PNWJumper - I feel like I remember your house listing as your sig line, no? Is that allowed? Am I mis-remembering?
VXF - THANK YOU!
[QUOTE=MIKES MCS;7358843]
Since your in CT, I would list it in any of the Race Track Publications For New York and New Jersey , Often you will find Race Horse Owners who would like a small farm to retire their former racehorses to have a couple Broodmares at.[/QUOTE]
I never would have thought of this! Excellent!
/\ a good thought, but not likely in this area. Fairfield county real estate ($) is not really broodmare country!!
OP – are you working with a specialized agent, one who is active in the show/local scene?
[QUOTE=tucktaway;7359797]
/\ a good thought, but not likely in this area. Fairfield county real estate ($) is not really broodmare country!!
OP – are you working with a specialized agent, one who is active in the show/local scene?[/QUOTE]
No, not a horse specialist. We have a relocation specialist as part of our package, BUT a good one, I think.
[QUOTE=SonnysMom;7358774]
We have 2 local horse classified newspapers that comes out monthly- Equine Exchange and Horse of DE Valley. Don’t you have The Yankee Peddler or something like that?
Hang up a nice ad at the local tack stores.
Try to go with a horse property savvy Realtor. I drive by a local farm that is for sale. I looked it up online. The ad is awful. So here is what not to do:
First pictures that come up on the listing are of the house from the back- not very pretty.
There is a small bank barn and there are trash cans scattered around.
One very artistic looking photo shows a rail of the split rail fence down- That would make me wonder about condition of fencing and see $$$ needed.
The verbage indicates riding ring and paddock- both singular.
The property actually has an indoor and outdoor riding ring. The indoor has stalls. There is no mention of the indoor. No mention of how many stalls in the main barn. No mention of how many stalls in the bank barn. Are there tack rooms? Wash stalls? Laundry facilities, observation lounge, bathrooms in the main barn? Who knows?
No mention of how much of the property is fenced for horses. No dimensions on the the indoor or outdoor rings or type of footing.
The property has way more than 1 paddock. There are multiple paddocks and a big pasture.
No pictures of the interior of the main barn or the indoor.
In person there is a tree down on the front fenceline that has been there a few months now. Great first impression. This was an A/AA circuit show barn.
In my area horse properties tend to list the horse amenities first in more detail and then the basics of the house unless it is a fabulous house that happens to have a small backyard set up for a couple of equines to live there. If it is a true farmette we all want the horse stuff first and in more detail. The house just is along for the ride and needs to be liveable. Okay, not quite.
I would really take the time to go over what the Realtor is going to put in the MLS listing regarding the barn, pastures, ring, fencing, tackroom, number/size of stalls, wash stall, run-in sheds, hay storage, fenced acreage. Think about the things that are important to you as a horse owner and list as much of that as you can and get good pictures of the barn/fields, ring etc…
Most Realtors want to focus on the house as that as what normally sells a property. For many horse people the horse amenities is what speaks to us.
If you want to see the farm listing I think is poor, let me know and I will PM you.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
Good points here. Some realtors have NO creative writing skills!! Not to brag, but my web site for the farm is very thorough with good pictures and descriptions. I make my whole site and pictures available to any listing realtor we have signed with to cut and paste…None have even bothered!! Second to last one featured a dead tree at the back of the property with a crane perched in it. His version of “located in a quiet area at the end of a gravel road with frontage on a second gravel road and only one mile from the state highway” read “Only one way in”!! Last realtor did not mention one single amenity on the whole 80 acre, “turn key” horse farm, but put ONLY the dimensions of each and every barn…hay barn, tractor shed, custom stable, foaling barn and every run-in shed. Numbers only, no commas or periods!! AND… his listing on Realtor.com listed it as “sold/unavailable”!! Not all realtors are created equal!! Make sure you check up on every ad the realtor posts!! If you have the skills and the time FSBO is worth a try!!
I’m so sorry. It’s very hard to sell specialty properties sometimes. I have friends who have been trying to sell their horse farm in Santa Fe, NM. At one point they almost sold the horse part with barn, pastures and indoor and planned to break it up to sell the house separately but the deal fell through. When I sold my place in NC I leased it to the future owners for a year first. They had an option to buy and they exercised it at the end of the year. I was never sure that deal was going to go through until it was all signed and done. Flakey right to the end.
Selling your (horse property) real estate is NOT for the faint of heart!!!
Todays Equestrian magazine is also a good advertising option in the tristate area
You may also consider the USEA Area 1 site. You are in an eventing territory, not far from Millbrook or Fitches corners… They are on line and easy to list with…
I would post info at every barn in the area and would also contact the local hunt clubs (Fairfield, Goldens Bridge). If you send a flyer to the hunt secretaries, they might pass it along to their membership.
You could also try the polo clubs – Greenwich Polo Club, Giant Valley, etc.
I rode at Old Salem as a child (then called The Hill) and it’s a very nice area but pricey.
[QUOTE=SidesaddleRider;7359123]
vxf111, I am pretty sure it is this one: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3049-Merlin-Rd_Chester-Springs_PA_19425_M47137-00111?row=11.
Nice place! But the listing agent needs to do their homework…[/QUOTE]
You are correct.
I drive by it everyday. The owner needs to do a little curb appeal. There are rails down everywhere and a tree has been down on the fenceline right by the end of the driveway for a few months.
Sorry you are leaving, Show! I second Ponymom’s recommendation for the Coldwell Banker office if your current agent doesn’t get it sold in a reasonable time frame. They routinely have the the highest number of sales in the area.
Meanwhile, I would make up some nice flyers and put them up in the tack stores; I know Beval has a cork board where there are real estate ads in addition to horse and tack sale flyers. You might want to see if the CHJA would allow you to put an ad on their website also. Definitely tell your vet, farrier and other equine professionals that you are listing the property. They tend to know about people who are looking. Oh, and definitely do a FB page and link your photo album on any “local horsey” FB pages.
Good luck. Unfortunately I know firsthand how difficult that market is for selling property 
Horsemen’s Yankee Pedlar is now Equine Journal. They do have property ads, because that’s the first thing DH turns to when we get it 
. (Not entirely sure how EJ ended up in Farm & Fleet in N IL…?) Here’s their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/EquineJ and their website: http://www.equinejournal.com/
Have a few folks on here review the MLS description.
Go through your photos and use some from spring or summer (whichever showcases the property best) on some of the more detailed brochures (see below). Realtors should be updating listing photos with seasonally appropriate exteriors (nothing screams “I’ve been on the market forever!” like sunny, grassy exteriors at this time of year ) but for the in-home brochures that potential buyers are taking with them, make sure to give them an idea of how the property looks in warmer weather - that could make all the difference to a buyer who isn’t a visual person and can’t see past acres of white snow. Be sure to include descriptions of amenities for each season (i.e., “The enclosed breezeway between the hay storage barn and the main barn is advantageous during the winter for easy care and feeding no matter how windy or snowy it is.”).
Have all marketing materials professionally designed and printed; XpressDocs (http://www.xpressdocs.com/) is fabulous and really high-quality with 48 hour turnaround for very reasonable prices. (Coldwell Banker offices use them, or at least the North Shore office I used to work for in Chicago did; I have rarely to never seen this quality in printed pieces since.) There is NO substitute, especially for multi-million dollar properties; el cheapo inkjet MLS flyers are so tacky at high-end properties. XpressDocs offers multiple sizes and types of materials: large postcards (to keep on you at all times), flyers or foldable 8.5"x11" brochures to hand out to feed stores, farriers, equine professionals, etc.
Think nationally; you never know who is looking to move to the area. Most realtors can get you a personalized URL (i.e., www.2345MeadowbrookLane.com). If you are on Twitter, and following horse folks, tweeting the URL might get some interested parties.
Create a Facebook page (Sage Hill Farms, with the custom URL in the About field), and use it to promote aspects of the property that will appeal to potential buyers. Example: January 8 – photos of Fluffy and Sparky frolicking in their turnouts with run-in sheds & heated water tanks with the caption “Even in X degrees, the horses love having the option of being in their run-in shelters or playing in the snow. The heated water tanks keep fresh water available for them at all times, reducing the chance of impaction colic.” This is another great way to showcase the different perspectives of the property throughout the seasons, without looking outdated or on the market too long.
So what part of Chicagoland did you decide on?
[QUOTE=vxf111;7359155]
Oh well… that’s just several million outside my price range but I agree… lousy listing![/QUOTE]
On that note, I saw on the side another house for sale for a cool 1.9… and the main picture was of a TREE: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3450-Kings-Hwy_Downingtown_PA_19335_M45492-96652. Apparently it’s for parcels for property and not quite a house;-) … but tree pics? Bottom paragraph still applies.
Be aware of which photo you want as your very first image if you are also listing online, and if they work in a way where you can see about 4-5 small thumbnails under the main picture, make SURE those pictures are the most appealing to actually show your property off.
A tree ain’t doin’ it for me, and I’m going to guess it wouldn’t for quite a few people… if it’s just lots like in the ad above, I’d rather see a picture of one of the nice parcels of land… and an actual NICE and flattering picture of it. It’s something simple that is going to just have website visitors simply not even LOOK at your ad if they only get a small taste (title, price, picture)
Is your home coming up as for-sale on Zillow and Trulia? I found those sights invaluable when I was looking.
[QUOTE=horsegal301;7361046]
On that note, I saw on the side another house for sale for a cool 1.9… and the main picture was of a TREE: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3450-Kings-Hwy_Downingtown_PA_19335_M45492-96652. Apparently it’s for parcels for property and not quite a house;-) … but tree pics? Bottom paragraph still applies.
Be aware of which photo you want as your very first image if you are also listing online, and if they work in a way where you can see about 4-5 small thumbnails under the main picture, make SURE those pictures are the most appealing to actually show your property off.
A tree ain’t doin’ it for me, and I’m going to guess it wouldn’t for quite a few people… if it’s just lots like in the ad above, I’d rather see a picture of one of the nice parcels of land… and an actual NICE and flattering picture of it. It’s something simple that is going to just have website visitors simply not even LOOK at your ad if they only get a small taste (title, price, picture)[/QUOTE]
Picture 9 (or 3) would have been a much better choice for the main MLS photo. It never ceases to amaze how really truly freaking l a z y some realtors can be. For the commission on a $1.5 million property (which is probably what it will sell for), spend a couple minutes getting decent photos. Lazy . . . :no:
Considering 90% of homebuyers start their search online, it is inexcusable to have a poor MLS listing.
[QUOTE=showidaho;7359974]
No, not a horse specialist. We have a relocation specialist as part of our package, BUT a good one, I think.[/QUOTE]
If your relocation specialist doesn’t get the prorepty sold within the contract period, I would seriously look into listign with a realtor that specializes in horse property. We bought our property through a horse property specialist, and she knows just about evrey horse prorepty on the market in our area. She also knows how to market horse property.
[QUOTE=Prime Time Rider;7362387]
If your relocation specialist doesn’t get the prorepty sold within the contract period, I would seriously look into listign with a realtor that specializes in horse property. We bought our property through a horse property specialist, and she knows just about evrey horse prorepty on the market in our area. She also knows how to market horse property.[/QUOTE]
Of course! The draw of the relo specialist is that it’s part of our ‘moving package’ which means the company picks up the closing costs, etc associated with the sale and that’s a huge incentive!
I really appreciate ALL of the replies, especially the area-specific ideas.
Lucassb and Ponymom - you two are invaluable resources for this area. When we were moving here your kind words and sage advice made all of the difference!!! I still can’t thank you enough.
[QUOTE=showidaho;7359707]
PNWJumper - I feel like I remember your house listing as your sig line, no? Is that allowed? Am I mis-remembering?
VXF - THANK YOU![/QUOTE]
I had the picture slideshow as my signature for a couple of years. Never had anyone identify themselves as contacting us from here (COTH), though.
I really don’t wish the farm-selling process on my worst enemy :lol: The worst part for us is that my mom (who rode for 30 years) was my real estate agent and STILL struggled with really highlighting the equestrian features of the property. But she did get the photo part right and we had lovely property pictures taken on her direction.
Good luck and I hope you are able to move without too much hassle!
ShowIdaho, it couldn’t hurt to call the Relo department of whatever company is moving you, and ask if they have anyone who specializes in horse properties. It’s not like they are rare in CT, and it is a specialized niche, which most RE companies pride themselves on fulfilling in a timely manner. There may be another agent in the same office who specializes in horse properties who you will be transferred to, or who could co-list the property, since the faster they sell your property, the better for their stats when they pitch their relo services to large companies (i.e., our average Days on Market is X, vs X+4 months (because we didn’t have a horse property specialist handling this seller)).
The other alternative is to check out who the listing agent is on other big horse properties in the area, and see if that agent happens to be out of the same office. Perhaps gently suggesting that Suzy Realtor talk to Bob HorseGuy in her office about marketing ideas?
