5 Tips For Selling a Farm

Author: Christopher Nolt

At the end of a harvest, many landowners are willing to sell their farm. Some of them try to sell the land independently while others work with real estate professionals in order to help them make a smooth transition. Here are five important tips if you’re selling a farm:

Do Your Research

Gathering more information is very important in order to make decisions regarding your farm. One of the most important things is to find out who is listed as the owner and if you can legally sell the property yourself. In some cases when heirs try to sell the land, when the legal owners are their parents, it can lead to complications. This can be however, corrected with the help of a legal counsel. Sometimes the ownership issues can be a lot more expensive to correct and might bring up some other issues as well.

Look for HelpSelling a farm with the help of real estate professional is usually a wise choice. A real estate agent specialized in farmland sales can help you understand all the implications of the sale and smoothen out the process for you. There are tax implications as well and sometimes due to these tax reasons, individuals exchange one property from another to avoid capital gains tax from the sale. If you are not well versed with tax and other implications you will be better off by looking for help in this regard.

Know the PricesGetting to know the recent comparable sales prices is important for you to decide the asking price for your farm. Working with a real estate professional specialized in farm sales can also help you set the right asking price for your property. For farmland sales in the United States it is recommended that the sellers use an Accredited Rural Appraiser through the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). One of the issues when setting the asking price for your farm at the appraisal value is that the markets keep fluctuating and the asking price may be more or less than the current market conditions.

Know Your FarmYou should always remember the fact that not all land is equal in physical characteristics which is why it is important to know more about your farm's individual characteristics before selling it. When selling a farm, try to know the exact total area, cultivable area, timber area, pond sizes and all this information. Other important information to know includes information regarding irrigation. Your potential buyers would like to know about the irrigation facilities already installed such as pump size, pumping capacities, canals if any and other such information.

Other Things to KnowThe other things to know when selling a farm including details regarding leases, fertility, yield history, potential property uses, drainage, restrictions if any, recreational uses, environmental factors, taxes, easements, and other such legalities. Hiring a professional real estate agent can help you make all this a lot easy for you.

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