When you sell a house in town, you stage the rooms. When you sell a house on acreage, the land is part of the showing, and buyers will walk all of it.
Walk the property like a buyer
Start at the gate and walk the fence line. Repair broken boards and sagging wire. Mow along the drive and around outbuildings. Haul off old equipment, scrap and debris. A tidy property tells a buyer it has been looked after.
Stage the barn
Horse property buyers often walk the barn before they walk the house. Stage it the way you would stage a living room, and do it before the photographer comes.
- Clear it out completely. No hay, equipment or clutter in the barn aisles.
- Sweep, then power wash. Wash the floors, and the stall walls and doors too.
- Take down the cobwebs in the corners and rafters.
- Clean every stall and put down fresh shavings.
- Dust and wipe down the tack room, then organize it so buyers can see the space and picture their own saddles in it.
- Fix the small things. Replace burned-out bulbs, and repair sticking doors and broken latches.
- Manage the manure pile. Have it hauled off, or keep it as small and as far from the barn as you can.
- Plan for your horses. If they are home during showings, decide ahead of time where they will be so buyers can tour safely.
- Add a welcoming touch. In summer, flowers in hanging pots by the barn doors are very inviting.
Gather the paperwork early
Rural buyers, and their lenders, ask questions that city buyers don’t. Having the answers ready keeps a sale moving.
- Well permit and any recent well or water tests
- Septic records, including the last pumping and any inspection. Most Colorado counties require a septic inspection when a property sells, and it is typically the seller’s responsibility. Plan for it early, and make sure the contract spells out who is responsible for the inspection and its costs.
- Water rights or ditch share documents, if any convey with the property
- Survey or improvement location certificate, and anything showing where fences sit relative to boundaries
- Permits for barns, arenas and outbuildings
- HOA covenants, if the property has them, especially any rules about animals
Show how the property lives
Good aerial photography explains acreage in a way no ground photo can: where the pastures are, how the barn relates to the house, what the views look like. Show the barn, the arena, the tack room and the water source, not just the kitchen.
Timing
Pastures photograph best when they are green, and a property that shows well in spring and early summer often benefits from it. That said, a well-prepared property can sell in any season, and buyers of acreage are often planning further ahead than buyers in town.
If you are thinking about selling land or horse property, let’s talk about timing and preparation.
