Selling the Farmette - What to focus on to get it sold?

[McGurk]

We have a ten acre farmette with a house built in the 70s that we are slowly upgrading. I contacted the real estate agent that helped us, 12 years ago, and asked his opinion about one of the renovations we were considering, and part of his input was this -

“You bought the property because is was 10 acres close to town and commutable at a certain price point. You overlooked a lot in the house to get that. The next person who buys the house will buy it because it’s ten acres, close in and commutable, and they’ll be willing to overlook some things in the house to get that.”

So, most likely, the things that appealed to you about the property are the things that will appeal to the eventual buyer. I would focus on those and the easy, curb appeal things.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=The Centaurian;8949571]

Agree with posters who say you may get a horse person, maybe not. Selling is a PITA. Good luck![/QUOTE]

not to the none horsy person as we get an average of three unsolicited offers a month, they want the land

[JanM]

ladymcts-There is a local agent here who is well known for her bad pictures. A friend used her once with pictures that were so dark you couldn’t even see what room it was. This was a house with electricity, but she didn’t turn on any lights, or open any blinds (she kept calling them plantation shutters, but they were faux wood blinds).

The house didn’t sell right then, but about 18 months later the same house was listed with the same agent. There were some good pictures, but several were really dark. This agent has been in the business for about 10 years, and I don’t see how she sells so much. One picture was so dark that it took a while for me to realize it was also upside down. I can’t believe people list with this agent, but they do. I guess the location sold that house.

[Cheltenham]

[QUOTE=fatappy;8949533]
If you were searching for a farmette, would you pass up a slightly dated, but very solid home? What are your make.breaks when buying a farmette?

I think the time has come for me to sell my farmette.

I was going to rent it out for another year, but it’s just too much liability. I signed a contract with a property manager to get it rented, but since I’ve hired him, I am leaning more towards selling (the contract binds me to using him as my selling agent for 3 months). He’s not a horse person, he deals in high end properties but not horse properties specifically. That said, we are at odds on what price to list it and what needs to be done to get it sold.

He thinks it needs $5k in upgrades and while I know I could find $5k worth of stuff to upgrade, I don’t think the things he wants would make or break a sale given that there is not much in my county that is similar. If it were a suburban home, I would agree, but I think for a farmette, people are willing to overlook a few things in order to get the property they want. Looking for your thoughts here?

The property is turnkey - 3 stall barn with water and electric on 9 acres, 6 of them fenced (some of it done within the past year).

The house is in great shape. I have updated the kitchen cabinets with paint and glass fronts, put new hardwood floors downstairs, new carpet up, new black appliances. All the light fixtures and sink faucets have been upgraded in the past two years. There are definitely a few things that date it: galley kitchen, bathroom counters, wood spindles in loft and on staircase, Formica kitchen counters. It also needs some new flower bed time. Would you turn a farmette down based on these things?

For selling a farmette do you focus on the same things you would in selling a house in a neighborhood? Any opinions welcome. I can PM anyone interested the address to get their thoughts on where to spend my time and money.[/QUOTE]

Much like others have said—I’m looking at the barn and horse accommodations first. What I find a turn off is the …crappy stalls/ half a$$ed backyard barn set ups. I don’t require fancy or state of the art—just like good solid well organized safe horse housing and turnout…even if that means just a nicely done run in with good fencing and a frost free water spigot and electricity!

For human housing, If it’s really tired, worn, needing help for important stuff like foundation, roof, plumbing or siding/structural…that would be a turn off.

If it’s just 1980’s kitchen cabinets and bathroom tiles and a funky color exterior paint shade…that I am fine with. It’s back in style now anyway LOL.

I guess, personally, I’m looking for solid and well made with all the important features in good turn key condition. Modern Appearance/style/ modernized stuff I’m not concerned about.

BTW PM me a link to your farmette listing ;0) I’m in the market ;0)

[Pocket_Pony]

I guess deciding whether or not to do $5k worth of touch-ups depends on what the touch-ups are. Planting a new flower bed? No, I wouldn’t do that (although I would put down some mulch or something to make it look better). Painting either interior or exterior? Yes.

I’m with the others in that I look at the horse facilities first. Well, actually, I look at the street and neighborhood and topography first because I like privacy, so that’s my number one. Then I look at the horse facilities. Is the barn an actual barn with stalls and set up for horses? If not, how much work would it take to make it so? If so, then how sturdy is everything? Water to the barn? Tack room (with hot water heater if in a cold area)? Hay storage? Feed room? Layout? Turnouts? Fencing? Pasture? Irrigation? Cross-fencing? Arena? Access to trails? Those are all the things I look at first.

THEN if the property passes muster I’ll go to the house. The house doesn’t have to be brand-sparkling new, but it does have to be cared for. Ditto the person who said if the house is not presented well then I wonder if it has had good care. You can have someone stage it, or stage it yourself. Get rid of all the clutter. Clean out cabinets and closets with things you don’t use. Have the windows cleaned or do it yourself. Take down posters and kitchy things, but leave tasteful decorations or art work. If there’s a weirdly painted room or color scheme, have the inside repainted so it is fresh and clean and looks ready to move into.

When we sold our last farmette, here are things we did for the barn/pastures:

• Repaired broken fence boards
• Cleaned and de-cluttered the barn (as much as we could - horses were still there)
• Hauled out old crap that we’d been hanging onto for no particular reason (fencing remnants that weren’t enough to do anything with, for example)
• Had the pond cleaned
• Trimmed up trees and cleaned up brush and did burn piles
• Had mulch put down

What we did for the house:

• Had a septic inspection and the tank cleaned out so we would be sure that there were no problems or surprises
• Cleaned out the kitchen and closets and took stuff to Goodwill that we weren’t using anymore
• Had the windows cleaned
• Had the interior painted
• Had the exterior painted
• Had door trims re-done where the dogs had scratched

Of course it depends what your market is like. Rural / farmette / acreage properties take longer to sell than in-town properties. We had horse people and non-horse people look at our place. Ultimately we sold it to horse people (someone on COTH!).

We didn’t do everything, as we knew the buyers (any buyer) would put their own touches on it. The carpets needed to be replaced, and the buyers did that after they moved in. The buyers of our place have done a lot of the things we wanted to do over the years, but at some point you realize that you won’t get your money back on certain improvements.

The place we bought, well the horse set up was perfect. Well, almost perfect, but as close to perfect as you could get anyway. The house needed/needs some work to bring it up to date from the 90s, but those things we can do slowly and as we save up money.

I’m interested to know what your realtor recommended for $5k preparations… Good luck to you!

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=AKB;8949570]
I would put money into painting anything that looks worn, getting everything really clean and sparkling, and making sure everything is well repaired. Then, I would work on the curb appeal. The front door might need a decorative wreath. The shrubs at the front of the house should be trimmed. A new doormat might be a plus. Look at comparable sales to determine your asking price. Have your realtor go over his marketing plan.[/QUOTE]

This except I would also upgrade bathrooms that are very old/dated and do minor but visible upgrades in the kitchen if that is old/dated. Anything else I think buyers will overlook but there is NOTHING like a fresh/modern looking kitchen/bathroom to bowl someone over. Just do white/basic and don’t spend a fortune and you don’t have to do EVERYTHING-- but enough to make it look NEW. If they are not super old/dated that’s different… but if you have flamingo pink 80s tile and a pink toilet-- that’s a turnoff to a LOT of people and switching it out for neutral white will make a difference.

[candyappy]

I would not go into any major renovation to try and please a specific buyer type. If the house is clean, grounds are clean, fences and barn are in good shape and usable without needing any fixing I would list as is.

Whenever selling any of our places ( 6 farms so far) I always repaint if needed and do touch ups to the whole place. In all the places we have bought, we have ended up doing some remodeling.

The land and buildings were what we looked at most.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8950503]
If they are not super old/dated that’s different… but if you have flamingo pink 80s tile and a pink toilet-- that’s a turnoff to a LOT of people and switching it out for neutral white will make a difference.[/QUOTE]

Hang on…did you see pictures of my last house or something? LOL. We had 2 full bathrooms – one was floor to ceiling apricot tile with tortoise shell “trim” and teal tub, toilet and sinks…the other was pink tile and chocolate brown trim (like Hershey chocolate), with turquoise sink, tub and toilet. The house was built in 1958. Before we sold it, we gutted the original kitchen (with pink metal cabinets and diner style counters,) but to rehab the tiled bathrooms would have cost $20-$30K…not $5K. Damn those 1950s builders who tiled everything! I wonder if the next owners did them.

[JanM]

If your bathroom tile is ugly, you can get the professionals in, and they put epoxy paint right over it, and with the prep they do it looks fine, and lasts for several years. It costs a lot less than redoing the tile, and is much faster. The new buyer might dislike the tile or whatever you change the bath to anyway, so you could spend a ton, and still have buyers dislike what you do.

You never know what will appeal to a buyer, one of my friends looked at a flamingo pink bath of a house I was considering, and she loved it. A deal breaker for me, was something she loved.

In my case, I absolutely hate carpet. In my next house, I’ll get something cheap enough where I can put tile in baths, or kitchens, and laminate or vinyl plank everywhere else, so a buyer who updated carpet would have wasted money on a house they’re trying to sell to me. Buyers are strange creatures, and I guess I’m stranger than most.

[The_Centaurian]

[QUOTE=S1969;8950707]
Hang on…did you see pictures of my last house or something? LOL. We had 2 full bathrooms – one was floor to ceiling apricot tile with tortoise shell “trim” and teal tub, toilet and sinks…the other was pink tile and chocolate brown trim (like Hershey chocolate), with turquoise sink, tub and toilet. The house was built in 1958. Before we sold it, we gutted the original kitchen (with pink metal cabinets and diner style counters,) but to rehab the tiled bathrooms would have cost $20-$30K…not $5K. Damn those 1950s builders who tiled everything! I wonder if the next owners did them.[/QUOTE]

There is a cult of 50’s pink bathroom lovers. I don’t get it, but I have worked with a bunch of different people who are weirdly into those!

[vxf111]

See, some people might LOVE the pink but some people will hate it. Plain white… you don’t get those extremes. Most people won’t walk away from a house because it has plain, new white bathrooms. They will (me included) walk away from a pink one. Just because some people LOVE odd stuff doesn’t mean you’re going to sell the house faster with odd stuff in it. Neutral stuff is what most people expect/want.

This is all, of course, market dependent. If the OP’s farmette is the last one left within 2 hours of the city, she could have a shack on the land and people would be beating down her door.

The idea generally is to be neutral and not spend a fortune, just do enough of a small refresh to remove really DATED stuff. If you don’t HAVE really dated stuff, then you don’t need to do it. But it makes a world of difference to freshen up bathrooms and kitchens. We paid a PREMIUM for the farmette we bought and I’d be lying if I said the kitchen and master bathroom didn’t completely grab me.

A friend is a realtor and she’s MANY TIMES advised owners to put in $5000 in smallish changes to bathrooms/kitchens just to remove really dated stuff (sometimes it’s as simple as painting the cabinet fronts and changing the handles/pulls) and it’s paid back exponentially in the sales price/speed of sale. You don’t want to put in a $50,000 custom kitchen that the next buyer might hate, but a couple of new items and some paint might really make the kitchen look newer.

I just bought a farmette a year and a half ago. Yes, the location was critical. Yes the land was critical. But the house mattered too. I looked at a lot of places with beautiful barns and DUMPY houses and passed on them. For everyone who values the land more, there is a buyer like me who values the house as much. If $5000 buys you getting rid of a couple really dated items that turn people off, it’s probably going to pay off in the long run.

I would have been willing to buy more of a fixer upper but ended up flexing my max price to buy a beautiful house instead. And that’s what you want, people fighting over your place and paying max!

I can’t tell you how many houses I looked at where one SMALL thing was such an ENORMOUS turnoff that people just walked away. Things that cost much less than $5000 to fix. One house with really old linoleum in the kitchen and a spot right by the door where it had worn down from the door scratching it so much that it was slightly depressed and discolored. It was an open house and I literally saw people look disdainfully at that and leave. It really draw attention to the old, ugly, and worn out flooring. It wouldn’t have cost much to put new inexpensive flooring down. Another with that awful wood panelling in the kitchen. It didn’t even cover much of the wall, it was just one area but it made the whole kitchen look dark and old. Ripping that off and painting that wall off white would have made a WORLD of difference. Little things like that that look DATED are worth fixing if you can do so inexpensively, IMHO.

[JanM]

Don’t be in the house during an open house or showings. You would not believe the mean things people will say about your property right to your face. If you need to stay outside to protect the animals, that’s one thing, but not near the visitors.

[ladymcts]

[QUOTE=JanM;8950151]
l One picture was so dark that it took a while for me to realize it was also upside down. [/QUOTE]

Love it! Yeah, I’ve actually started a small collection of stupid photos from listings. I have one where the photo shows a large wooden cage in the living room. It’s of a style that is really more reminiscent of lions, tigers, bears, or velociraptors than say something more normal like a dog. Really made me curious to know what they are keeping.

[StarPattern]

SO and I are currently looking for horse property and we each have our own list of things we want.

For him: The most important thing for him is a close proximity to the base for his stupid o’clock timings. He wanted to be within half an hour to work and he preferred the majority of the drive to be paved. In the house, he wanted lots of space, both storage and living. He didn’t want to be cramped. He would accept a basement, extra rooms or a garage as suitable storage for his army kits.

For me: I wanted at least 3 acres of land and I wasn’t willing to settle for less. I had no preference to the proximity of it to the city (since I already drive an hour to work every morning) and I didn’t want a huge, brand new house. The ideal land would be fenced for horses, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I also wanted two toilets in the house, either in the form of a main bathroom and half bath, or a main bathroom and an ensuite. I could make due with one bathroom, but having a second one just in case is a nice idea. Bonus points for no carpet anywhere because carpet + dogs + horses just doesn’t mix.

Both of us wanted a decent, open concept kitchen. His current kitchen is cramped and we can’t both be in there at the same time. His fridge door bangs into the kitchen table and it’s just impossible to navigate around.

It’s funny what people look for in houses… the house we’re going to put an offer in on is 22 minutes from the base, all paved except for the gravel driveway. It has 4 acres that’s already fenced for horses. Two full bathrooms, 2400 square feet and a wide open concept living space. 4 bedrooms means we each have an office and lots of storage space. The garage is large enough that I could convert half of it into a horse barn and still have room to park both our vehicles plus shelving for storage. In all honesty, the house is way too big for me, but it was easy enough to compromise on that.

I’m currently getting my house ready to sell and my realtor told me not to spend a ton on upgrades. Her suggestion was neutral paint on the walls and touching up the baseboards. Wash the blinds, trim the trees out front and declutter. You’ll never get the money back in upgrades, unless you’re planning to upgrade the kitchen or the bathrooms. Apparently, new light fixtures in kitchens, upgraded cabinet pulls (or just painted in a modern color) and refreshed cabinetry make all the difference when showing a home.

[poltroon]

Bright, fresh flowers out front will really improve the curb appeal. You don’t even have to plant them - sometimes just potted arrangements will do the trick. Clean and tidy.

The formica countertops - I would price out what it might cost to change them depending on what they look like (worn, ugly color, etc). It’s an easy job, especially in a small kitchen. The new formicas are much prettier, so that can be an option, and you can even get granite pretty inexpensively if you don’t have a large area and can use an off-the-shelf piece with minor work.

If you don’t trust your realtor’s advice on the upgrades, consider if you trust him for the sale at all. You don’t want to do anything that will be wasted, but they bring a lot of professional expertise to know what will sell in your area and what won’t. He should be able to give you some very direct and clear reasons for each thing.

And, yes, definitely get good pictures. If the realtor isn’t good at them, find someone who is so you have your property in its best light, especially one with all the horse amenities like yours that might attract horse buyers who are more looking for a specific style of property rather than in a specific neighborhood.

[JanM]

The little things show a buyer that a property has been maintained. Have instruction books for the house appliances, and systems, a list of providers you use for repairs, and a neat, clean house go a long way to showing you take care of your property.

Before you set a price, you should know how much your remaining mortgage is, approximate closing costs, (in a buyer’s market, such as where I live, I am assuming I’ll be paying my closing costs, all commissions, and probably the buyer’s closing costs too), and the bare minimum price you need to break even. Don’t set the selling price way too high, or you may not even get any offers at all.

Remember it’s business, and whatever a buyer wants to do, then don’t comment. Prepare to have some people stand right in front of you, and say all kinds of things about your taste. Most people aren’t that rude, but a few are. I try to think of a sales property as my house, and no longer as my home. It helps me detach from the process. Any sales add better have good pictures, and of the great features of your house, and property. Make a list of what is staying with the property, and what you will take with you. If you say ‘quick possession possible’, then mean it.

[gypsymare]

I’d love to take a look at the listing if you don’t mind PMing the address. The biggest turnoffs for DH and I were low ceilings, poorly done renovations and dated wiring. We bought our first house and completely remodeled everything from the studs out.

When we were ready to move onto a farmette we didn’t want to do quite as much work but knew we couldn’t afford a perfect home on a turnkey property. We ran into a lot of very old farm houses where DH hit his head and properties that had been DIY renovated with disasterous results. We ended up purchasing a short sale that had been on the market for over a year. The owners son and his gf were living there and chain smoked in the house. The carpets were all filthy, the property had not been mowed in 3 years but the home was only 10 years old and had good bones. A few weeks of brush hogging and weed whacking, new paint and carpet and we had a very live able house.

Definitely pay for a good photographer and get some assistance staging the rooms if contemporary decorating is not your forte. We paid for a staging company but they did a horrible job. I ended up moving some of my furniture back, purchasing a few new pieces and borrowing others. We recently viewed a house that had an amazing photographer. The rooms looked enormous and spacious. In person they were small and awkwardly laid out.

Here’s our old listing, the photos ares still up.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7108B-Edgemont-Rd-Frederick-MD-21702/36861838_zpid/

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Depending on what the 5K of improvements are, they may make a lot of sense. I did small improvements: fresh paint, refinished the original wood floors ourselves and kitchen updates (soap-stone looking counters, marble tile backsplash, putting “rain” glass in a couple of the white cabinets and replacing one appliance) to our last home and there was a bidding war on the house. We sold for WAY over asking in 2012.

[GraceLikeRain]

[QUOTE=gypsymare;8952507]

Here’s our old listing, the photos ares still up.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7108B-Edgemont-Rd-Frederick-MD-21702/36861838_zpid/[/QUOTE]

Beautiful photographs! I am blown away by most of the dark and cramped photos I see listed. A buyer wants to see a bright, neutral, and uncluttered space so they can envision their things in the home.

[JanM]

gypsymare-Wow! A better staging job than the pros. I love everything you did with that house.