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I don't have any real input as that kind of property is outside of my realm. But I did just want to say that I'm sending good luck - I hope new photos and an updated description with some of the great features you've mentioned here will do the trick. It sounds like it's been tough for you to not just keep things going but also work on making the improvement to get it sold and I hope that you get a good offer and can move on to the next, somewhat less demanding, phase of your life very soon!
Thank you. We need to downsize due to health problems for both of us. Hubbie is only working because it's a desk job so he can manage. I had already retired. We will be pugging on. RE agent said to paint house because banks look at that for mortgages...but not the barns. So I guess we'll put more money into a house we can't sell.... Thanks again...
I think I found your listing online but I won't post any link to it. Although farms can be more difficult to sell, I think it would help if the photos were updated so that they weren't showing a snow-covered landscape. It appears that you may have a pond. Include a photo or two of that with open water and also include a few more photos of the land, since most of your value seems to be in the land.
Anyone buying a farm knows that they require work, but I think it would help if you re-stained some of the outbuildings. Not necessarily all, but at least some to show how they could look with a little bit of work. That may be your biggest bang for the buck. For the interior photos of your barn and outbuildings, simply sweeping them out a bit would make them look more appealing.
As for the house, the interior photos look fine--very nice, in fact. You may want to consider repainting the front of the house; the photos don't show very well the condition of the rest of the exterior. I would put the house as less of a priority than the outbuildings.
You have a very nice property and I wish that it were in my area. A little sprucing up, however,
will help it to appear less tired. View it as you would if your were a prospective purchaser. Remember, most people will get their first impression from the online photos.
Hopefully your new agent has good contacts in the local area. Are there local food groups in the area? Do the local Farm Bureau or land trusts have any lists of potential young farmers or conservation buyers who might be interested? If no chemicals have been used on the farm, that is definitely a plus for many who would be looking to buy a small farm. Good luck!
I haven't seen the listing nor read whether it is a working farm or hobby farm, but if the place needs sprucing up, get a paint sprayer and do it.
I would suspect that anyone wanting to buy a 100 acre farm doesn't also want to buy a bunch of work right off the bat.
Also, I would look at advertising. Is it being advertised in nearby urban areas to appeal to those who dream of a more peaceful existence?
Thanks. Yes you found it. Our RE agent IS coming Friday to retake outside photos now that the snow is gone. We started sweeping out the barn last fall, but then it snowed, got too cold, and that was it. The hay was in a pile. The chickens spread it out over the winter, so we will start that again. And yes we were thinking of painting this spring if it ever stops snowing or raining, and going from 65 degrees to 30 degrees.
It's just that I'm the 1 that has to do everything. Hubbie works full time, and needs another back surgery- his 3rd, and I have fibromyalgia and need a knee replacement. So things get done but slowly...very slowly.
Thanks again.
New photos would be a great idea. Ask your realtor to hire a professional photographer.
If your place is the listing I'm looking at, these are not enticing photos.
The first photo looks like the back of a place that needs a lot of work.
2nd one looks like an arial view, but not sure which one is your place. This should be near the end of the photos and your place more clearly identified.
3rd photo is closer view of a barn that needs painting and a large expense of non-green pasture.
4th photo is farther away, but still dismal.
5th is another view of a barn that needs painting and no green anywhere.
6th is a different view of the barn, a fence, and several trees with no leaves.
7th is more barn views with weeds against the fence.
8th is another view of the pasture.
9 is another view of the pasture.
10 is another view of a pasture.
11 -- same thing
12 -- gorgeous wood cook stove. Now we're getting somewhere.
14 - Kitchen which is where I would suggest you start. It's the heart of the home.
Then move out to the rest of the house and then the pastures which hopefully are green and the barns which are painted and cleaned up.
If these are not the photos of your place, I apologize.
But if they are, it is no wonder your place hasn't sold. Nearly every photo highlights that this place is a lot of work.
Realtor once told us that selling a place is selling a dream. You figure out who your potential buyers are and then you post just enough photos, to get potential buyers to start dreaming.
Your potential buyers will likely be those wanting privacy, a place where they can have horses, a few chickens, goats, etc. One photo of an expanse of lush green pasture is plenty. Get rid of the rest and drop the two photos of what looks like moss-covered rocks, water, and sticks.
Show the barn and the stalls. Hire someone to tidy it up before the photos. Get rid of the overstuffed garbage cans, the boxes in the corner, the stuff leaning against the walls, ...
1) Start with a distant one of the barns and house, where buyers can get a sense of the privacy, the amount of land, how many barns, but it isn't as obvious that the barns need painting.
2) Then on to the kitchen. Looks like a great kitchen. I would encourage you to move the stuff off the counters, the microwave, the spice racks, the wire bins at the end, ... Makes it look like the kitchen lacks storage. I would also suggest removing the framed photos on the back splash and ceramics on the island. Maybe a crock with utensils in the back corner, but that's all. Let potential buyers see how much counter space there is.
3) Then on to that gorgeous wood cook stove.
4) Living room. Remove the chair in the corner with the foot stool. Makes the room look cramped. It's 2,600 sg. ft. for heaven's sakes. Don't give buyers the impression be of a cramped living room. Let one plant be the corner decor. Maybe have just the one photo in the center over the sofa. Get rid of the doily on the coffee table and place a couple nice books there. Maybe one smaller afghan on the left hand corner of he sofa. Move away whatever it is cluttering up the right of the photo. Have the focus be the lush green view out the glass doors.
5) Photo of the open glass doors leading to the stairs seems fine. As are the two main bedrooms. One nice photo of the bathroom highlighting the tub and the double sinks. Leave it at that.
6) Then maybe one or two photos of cleaned up stall areas.
7) End with a photo of some place green and gorgeous, maybe that peaceful view between the trees out over the water.
That will tell the story.
Privacy, barns, pastures, comfortable home, updated kitchen, ... what's not to love?
You have got to get new pictures. To sell a property like this you need really good pictures of the land, and you have awful pictures. Snow covered, brown grass. Its June, the grass is green. Get new pictures.
You also need to realize how stressful and difficult it is to move once this place does sell. Sounds like you and are hubby are having health issues now; if you wait too long to sell, a move could be a lot more difficult. Now you're both pretty mobile, but things can change day to day that we have no control of. This farm has been on the market for 3 years...drop that price and get it sold, so you can move on with your lives.
You have to understand that whomever buys this will have a lot of work to do and have to put a lot of money into this place. You laughed at the offer from the Amish person, but it might be more realistic of an offer than you realize. The buyer pool for a place like this is tiny. There has to come a point where you just have to cut bait and move on to make your lives easier.
Have you considered cutting the house off with a few acres and selling the barns and hayfields separate? You said someone local wanted the hayfields, that would be great. Then sell the house separately. Might work out.
Subdividing is often useful. What size property do most people with your hobby in your area want? Will the county allow you to divide? The remaining acres will need to qualify for water and sewer. But you can sell the house piece more quickly perhaps then wait out a sale on the rest. Talk to a good local surveyor and to a county planner.
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