Your home and farm are gorgeous, bkkone! Best of luck to you!
We put our “horse property” on the FSBO market in December 2011. Listed it on Zillow, Craigslist, Military-by-owner, BIG sign out by the road, and a flat-fee MLS # listing. I used photos I had taken myself, and I was extremely anal about the quality of the photos and what was in them, but they were not professional photos…
Had a few nibbles. Lots of people that wanted to “rent-to-own”. Never felt uncomfortable with the traffic, and at the time I was living at the property alone with my kids, as my husband had already PCS’d to his new base 1500 miles away.
Decided to try a realtor due to running out of time… Asked friends/coworkers for recommendations (they all live in the city). First high-maintenance city-girl realtor out would NOT even step foot off the concrete patio/sidewalk/driveway to look at the horse facilities. Told me my house was only worth $5K more than I had paid for it in 2003. Told her “no thanks” and kept searching…
Found out that Coldwell Banker in NW OKC had a “farm and ranch” division, and they sent out a realtor. Guy pulled up in a Dodge 3500, and got out in his well worn cowboy boots and cowboy hat. I knew immediately that he would get the job done right! He was very careful to describe the property in detail in the ad, including the horse facilities. BEST PART was his commission included a professional stager and wide-angle photographer to take photos for the listing. Those pics were AMAZING, and I am positive that is why we had so much traffic so fast! Property was listed for 3 days, 6 offers, accepted the one for well OVER our asking price. Oh, and we sold it for $45K MORE than snotty city realtor lady said we would get!
Will I try FSBO again - yes, I will, if time is not a factor. But if I have time constraints again, I will go with a realtor - BUT I will find a “horse” realtor, never a regular realtor who doesn’t have a clue what they are selling.
Oh, and because I had a mouthy stallion on the property, and you had to walk past him/thru his paddock to get to the barn from the house, I insisted that MY realtor be present at all showings so he could prevent anyone from getting hurt by a horse, or letting a horse loose. I will definitely insist on the same thing again. I do not want “non-horse” people wandering all over the property, leaving gates open, etc.
And, as a Coldwell Banker realtor in NJ & PA who works with buyers and sellers of horse properties, yes - it never hurts to show up in your “farm truck”. Just be sure when you open your mouth, you know what you’re talking about!
[QUOTE=moving to dc;7376075]
We put our “horse property” on the FSBO market in December 2011. Listed it on Zillow, Craigslist, Military-by-owner, BIG sign out by the road, and a flat-fee MLS # listing. I used photos I had taken myself, and I was extremely anal about the quality of the photos and what was in them, but they were not professional photos…
Had a few nibbles. Lots of people that wanted to “rent-to-own”. Never felt uncomfortable with the traffic, and at the time I was living at the property alone with my kids, as my husband had already PCS’d to his new base 1500 miles away.
Decided to try a realtor due to running out of time… Asked friends/coworkers for recommendations (they all live in the city). First high-maintenance city-girl realtor out would NOT even step foot off the concrete patio/sidewalk/driveway to look at the horse facilities. Told me my house was only worth $5K more than I had paid for it in 2003. Told her “no thanks” and kept searching…
Found out that Coldwell Banker in NW OKC had a “farm and ranch” division, and they sent out a realtor. Guy pulled up in a Dodge 3500, and got out in his well worn cowboy boots and cowboy hat. I knew immediately that he would get the job done right! He was very careful to describe the property in detail in the ad, including the horse facilities. BEST PART was his commission included a professional stager and wide-angle photographer to take photos for the listing. Those pics were AMAZING, and I am positive that is why we had so much traffic so fast! Property was listed for 3 days, 6 offers, accepted the one for well OVER our asking price. Oh, and we sold it for $45K MORE than snotty city realtor lady said we would get!
Will I try FSBO again - yes, I will, if time is not a factor. But if I have time constraints again, I will go with a realtor - BUT I will find a “horse” realtor, never a regular realtor who doesn’t have a clue what they are selling.
Oh, and because I had a mouthy stallion on the property, and you had to walk past him/thru his paddock to get to the barn from the house, I insisted that MY realtor be present at all showings so he could prevent anyone from getting hurt by a horse, or letting a horse loose. I will definitely insist on the same thing again. I do not want “non-horse” people wandering all over the property, leaving gates open, etc.[/QUOTE]
I’ve been watching this thread and thought I’d chime in as our farm is currently under contract.
Long story story short- we bought our farm 3 years ago after it had been on the market for over 1 1/2 years. My husband changed jobs last year, allowing us to live anywhere in the US as long as he has the ability to get to an airport in a reasonable amount of time. Ready for a change from the central PA winters, we took a trip to a target area mid December and looked at properties and made the decision to relocate.
We contacted an auctioneer in Lancaster County, PA, who is well known for his marketing skills and drawing a fairly competitive crowd on sale day. We met with him on December 23rd with the intention of reviewing his information and signing with him later that week. We were going to schedule an auction for mid April after things were starting to green up, the farm was looking prime and allowing adequate time for marketing. His commission on an auction is 4% and marketing costs between $2800- $3800 depending on how heavily you want the property marketed.
When we called the auctioneer back to sign the paperwork, he told us to hold off for a day as he thought he had a buyer. The husband saw the property December 28th and again with his wife on December 31st and we had a signed contact with a deposit check for 10% of purchase price on January 5th. There are no inspections- property is being sold as is- and no contingencies. We set the price and got what we were asking for and made a profit. Oh, and the deal was done for 4% commission plus no marketing costs.
My parents could not understand why we would go to auction- that is something you do if you are desperate or are being forced into a sheriff’s sale, but in this part of PA near Lancaster County, it is very common, especially for small farms with some acreage.
We knew our auctioneer’s reputation and had attended previous sales he had done. We also knew he was “well connected” because he had been in the business so long. He also has a real estate office where he has 42 agents so his reach is far. Our buyers had been a couple who had been second to the last bidders on a local farm 2 miles from us in October.
We could never understand why the owner previous to us had never gone the public sale route as the farm had been listed with huge price reductions for over 18 months before we bought it and we were still able to negotiate close to 25% off listing price when we bought it.
I would highly recommend looking at a public sale or auction.
[QUOTE=Herze;7375785]
Your home and farm are gorgeous, bkkone! Best of luck to you![/QUOTE]
Thanks so much Herze…we have loved it here
I have also been following this thread as my husband and I have decided to sell our farm.
We will be using an agent. We interviewed three different agents and it has been an eye opening experience. Even when they show comps it is still an apples to oranges comparison.
Some of the points brought out in this thread have me a teeny bit worried regarding safety. I would assume the agent would be with the people touring the house but is this naive on my part?
Because it is a horse farm, I plan on staying on the property to answer questions and make sure no one goes into the pastures, etc. I also need to take the dogs out because they are noisy when strangers come to visit.
We are in the midst of preparing for staging and I am shocked by the amount of time it takes. I’m hoping the weather warms up soon so I can tackle the barn too. We’ve been here since 1987 and we have accumulated too much stuff. I’ve sold 13 blankets in the past 2 weeks and those were the ones I wasn’t using!
Good luck to everyone with their farms on the market. Maybe we should start a support group!
[QUOTE=mkevent;7388062]
I have also been following this thread as my husband and I have decided to sell our farm.
We will be using an agent. We interviewed three different agents and it has been an eye opening experience. Even when they show comps it is still an apples to oranges comparison.
Some of the points brought out in this thread have me a teeny bit worried regarding safety. I would assume the agent would be with the people touring the house but is this naive on my part?
Because it is a horse farm, I plan on staying on the property to answer questions and make sure no one goes into the pastures, etc. I also need to take the dogs out because they are noisy when strangers come to visit.
We are in the midst of preparing for staging and I am shocked by the amount of time it takes. I’m hoping the weather warms up soon so I can tackle the barn too. We’ve been here since 1987 and we have accumulated too much stuff. I’ve sold 13 blankets in the past 2 weeks and those were the ones I wasn’t using!
Good luck to everyone with their farms on the market. Maybe we should start a support group![/QUOTE]
My agents are here when we have a showing and I stay in the barn or ride while people are here. We try to stay out of everyone’s way, but at the same time I’m not comfortable having people roaming around (and potentially opening and leaving open gates, etc) without some supervision. It’s a fine line. I have a small dog and a cat and I either put them in the car or have them in the barn with me.
I would be totally on board with a horse property for sale support group. It’s a totally unique experience.
Wow there are some really gorgeous properties on this thread!!
I’m up for a support group if anyone is interested!
For those selling their farms, where are you going?
I’m glad that you interviewed agents. It’s so important that the agent hustles and works for you not just do the listing and kick back. One agent I had out only shared mags she advertised in…no comps. Told me to get a bank appraisal. I didn’t know this was a common practice but I do think it’s a very good idea.
Yes… the staging is soooo important! I think people need to feel the dream not think this place is packed or messy or needs work. I made it my goal to have this place immaculate.
Before a showing I spent many hours cleaning and making sure everything looks great! So far most showings are people that are just checking out the area for future moves. All seems to love the place.
all I know is:
I want your house, your farm, and your barn, and your location!!! And your price seems like a dream! What love the entire property exudes.
An important thing that many people forget is real estate may be personal to you, but it’s business to everyone else. I’ve known people to pick the nice agent, the one they want to have for a friend, and pass up another agent who may not be as nice, but who sells property. My last house sale was by an agent I personally didn’t really like, but I knew she would price the place right, market it well, and get the sale done, and she did. However, I’m not going be lifelong friends with her, and am happy that she did the job. And marketing a property only to one segment of the buying pool, and ignoring other potential buyers who might want to raise other animals than horses, or use the indoor for a giant garage is a mistake. It’s hard to cut the ties to a place you’ve poured your time and money into, and loved, but it’s part of moving forward.
[QUOTE=JanM;7390453]
An important thing that many people forget is real estate may be personal to you, but it’s business to everyone else.
It’s hard to cut the ties to a place you’ve poured your time and money into, and loved, but it’s part of moving forward.[/QUOTE]
So very true. I know when I go to put my farm on the market, I’m hope I’m able to look at it like my Mother did to the home that she and Dad built. For yrs she kept up a place that she had difficulty taking care of. In those days, there weren’t lawn mowing services and for her to keep the 4+ acres in suburbia mowed and gardens maintained was a hardship. She was able to get help to take care of the interior of the home thankfully. I think she always thought my brother or I may eventually move back and would take over maintenance. When she finally realized that we weren’t going to move back to PA she finally put the home on the market. I remember her saying she didn’t care if she got back financially what she and Dad had put into it because you can’t put a price on love. The home served us well but we had all grown out of it and it had served it’s purpose. She figured if all she took from it were the wonderful memories over the yrs that was enough for her. 
If you are selling FSBO, or even if you have an agent, have a really picky friend come over, look around, and tell you if the home is decluttered enough, clean enough, and if there are any interesting aromas.
[QUOTE=JanM;7391264]
If you are selling FSBO, or even if you have an agent, have a really picky friend come over, look around, and tell you if the home is decluttered enough, clean enough, and if there are any interesting aromas.[/QUOTE]
Better have a friend of a friend. It’s hard not to take it personally and be irritated with the friend.
[QUOTE=JanWeber;7376098]
And, as a Coldwell Banker realtor in NJ & PA who works with buyers and sellers of horse properties, yes - it never hurts to show up in your “farm truck”. Just be sure when you open your mouth, you know what you’re talking about![/QUOTE]
How is the farm(ette) market in the SE PA area these days? We’ve been sitting on/ renting out a small horse property for years in that area (happily with a history of good renters and none of the horror stories). Always thought we’d go back to it but getting less and less likely. I quail at the thought of the things we need to do however to get it ready to sell…especially after reading this thread.
Petey-exactly right. Get someone who isn’t worried about hurting your feelings, who will be brutally honest, and maybe someone who watches a lot of HGTV, and goes on home tours. The more honest and blunt, the better they would be. I think the selling process, and disassociating should start with attitude, such as, stop calling the place home, but house, and try to act as if it’s no longer yours, because there’s nothing worse than a house seller who get offended that the buyer wants to repaint, or take down wallpaper, or change things to their own taste.
[QUOTE=JanM;7392406]
Petey-exactly right. Get someone who isn’t worried about hurting your feelings, will be brutally honest, and maybe someone who watches a lot of HGTV, and goes on home tours. The more honest and blunt, the better they would be. I think the selling process, and disassociating should start with attitude, such as, stop calling the place home, but house, and try to act as if it’s no longer yours, because there’s nothing worse than a house seller who get offended that the buyer wants to repaint, or take down wallpaper, or change things to their own taste.[/QUOTE]
Then, the thing is to do it. Bkkone’s place looks very nice, so this is not directed at her, but I have realtor friends who are always frustrated at clients who will not take their advice when it comes to basic tasks which can make the property more sell-able and even make it sell for a higher price. Bidding wars happen when a house is worth X but it is so appealing that several people fall in love with it. What seller wouldn’t want that to happen?
So when the realtor says to get rid of furniture, don’t take it personally! You are moving anyway, so just put the stuff in storage – it’s one less last-minute moving chore. Same with clothes in your closet. The more you pack up and remove now, the easier it will be to finish the job when you sell your house.
And when you have a high-end KitchenAid mixer and a beautiful toaster and a new microwave which matches your stove and the latest-greatest espresso machine and a coffeepot and a breadmaker and a few canisters and a beautiful jar of pickled lemons and a row of gourmet cookbooks on your counter, IT IS CLUTTER! Calling it clutter doesn’t mean you have to throw it away! Just clear off your counters like the nice realtor tells you.
I’d even go so far as to say that if you chose a realtor whose commission does not include a professional stager and wide-angle photographer (or if you list by-owner), then HIRE ONE! I can almost bet you will earn that cost back in the increased traffic to your property. The pictures on an online ad are often what attracts the buyer and brings the offers - GOOD pictures are priceless!
The stager that worked on my house in 2012 was extremely reasonable. She worked with what I had, and didn’t ask me to make any wild purchases to stage the property. I told her up front that I wasn’t necessarily willing to gut my house of personal items and make it “generic” and she was still able to tweak the décor of my house to make it appear generic, yet keep it homey for me and my kids.
If I can log on to my old photobucket account and link it here, I will show you all the pictures she took so you can see the difference compared to most/many real estate ad photos…
And yes, I rented a storage unit to put items in. Mostly what was stored in our 3-car garage, so it looked like a garage!
Also, cats and dogs can be “stashed” in a horse trailer during showings. Crates or not, that’s up to you. Sometimes a trailer is an easier option than loading everything up in a personal vehicle. And of course, be aware of the outdoor temps and don’t cook/freeze them! And take your litter boxes and feed dishes out of the house, too!
[QUOTE=moving to dc;7393550]
I’d even go so far as to say that if you chose a realtor whose commission does not include a professional stager and wide-angle photographer (or if you list by-owner), then HIRE ONE! I can almost bet you will earn that cost back in the increased traffic to your property. The pictures on an online ad are often what attracts the buyer and brings the offers - GOOD pictures are priceless! [/QUOTE]
Totally! My sister has horse property in Virginia that she has with a realtor. I was horrified when I saw the realtor’s pics on mls! None of the inside, 3 pics of the heat pumps, lots of fencing pics, and my fav one of an old electric charger. Seriously?
