Buy a cut-price smallholding - Location and legwork is the answer to the problem of finding ‘a needle in a haystack’
FINDING a cut-price smallholding has become the dream of many a city bound individual, bored with a routine job or business.
Unfortunately such individuals have become so numerous that suitable properties are almost impossible to find, in fact, finding any smallholding is becoming ever more difficult and time consuming. "Needle in a Haystack" is a phrase which comes to mind!
The first thing to realise is that it is not going to be easy and a suitable property is not going to leap off the estate agents' advertising page at you like a suburban house, every time you open a magazine or paper. You will have to search and search, often behind the scenes.
Secondly, when you do eventually find the one you want, you will have to in a position to pounce and buy it there and then. The good ones are snatched up immediately and don't wait around while you sell your house.
So, first of all, stop dreaming and start looking, to see what might be available within your price range and in the area where you want to live. Prices vary dramatically with location and you may have to revise your initial ambitions.
Do some serious thinking, followed up by research into what you really intend to do when you find this smallholding. Ask yourselves and all your family what are your realistic expectations, and ambitions for the smallholding lifestyle? Then research the facts to discover if they are likely to be realised or not.
Would a Getting Started course, where we meet like minded people and get hands-on experience with livestock help to reassure us that we are doing the right thing?
Once you have seriously examined your motivation for going smallholding, then you are in a stronger position to decide what sort of activities you want to do when you find one and this is the first step towards understanding exactly what type of smallholding, you are looking for.
Having reached this point, you can begin to piece together the factors which will guide you to specific areas of the country, or even which country!
Mountains and moorland are for example, more appropriate for grazing animals than exotic vegetables.
Heavy clay soils bring a life of shear b****y hard work if they are to be cultivated.
Isolated farmsteads are not conducive to the easy, effective and profitable marketing of produce.
Overseas properties look cheap, but usually come with all sorts of hidden side effects. You can't hope to do business in a country where you are not fluent in the rural language. France for example imposes crippling taxes on all businesses, regardless of turnover or profit!
You have to frequently visit properties in the areas to which you think you would like to move before you can have any idea of the reality of living and working there.
Most cut-price products are usually cheap for a reason.
Do you have the skill knowledge and expertise to understand why a farm is particularly good value, or apparently cheap?
Are you clever enough to overcome those shortcomings, which have frightened off previous purchasers and so reduced the price of a holding?
It requires considerable understanding of the market and knowledge of the land and the activities to which it is suited to evaluate a smallholding's financial value. This sort of understanding comes only with experience, so seek help from an independent expert before you buy.
OK, now that you know what you are looking for, how do you go about finding it?
Legwork is the key to success:
Get out there and look at places for sale, just to get a feel for the market.
Get the money together to purchase, just as soon as you find the place you want, even if this means selling your house and living in rented accommodation or a mobile home.
Now, having a clear idea of what you want and what you want to do with it, go and visit estate agents and sit down with a senior partner, to discuss your requirements. Ask him/her if you can telephone them at frequent intervals to ask about new properties on the market.
Emphasise the fact that you are serious, you have carefully considered what you are doing and have the money available.
At this stage, any evidence of practical farming experience or training will count for a great deal, particularly with those estate agents who are also auctioneers of livestock and farm land, working amongst the farming community.
These are the people who will find the "Gems" for clients of whom they are confident are capable of competently farming the land. They are unlikely to sell to anyone patently unsuited to smallholding. So you have to be ready to convince them of your sincere desire to farm.
Having talked to several of these people, you compile a list and 'phone them, on a regular basis, whenever an opportunity arises, without making a nuisance of yourself.
When they come up with something, go to see it ASAP and if it is not suitable, tell the agent why not. It will help both you and him refine your requirements.
Eventually, having compromised a little you will find a place which is both suitable and at the right price. If you are lucky, determined and clever you will eventually find a "Snip". Not a cut-price smallholding, but one which is really good value for money.
Do not expect to achieve this overnight. Look at twelve months of intensive searching and expect to be disappointed with some rejected offers and aborted negotiations.
As for price per acre (or Ha) then it is impossible to give any guidelines. The small plots, suitable for keeping a horse or two are unbelievably expensive, whilst larger areas of ten or more acres can be purchased for very much less per acre. Twelve and a half acres (5 Ha) or more is an important size, because the planning requirements for farm buildings become very much less stringent on farms of this area.
It is important to understand the degree of investment which will be required to bring the property up to the standard that you demand. Fencing can be very expensive and at about £5.00/meter, adds up rapidly, so look at the field boundaries.
Are the farm buildings suitable to your requirements and are they in good condition? Repairs and general maintenance of traditional buildings can rapidly swallow funds ear marked for other purposes.
Is the property well situated to sell your produce? Effective marketing is the key to profitable farming, particularly smallholding, so look at the property in relationship to the number of nearby or passing customers.
Most Importantly.Don't forget that a place you really want and love and meets most of your requirements, which is within your budget, is good value at any price that you can afford.
2:04pm Wednesday 5th December 2007
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