Zillow is 110% inaccurate for this sort of thing. They might be close for a house in a urban community with a lot of very similar recently sold comps nearby. They have no clue what your place is worth, so don’t get discouraged by whatever number they’re throwing at you.
3 Likes
Plus Zillow’s estimate is based on nothing but property size and tax records.
Horse facilities and other improvements don’t add a ton of value, but they add something.
Prices are so bonkers right now, at least in my area. My mom is looking to downsize and move closer to us, so I’ve been casually perusing what’s available in the nearby towns. I didn’t think prices could get any higher than the pandemic/low interest rate period of time. But they just continue to skyrocket and inventory hasn’t improved. Who is buying these properties?!?
3 Likes
If selling is in your 5-10 year plan it may be worth talking to some local real estate or mortgage lending pros.
It may be that investing in a kitchen remodel will get you a better ROI than fencing (unless or course you need that now for the safety of your heard), because more buyers out there are looking for a nice house and location that happens to gave acreage than are looking for a farm.
I have thought about that; the real estate people I know are more residential, suburban type realtors. So I do wonder what experience they have considering the small farm for sale.
As for a kitchen - I will definitely plan on new appliances, etc. but it’s a custom built log kitchen so it has a big oak counter top and people were aghasted that I would consider taking it out. So probably it is a selling point, but new appliances, as well as the floor would make it look quite nice.
And again - its hard to know what would draw someone to this property. If you’re looking for a farm within reasonable commute to the major downtown area - this is one of few. If you’re looking for a bigger farm, and don’t need the commute - it’s likely we’re just the wrong area/property. You can get more bang for your buck an hour further away from the city.
So…fencing, landscaping, new garage doors…definitely. Maybe new windows, and probably exterior strip/stain would be good. But I hate to do more without checking with anyone on that. And then of course there is the barn and horse areas to consider.
It’s totally worth finding a realtor with experience in farms. They know how to market, they know how to write it up, they know how to get the pictures that interest the groups of people that will value your property.
Looking through the properties with land that have sold within the last couple years may give you a few starting points. While it’s sad to sell to someone who isn’t going to use it for horses (happened to us with our last place, siiiiigh) there are a lot of other types of hobbies and businesses that want the space. Reaching horse people and those other groups is your best bet.
I’m in Virginia and we own 10 acres. Of that, 5 acres is pasture, but one of the pastures has a large riding arena, so just over 4 acres is likely actual grass/turnout. I have 4 drylots - 1 which is used daily by Fat Pony and the other 3 which are backup for rough times on the pastures. I rotate pastures and this is MORE than enough pasture for my 3 horses who are turned out on a roughly 12/12 schedule. YMMV but this setup has worked well enough that we never finished fencing the back pasture which would have added another 2 acres of grass.
I have about 6 acres of pasture with three horses on it. They have tons of room to run. I use temporary fencing to set up rotational pastures and have a sacrifice area. They eat hardly any hay through the summer with this amount of pasture. About two thirds of my pasture floods in the fall and ices up in the winter, so when I briefly had 5 horses on the property, everyone was a bit grumpy about the reduced room over winter.
I originally also wanted tons of acreage with privacy, but I have found it helpful to have neighbours who can see me because they just magically show up with the right tools if they notice me struggling with something. Because I run the farm completely on my own, I also appreciate having less land to tend to. I do have access to neighbouring land where I was allowed to set up trails. I get to use the land if I maintain the trails, so that works out nicely.
9 Likes
This is a big deal.
Good neighbors are a blessing
4 Likes
Agreed! In my family, the farm is my hobby and my husband has nothing to do with it. He once commented that I put almost as much time into neighbour relations as I put into horse care. I will drop everything if a neighbour calls for help because I rely on them to do the same for me.
6 Likes
I got a phone call this morning from a neighbor who encountered cattle on our lane that they assumed were ours. They were not ours and the neighbor apologized for calling us, but I told him we would rather he call because even if they are not ours we will always be available to help get them back to their rightful home.
We are very, very lucky to have The. Best. Neighbors. Ever. We want to be able to help and give back whenever we can because our neighbors always come running when we need them.
4 Likes
Speaking of neighbors, one of mine just brought me a lovely flowering vine from his landscape supply store and then came back with his tractor and boom sprayer and did one of my paddocks. He’s going to disc and fluff it for me too so I can reseed. Talk about a huge favor!
3 Likes
That’s a good neighbor right there!
I have one neighbor who, in addition to just being a delightful person, is also the garden fairy who shows up to rototill my veggie garden in the late fall and early spring.
2 Likes
Nice!
It’s amazing how many beautiful humans are out there!
1 Like
I think it depends alot on where you live. In some parts of the country, grass grows crazy. Here (Colorado) we are fairly barren. I have 3 horses on 6 acres and it is definitely NOT enough to sustain the turnout my horses like and the grass. I overseed every year (early March) and fertilize and spray weed killer in the summer months. Still, my grass is sparse because the horses will eat it to the dirt. I have runs, three paddocks and two pastures and I even use my driveway lane. It was really important for me to build long runs, with overhangs from the barn, and very good granite fines footing, in order to keep my horses in sometimes so that I don’t live on a desert. I rotate Every DAY. They are in each turnout 1-2 times a week, supplemented with hay, and they will still eat the grass to the dirt. On this 6 acres is my home, yard, driveway, barn, and arena, so the horses do not have access to a total 6 acres. Some of my neighbors keep their horses in runs only, so their grass looks great, and they give limited grazing at the end of the season. I don’t do that because mine need the turnout and socialization. So I deal. If I had to pick how big a property for 3 horses, I’d say 35 acres here. YMMV.
