44/ SEPTEMBER 2019 THE RIDER REAL ESTATE:


Reprinted from September 2014 Issue of The Rider.


By Teri Davidson. Yes, the fall is upon us and there


is no better time to sell a country property. Farms, rural properties and hobby farms always sell better when there’s a nip in the air. The bugs dis- appear, the ground is usually dry and in the cooler weather the outside work seems so much easier to accomplish as the high temperatures of summer have gone. The colours are starting in the trees and as the fall progresses they just become more and more beautiful. Land values have held firm even


It’s That Time Of Year!!—Farm Sales


though there has been a drop in the commodity prices recently but hobby farmers and buyers coming from city lifestyles continue to look for a more relaxed and quieter way of spending their days. I recently sold a lovely 25 acre


parcel that had been enjoyed by its owners for almost thirty years as they raised their three children. The chil- dren are all grown now, the couple, in their 60’s, are having minor health is- sues and the time had come to sell their cherished property. It was the perfect combination, nice home with big family room/ kitchen addition, 15 acres of rich workable land, five acres


of hardwood bush, pond and orchard. Lovely gardens and small barn made this a perfect hobby farm. My buyer was a professional from Toronto who is looking forward to retirement, leav- ing a high profile job and stressful work schedule in order to enjoy retire- ment living in the country on a farm. He and his partner don’t have children so a much different buyer than the young couples who used to buy these hobby and rural properties. Young families can no longer af-


ford to pay the rising prices associated with a small farm unless they are will- ing to move to more isolated areas. Job restrictions usually make this im-


FOR SALE


1026 Governors Road W. Princeton. Gentleman's country horse estate! Ab- solutely beautiful. 43 acres. House 31 yrs old, 2,800 sq.ft. with double garage, in- ground pool with decorative black fencing. Top of the line facility with barn, outside sand ring 140 x 220, indoor arena 60 x 136' with ggt imported felt footing, 9 paddocks, all white oak board fencing. 30'x60' work- shop. Pond. Push. Barn - built in 1987. This barn with hot and cold water and tack room, is steel clad with 4' poured concrete foundation the structure has been insulated above & below grade, air exchanger. 10 pressure treated tongue & groove box


stalls on one side with two large enough for foals, sliding wood doors with steel bars and open area for horses head to come out. Rubber mats. Separate stallion area offers two box stalls, shav- ings room & access to side run & paddocks. Interlocking brick floors throughout most of the barn floors & 10 of the box stalls. Fluorescent lighting. Separate workshop steel clad with con- crete floor 30' x 60 ' partly insu- lated. Located just outside Paris, Ont. The house shows beauti- fully with gorgeous granite coun- ters, updated baths, fieldstone firplace, scrapped engineered hardwood floors and finished basement. Three bedrooms, mas- ter with gorgeous ensuite, formal living, huge kitchen looks out to covered deck pool and hot tub area, main floor office. Family room is open to the kitchen. main floor laundry. Three baths. Big living room. Attached double garage. House set back well off the road. Serenity. $1,999,000


possible for them. I see a definite shortage of hobby


farms being available for purchase in the future as the bigger land holders and farm- ers are buying up the small farms, severing off the house on a small lot and retaining the land. When you drive by these rural properties you’ll see families living in the homes and assume they are also the owners of the crop filled fields around them but this is becoming more and more not the case. The land is owned by a big conglomerate farmer who works the land and owns sev- eral hundred acres. It saddens me to think of the people who enjoyed the small farms, raising a few chickens, a couple of cows and a horse or two, not being able to enjoy a rural lifestyle on a bigger piece of prop- erty. The homes on 1-2 acres will still be with us but the 10 to 50 acre parcels are dis- appearing. Financing remains problematic for


buyers who haven’t got a substantial amount of cash to put down. Appraisers are advised by the lending institution they are working for to not include barns, any land above five acres and to instead appraise only the house itself and five acres of land surrounding. In essence if you purchased a 25 acre farm with 20 acres of workable lands and the property featured a fairly new ten stall barn and indoor arena for $800,000 the buyers expectation would be they would have no trouble financing this type of purchase as the home is in good condi- tion and the outbuildings are new and in ex- cellent condition. Wrong. The newer outbuildings actually work


against you as the appraiser is to subtract the value of the 20 workable acres and the value of the barn and arena. Traditional lenders do not want to finance either of these features and even the word “farm” or “agricultural” on a listing, red flags the lender to make sure they aren’t financing the land or outbuilding values. Therefore in a scenario like this the appraiser may sub- tract the land value…let’s make it $10,000 per acre at 20 acres so take $200,000 off the purchase price. Now the outbuildings at a depreciated value …make that value $100,000. Take this amount off the pur- chase price as well. You are then left with a value of $500,000 on your purchase of $800,000. The buyer has to have this amount in


cash and still have the cash needed to match percentage value on the mortgage. Usually that is 25% of value. In this scenario a buyer for a property of this type must then have $425,000 cash to put down. We can sometimes work these figures


a bit but you get the basic idea. Private mortgages, if available or secondary lenders can sometimes help out but usually at a higher interest rate for the buyer. For farmers who plan on deriving an


income or a living from a farm there are Farm Credit lenders who can reduce the amount of cash you have to put down on the purchase but you must be able to do a business plan and or have some experience as a farmer in order to satisfy their require- ments. You need an experienced, knowledge-


able realtor and lender to help with these is- sues and provide proper information to help guide you through your sale and purchase of any working or hobby farm. HST is another factor which is impor- tant to understand and account for. Farms remain a good investment for


3462 Governor's Road Road, Ancaster. Vacant farm land of 42 acres. hard to find. Build your own home here back in off the road. Size of home can be deter- mined by the Buyer, small or large. Please make all in- quiries as to prerequisites for building to the municipality. This property has a creek at back and small pond, a stream that crosses , a higher spot back in off the road that would be perfect spot for new home construction. Older outbuildings on the site could be salvaged. Located in Ancaster near Woodhill Rd. owned by same family for many years! $899,900


3276 Governor's Road, Lynden. Amazing views from this An- caster 44 Acre farm with original Timber Frame barn, post and beam construction, that has box stalls in the bottom and hay mow on top. Separate three car garage. Fenced pastures. Hay has been grown on the 35 workable acres. Pond at back. Farm lane takes you back cross country to secluded meadows, small forest and pond. Serenity. great place to build new home if that's your dream. The home on the property now is large with four to five bedrooms. three baths. The original Circa 1800's Homestead has been added onto with a huge family room featuring wood burning fireplace , overlooked by second floor master bedroom and ensuite. Original home offers the wonderful character features of pine floors and big space. The kitchen has been removed and is ready for your own touch. Needs some updating but a wonderful size and struc- ture with so much character. One of a kind location. Close to #403 access at #52. Shop in Ancaster. Children picked up by bus for school. Open spaces, fields and big star filled sky at night can be yours. $1,499,999


the future. Contact Teri Davidson if you are


thinking of buying or selling a Rural, Hobby Farm or Working Farm. teridavid- son@execulink.com


Teri Davidson is a Broker with C21


Professional Group in Brantford Ont. And a Centurion Award winner for her produc- tion in sales . Teri has been a licensed Real Estate


Broker for 42 years. She and her family also own and operate “White House Farm” in Ancaster Ontario. Teri can be reached at 519-758-7307 or by email at teridavidson@execulink.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56