How to sell a farm property in 2020. This reader had it listed with two different agents and doesn’t feel like they made an effort to make the sale.
Q: I own a large farm that I have been trying to sell. I have had cattle, we do hay and have a hunting lease. But a buyer would not be able to make enough money to pay for this farm by operating it. I had it listed with two different agents who basically did nothing and made no suggestions. I no longer have it listed for sale.
What can I do to appeal to people with money in order to sell the property? Most agents want to get the listing, put up a sign, and just wait. I need help.
How to Sell Your Farm in 2020
A: Well, it’s tough to sell your property if it isn’t listed. That’s just common sense. But there are a lot of reasons properties don’t sell, but it typically comes down to poor marketing (so not enough people know about it); price (often, too high) or problems with the property (like the property is in poor condition or is not commercially viable). Any of these issues could mean your property will sit on the market, waiting a long time for just the right buyer to happen along.
The good news is that you have options to speed up the process.
First, let’s talk about unique properties. Whether your home is a large farm, ranch or mountain property, or it has a spectacular water view, sits beside a golf course or the train tracks (not all unique properties are wonderful), or is a penthouse, unique properties can take longer to sell than properties that are more conventional.
That’s often because it takes a little extra effort to market a unique property, to which fewer people may be attracted or can afford.
Let’s say you own a unique property with acreage. Maybe it has a great view or maybe it has a regulation size basketball court in the basement. You could stick a sign in your front yard, but only buyers who drive by the property will see the sign, and it won’t tell them much about the special and unique features of the property.
How to Promote Your Farm Sale
What you need to do is to let the largest number of prospective buyers know you have the property available for sale. These days, that typically includes hiring an agent who specializes in marketing these properties or an auction firm that can reach the buyers you want to attract. It definitely includes online marketing, placing specially-designed ads on sites where your buyers spend time or using newer “geo-fencing” techniques, where you attract buyers who are searching for properties in your price range in your zip code.
Great home marketing starts with knowing who your buyer is: You said that your farm wouldn’t provide enough of an income, so a perfect buyer could be a weekend farmer, weekend rancher; or a person looking for outdoor space and with lots of land. Someone who is looking for a rural lifestyle, with plenty of room to roam (a hot commodity during the COVID-19 Pandemic). Someone who might want to own or train horses, rather than cattle. Someone who wants to be able to shoot on their own property.
If those are the characteristics of the buyers you want to attract, you need to find ways to market your property in places where those buyers hang out. You might play around with Facebook or Instagram advertising, and show your listing by zip code. You might want to have someone take some professional photos, which you can put up on Zillow or your own website (hint: use your address, including city and state, as the URL, which will help with search). Hire an enterprising teenager with a camera drone to make a video of your property from the air.
Finding the Right Real Estate Agent to Make the Sale
You should tell everyone in town that your property is for sale and you’re willing to pay a bonus to the agent who brings the winning buyer to the door. You might even put your home up for auction, where the auction house will focus attention globally on properties for sale on a particular date, including yours.
Ideally, you’ll find an agent who knows how to do this and is motivated to try some or all of these common marketing strategies to get your property sold. But if not, then employ some (or all) of these marketing strategies and try to sell your own house. Surely, you can’t do any worse and quite likely you’ll find a buyer who will love your home as much as you have. Remember, your home was right for you, but you can’t market the home as an income-producing property if you know that no one will be able to make it work, so you need to market it differently.
Ilyce has plenty of suggestions about marketing your home for sale at ThinkGlink.com. Good luck.
More on Topics Related to How to Sell Your Farm in 2020
How Do You Protect Yourself When Selling a House?
Home Buying, Selling and Getting a Mortgage in Retirement
Who Pays for Title Insurance When Selling a Home: The Buyer or the Seller?
I Received a Property Tax Bill After Selling the House, Now What?
Selling a House in Disrepair: Tax Implications
Hi Ilyce, interesting article and some valid suggestions regarding having professional photos taken of the property. As a professional photographer that provides ground and aerial content (photos and videos) for a variety if industries including residential and commercial real estate I’m disappointed in your suggestion to “Hire an enterprising teenager with a camera drone to make a video of your property from the air.” That’s a dangerous statement in a couple ways. Number 1, the FAA requires that anyone looking to use of a drone for commercial purposes, ie – earn money, hold a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. I have been a certified drone pilot for four years and carry a one million dollar insurance policy. To flippantly state ‘Hire an enterprising teenager with a camera drone to make a video of your property from the air.’ is a disservice to the client trying to sell the property and could open the realtor that chooses to post that video to a fine upwards of $10,000. To discount the skills required to produce professional photos and/or video from a drone is disappointing and misleading. The drone industry is layered with rules and regulations for commercial operations and it’s going to get more complex as more companies advance the use of drones for deliveries (Amazon, Walmert, CVS etc…) and services we haven’t thought of yet. There are enough people out there that own drones and don’t have a clue as to the proper and legal way to use them, please don’t encourage the use of uncertified and uninsured operators to provide services they’re not legally able to provide.
John:
Thanks for your comment. It appears that drones of less than 55 pounds may be operated for commercial purposes once you register your drone with the FAA (for $5) at FAA.gov. Additionally, there are some waivers that may be needed, but a quick read of the FAA website page on the commercial operation of drones seems to indicate that what the FAA is most interested in are those who operate drones near airports (makes sense, right?) rather than those who are flying 20 feet about a house in order to photograph it from the exterior.
But, it’s a good point that people do need to understand how to operate a drone and how to be a videographer on top of it. And, those may be difficult skills to master in tandem.
Thanks again for your comment.
Ilyce
Hi Ilyce, Thanks for responding. The $5 fee is to register your drone with the FAA, even hobbyist are required to register a drone now. Yes, the FAA is most concerned about flying near airports but they also require a Part 107 Certification for anyone working commercially. Doesn’t matter if you’re flying in the middle of nowhere, in Class G airspace, not more than 20 feet around a house or not above tree top height. https://www.faa.gov/uas/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/ and https://faadronezone.faa.gov/#/ explains the rules and regulations for use of drone in the National Airspace.
John,
Thanks for the links. I’ll take a look.
Ilyce