771]
really? i thought"staged" meant furniture… not the actual floors/walls/etc.

seems like that would be false advertising?[/QUOTE]

No, that’s “home staging”. “Virtual” staging means photoshop! Here’s how it works. http://realestate.yourmoney.ca/2011/11/virtual-staging-the-latest-in-real-estate-technology-.html

and some before and after photos: http://obeo.com/public/solutions/vsbeforeafter.aspx

…so, it is entirely possible that there is still dog poop on the floor and dead chickens in the bathtub. :dead: It’s sad really. Beautiful home, beautiful property, beautiful horses…and all gone to s*&t! :no:

[Blume_Farm]

Daventry…At least all those samples of “virtual staging” is just photoshopping in furniture and accessories. At GFF it looks like they painted the exterior of the house, put in pristine hardwood floors, etc!!!

Mystic…I lived in Northern CA for 11 years and do miss parts terribly. However, hay prices may not be too different but I only feed hay 3 months a year! Actually last winter was so mild that I didn’t feed any hay as the pastures stayed nice all year:) That is with 4 horses on 5 acres of pasture. I can honestly say the cost of living here is significantly cheaper and have fabulous shows, clinics, trainers, etc. We also have great vacation areas such as Asheville, Outerbanks, Charleston, Williamsburg, etc. The humidity here can be a bitch, but 90 and humid versus 110 and dry just sucks all around! Now if I won the jackpot lottery I could easily be tempted to move to Sonoma/ Napa area:) However, the central valley…well…not so much. We also don’t have water issues and fires like I did in Northern CA. And thankfully where I live now hurricanes are not really an issue. I do miss being a “west coast” girl sometimes and love Cali, but just want folks looking to move to the east coast to know that central NC is fabulous!!

ise…I hear you about all those pine tress in SP! I too much prefer a mix of hardwood trees. But boy those fancy farms on Youngs Rd are stunning!! I do love riding in the Moss Foundation in SP and it is only a 45 minute drive from my place.

[mbm]

fwiw, i think that it would be considered false advertising to actually photoshop the “actual” house… the virtual staging is furniture - NOT the actual house. Look closely at those pics of virtual staging - no changes were done to teh houses… just furniture and fuxtures.

and it is totally possible that the interior of the house was competly redone… that happens all.the.time !

[horsenut93136]

can’t say for sure,but I really don’t think someone paid 895k? for something that was in the shape it was when Jill left,I think the bank had it at 580something? so someone probably put the money into revamping and still would have made a hefty profit

[Lazy-Pony]

[QUOTE=Kyzteke;7068700]
Funny, we have CA (and OR) people moving here in droves…and now I can see why! Of course prices are much higher now, but 15yrs ago I bought my little place (a shy 10 acres) w/ a 3 bedroom, older mobile (but still totally liveable) on it + well (120 gpm) + electric + a home-made “shop” that I converted to a 2 stall barn w/storage for about 10 tons of hay…I borrowed afew $1000 more to have it fenced.

Total price: $55,000! Even now, I doubt I could get more than $150,000 for it.

Taxes are a whopping $650 A YEAR!

It seems one of the only places I could really afford to raise horses on…

If you want to raise horses, (in my mind) it isn’t “heaven” unless you never have to worry about drought, you have access to lots of inexpensive, high-quality hay, and where you live “appreciates” an aggie/farming type of activity.

The only real downside to my area is it’s difficult to get people to come look at horses…CA (or even TX) would be much easier…[/QUOTE]

I was thinking it sounds a lot like Idaho. I have some relatives with a small farm in the southern part of the state…and even though it’s rather chilly in the winter and sort of a proverbial black-hole for horse related events, it certainly is a place I wouldn’t mind ending up in.