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When advising our clients on selling their farm or land, a question we have to address at an early stage is whether it is best to market their property discreetly or on the open market?
For many clients, there are good reasons why a discreet marketing campaign may suit their own situations and, during the past two years, an increasing number of the farms and land that Stags Farm Agency have sold have been dealt with off market.
However, in most situations, offering a property for sale on the open market is likely to achieve the best possible outcome.
There are many reasons why people are purchasing farms and land at present and, as a result, there are more potential buyers in the market. These include farmers and farm businesses; equestrian and lifestyle buyers; those buying land for carbon off-setting and tree planting; developers and businesses looking to buy land to achieve biodiversity net gain on their projects and those buying land for tax reasons, whether for inheritance tax relief or roll-over relief on capital gains tax.
By having access to a wider pool of purchasers, this provides a better chance of finding more than one potential buyer, the result of which could lead to competition and an improved sale price being achieved and confidence that the best possible price has been realised.
Whilst Stags Farm Agency manage an extensive register of farm and land purchasers there are some who register their search requirements on independent property search websites; those who search for property in magazines and newspapers and those who might live locally but are not actively searching for property other than if it is available nearby. An open-marketing campaign will ensure that there is a better chance that these groups of potential buyers are made aware of any farms or land for sale that may be of interest to them.
A recent example of a farm that Stags offered for sale on the open market is Lashingcott Farm near Yarnscombe in North Devon. Comprising a well-presented bungalow (AOC) with colourful gardens, a range of farm buildings and 102 acres of pasture and arable land, the sale of this farm has recently completed after it was offered as a whole and in five lots with a total guide price of £1,120,000.
Initially brought to the market in August 2021, we carried out 18 viewings which resulted in offers from six different parties either for the whole farm, individual lots or a combination of lots. By offering Lashingcott Farm for sale on the open market we were able to gauge where the strongest interest was, the result of which was a sale being agreed for the farm as a whole within one month of it initially being offered for sale.
For advice relating to the sale of your farm or land, contact Andrew Dodds or a member of the Stags Farm Agency team on 01769 572263 or 01392 680059.
