Question for those on livery. Selling yard.

Enfys

Enfys

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If you were on livery would you expect the YO to tell you that the property was on the market?

Or not until there was a definite buyer?

(Obviously livery owners would be given appropriate and sufficient notice to quit)
 
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Hmm tricky one. Part of me says yes its the decent thing to do but then part of me thinks no, its no ones business but the Y/O!

I would say when the property is under offer then it would be decent to tell the liveries. You never know they might have a buyer on the yard already!
 
My friends have just gone through this. They own a boarding stable up north but are relocating back down here. They told their boarders they were putting the stables up for sale as they wanted a For Sale sign used as part of the marketing, but they didn't tell any of their boarders they had an offer until it was all signed and sealed. They aren't taking on any new boarders and their existing boarders all know now that they have to find alternative accommodation for their horses.
 
I am not on livery but if my yard went on the market I would not feel obliged to tell the liveries until it was sold, they will still have around 8 weeks to find somewhere else if the new owners did not want to continue with livery, unless things are much faster in Canada.
 
No, I don't think I would expect the YO to inform us. There's plenty of stuff for liveries to get wound up over without the added anxiety over what may happen.
 
At one yard I liveried at, the lady who ran it wanted to expand and let us all now that she'd decided to look for a bigger yard. She was also looking the other side of the town. This was too far for me to travel, but it gave me lots of time to find an alternative yard.

I think that while it's all maybe's and possibilities, the YO doesn't need to inform the liveries, but as soon as it becomes certain (just a matter of finding a buyer etc...) then it is kind to let the liveries know the situation.
 
be positive said:
I am not on livery but if my yard went on the market I would not feel obliged to tell the liveries until it was sold, they will still have around 8 weeks to find somewhere else if the new owners did not want to continue with livery, unless things are much faster in Canada.
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Things do work very quickly in Canada. It's not uncommon for a completion date to be made 30 days from when the offer is accepted.
 
Antw23uk said:
You never know they might have a buyer on the yard already!
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:D I wish!

No, some of my liveries say "Oh wouldn't it be lovely to have the horses outside the back door" (and indeed it is :) ) but none of them want the work involved, happier to pay some other mug (that would be me then :( ) to freeze their butts off/ boil in the sun whilst looking after their darlings ;) (Wise people)
 
I would EXPECT the owner to give me the notice required in the contract. If they wait until they have a definite purchaser this might hold up the sale...

I would be very GRATEFUL if the owner told me as soon as they put it on the market, so I had time to find another yard that I actually like rather than having to rush during my notice period. Of course, this might mean that they lose liveries/income long before the sale, which could make life very difficult for the owner.

Also, as I often fantasy-browse adverts for equestrian properties I might come across it and I would probably feel a little blind-sided (but would accept that they are only obliged to give the usual notice) I would also feel torn as to whether to alert other liveries which would put me in a difficult position.
 
I would certainly appreciate being told, and actually probably expect to be told (although appreciate fully that would be the YO decision). I would feel a slight loss of trust if I found out in other ways and it would probably prompt me to search for alternative accomodation fairly quickly. If I was kept up to speed in an open/honest way then less likely to panic!
 
We had no idea our yard owner had sold to a developer till we were given six weeks notice, all 25 of us. I had been there nine years. I don't blame him at all for selling, it has set him and his family up for life, but that is a lot of horses to find homes for in an area where, at that time, there were few livery yards. Unfortunately some of us ended up in dodgy...and frankly dangerous...places as it was coming into winter. Not really the seller's fault, the big company who bought it moved their gear in very fast, ready for the completion date, and we all had to go.

A long time ago now, but as we were there so long, I still look on it as a sad time.
 
Spring Feather said:
Things do work very quickly in Canada. It's not uncommon for a completion date to be made 30 days from when the offer is accepted.
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We did that here. Offered end of September, closed and moved in end of October :D Bloody marvelous, none of that ridiculousness you get in the UK.

We would put a 60 day closing on any sale to give time, unless buyers were planning on taking on the business.

60 days would also give us a bit of time to find a new house, mind, it only took 2 days for us to find this one.

Be Positive, things are totally different here, Realtors really pull the stops out, and from my experience they do earn their commission. They do all the wheeling, dealing and bargaining and arrange everything, lawyers only come into it for paperwork at the end.

I can see it from the livery side of things too, but we have always told our owners straight up that there was a timeline on us being here, also that if someone came along and offered us the right price we'd be out of here like a shot - so they wouldn't be surprised. Currently we are only tentatively putting a toe in the water, word of mouth and personal online advertising to see what interest there is. I would tell them if we went with a Realtor.

There is no shortage of Boarding Stables here.
 
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Yard I was at a few years ago was "sold from under the liveries" so to speak. Very small yard, just 4 liveries + owner. No contract, what's one of they?
We had all gone home on the Friday night, as we turned up on the Saturday morning found out the yard had been sold to someone in the pub. We had 48 hrs to vacate or pay approx. double livery price to new owner!! More than a bit p*ssed off. Queue mad panic, asking other friends to put up horse for a week, etc. Fortunately we all got sorted, by helping each other out.
Now horses are at my friend's house just 'round the corner, just me, no one else, complete heaven!
 
If you were selling the yard as a going concern the last thing you would want is people leaving. Also if your cash flow went down then that would cause furthere worries. I would wait until contracts were exchanged and give a completion date of a month later that way no one is exposedand give everyone a months notice.
 
We had to do this and I told all our liveries that the house was going on the market. I think it's polite and wouldn't think it very professional if I turned up to the yard where my horse was to see a for sale board.

Plus if someone is looking to continue it as a business then if people know they could stay they will etc
 
I was in this situation once when I had two horses in a large yard (about 20 liveries) in Berkshire, an area where at the time livery spaces were very tough to find. Groups of people were being shown round the yard so we (the liveries) asked the owner directly if she was selling up and she lied and said no. The lie became quite unpleasant as we had been friendly up until then and of course she got caught out in the lie. People did leave as soon as they could find another place which was lucky as the yard was sold on to someone who was not interested in the livery side of things and the old owner bought a smaller place just for her horses.
 
I would expect to be told really - I think it's only fair to give people the chance to start looking around for another place that suits.

30 days notice isn't necessarily a lot of time (I know you said 60 OP, but by contract over here it would normally be 1 month), in some areas livery spaces at good yards are at a premium, and people may need to join a waiting list.
 
We were told when our yard went up for sale, took a while to sell and no-one moved until almost it was sold. I appreciated the honesty as we'd have found out via another source :)
 
I also would expect to be told tbh. I do believe that the owners would tell us straight away anyway so that if needed we could make other arrangements. There are very few livery yards near us & even fewer good yards!
 
xspiralx said:
I would expect to be told really - I think it's only fair to give people the chance to start looking around for another place that suits.

30 days notice isn't necessarily a lot of time (I know you said 60 OP, but by contract over here it would normally be 1 month), in some areas livery spaces at good yards are at a premium, and people may need to join a waiting list.
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My contract states one calendar month notice either way too, but I would give them more than that.

Some people have asked and we have been totally up front and said that we were debating it but haven't put it on the open market. They know we will be going at some stage, especially now as our daughter is off to college 2 hours away and there is no reason for us to stay here for her schooling. It was only an interim base anyway, just whilst she was at school, never intended for it to be our 'forever' home - whatever that means.
 
We told our clients the moment we decided to put ours on the market. A couple of them left immediately, but most hung on till the end (2 weeks before we actually moved). I would have hated them to have found out another way :(
 
I would want to be told before it went on the market. You would then either be given the choice of finding somewhere else to move to, or wait and see what happens. There's no guarantee that the livery yard will be sold as a livery yard, and what happens if you are in an area with not many livery yards!
 
Slightly different situation, the Care Home was sold that my Mum lived in and no-one not even staff was told until after new owners took over. I was very unhappy that we were not informed prior to sale. I would feel equally unhappy if the person I was trusting with my horse did not think it important to keep me infomed of the situation - others have posted on threads how some livery centres have waiting lists, it is not easy to move yards especially if you want certain facilities.

If a business wants it customers to trust it, then being open and keeping people informed is how to keep customers for a new owner.
 
Enfys,
I haven't read all the replies so I hope I'm not just re-hashing something someones already said :o
If I were a livery I'd like to be kept in the loop but saying that if I were a YO I'd worry people would jump ship quickly before I'd had any offers and I'd be out of income so.... I'd probably wait till I had a difinitive offer and tell them within the "notice to quit" period that's stated in their contract.
It's a difficult one that, I really hope it works out well for you and good luck in your future endevours! X
 
As there is no shortage of boarding stables in your neck of the woods, then I wouldn't expect to be told until there was an offer, but would want the maximum notice. Round here, there are very few yards and even less that offer DIY or grass, so it's a bit different. I'd want to know earlier, but understand the income perspective.
 
I think it's common courtesy to be told as soon as the decision to sell has been made- then it is up to the liveries to decide whether they want to start looking immediately or whether they will wait until sold.
 
I think it is a bit rude not to tell them.

I would say that the house is on the market, you will keep them in the picture and make sure that they have the maximum notice possible if the future owner will not allow them to stay. That way people are not likely to jump ship straight away. Finding out via the grapevine would surely make more liveries move, don't you think?
 
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