The "starter" equestrian property - help please!

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Ponysquisher

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In H&H not that long ago there was an estate agent talking about "starter" horsey properties i.e. for people who don't have the budget for something out of Country Life but with a bit of luck & no holidays (like ever!) might just be able to buy somewhere with a (tiny) bit of land etc. We're very much in that category so glad we're not alone!

We have now seen a bunch of houses and re thinking it's decision time. However, as you can tell from the fact we haven't yet made an offer, out of the houses we've seen (maybe 12 or so?) there's no clear winner. Every house we've been to has a compromise as that's the only way we can afford a horsey property - if the houses had 12 acres in a good commutable location with no noise issues then we wouldn't be able to afford them! So just wondering if you lovely people might have some ideas about where we should compromise and where we shouldn't. So very much a question for those of you who have done the same, or who would perhaps like to at some point or daydream about it as I've been doing for years :) We've got a shortlist of 3 houses but each has positives and negatives - which one sounds like the best bet d'you think?

House 1
Advantages: V near where we live now, which we love. And it has American barn stabling (phwoar), only an acre of land but plenty available to rent nearby.
Disadvantages: The house is smaller than where we are now & a little ugly to say the least in a bit of a grotty road (eek I sound like a snob!)

House 2
Advantages: V pretty house in a nice area, although further from current house, also lots of grazing to rent from local estate right by house.
Disadvantages: No possibility to buy land at any point & garden too small to build stables or anything else so v dependent on continued goodwill of landowner.

House 3
Advantages: V nice house with 5 acres of grazing & run-down but useable stables. Good public transport - of little interest to me or horses but of great importance to the other people involved in the decision :)
Disadvantage: Bit further from current house, & on edge of a pretty dodgy area although great offroad hacking from the door (in the other direction!).

Of course, nothing says we have to go with any of these, but after a few months of looking I know we're not going to find the perfect house - the rest of the family says it's up to me (& the horses!) to make the final decision about which one is best - what d'you think?!

Thank you for your help - I'm just putting the kettle on for those who are still with me!!
 
I would go for house number three, there is a lot to be said for owning the land. I am on rented land behind my (owned) house and I always have that niggle in the back of my mind that I could lose it at any point
 
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House three, nice house with enough land that would swing it for me!

I'm currently living in not the best area because that's what I could afford and it hasn't been a problem so far!
Good luck it must be so exciting :).

x x
 
House number 3. In my opinion and experience, where you compromise depends on who is involved. For example, there is only 2 of us and our priority are our animals, there is no problem for us with a doer upper, but should we have children, for example, we would opt for more suitable house, with land, and compromise on the animal accommodation, which can be improved over time.
 
House 3 and budget for some security - alarm, CCTV, decent gates etc.

Is staying close to your current house important? If you have been looking for months in the same area and these are the best 3 then it might be time to grab #3 before it goes.
 
That was quick - only just sitting back down with my tea! Hm, seems like the land is swinging it for everyone... Yes, it is very exciting - we're only just able to make the numbers work but I can't believe I might finally have the ponies right next door! Yes, all things being equal, I would like to stay close to current house. But having looked around for quite a while, all things are not equal, so I think I should probably get over myself and buy elsewhere :)

Thanks for all you answers so far xxx
 
I would say 3 too unless it is taking you too far away friends and family? We managed to buy a wreck with some land a few years ago and removate it, it is not perfect as I would like more land and the hacking is rubbish but it is very close to both of our parents (great for babysitting) and friends and family, we could have got lots more land for our money if we moved further out but you have to decide what is most important to you.
 
I think you have to factor in two things, what stage of your life are you at, have you got children or want them in the future and how far way is it from the school and the rest of civilisation? I always go on: you can change what it is, ie an ugly house but you can not change where it is, and you can not live in field but you can always find a livery yard field anywhere even if its not perfect.
After thirty years I finally have my own land, have compromised for the last 25 years with nice house, nice area but with only less than a acre and stables and rented 2-4 acres. It meant I spent less time taking my children to school, shops etc and more time doing the things we wanted to do. The house I have now or will have when its built is more isolated, and I spend time and lots of money on fencing and maintainace. The first year I spent £6000 on fencing and that was doing it on the cheap and I would had had some very unhappy children with a restricted social life dependant on me. So before you choose think of your life as a whole and the most unattractive house can be made to look better with a bit of thought and you are more likely make a financial gain from your investment.
 
I moved to Scotland to buy my place! Though I am now back and having to compromise on area for the perfect property.

I'd go for the 3rd one to be honest - sounds like the most scope.

Another thing to consider is would you be happy with footpaths on the land? If you are it could give you wiggle room with more expensive properties as it tends to put people off.
 
I would say house 3.
Apart from the fact that it sounds the nicest overall, it's never a good idea to rely on renting grazing from a neighbour. If you're going to rent land, why move in the first place?
 
I suggest making a list of your absolute priorities, the things you would prefer to have and those you really aren't fussed about.
When we bought our place we knew that we wanted to have at least an acre of owned land, no matter how much was available to rent, so that if anything went wrong, we had somewhere to put the horses.
Sis and I compromised on the house, in order to get the land. We sold 2 houses and wanted to buy a property with 2 or suitable to split but all of those in our price-range had land more suited to goats, or possibly welsh ponies than our big horses, in fact we called one lace with 2 almost vertical acres 'the spider farm'.
We bought a house which whilst plenty big enough can't realistically be split. We have enough land to keep the horses year round at home, although we have occasionally used a neighbour's land as well.
I would be wary of buying in a dodgy area, as you need to know that your horses will be safe when you are not there.
 
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Thanks for all the further replies! Lots of helpful advice :) Yes we do have kids and while they would like to stay where we are, I think as they get older, the third property would suit them better as they can get on a bus or a train, whereas where we are is a bit boring and inaccessible for teenagers! As many of you have said, we have to decide where we can compromise and where we can't - I think I can overlook the less than perfect neighbourhood (trust me, it's not that bad just not as "naice" as where we are at the moment) and work on the stables as the riding is fab and I think everyone else will be happy there too. Job done - now we just have to get an offer accepted!! xxx
 
property 3. we did this last year. although we have a bit of land, the main draw was an outbuilding that could be converted to have internal stabling-and another that could be turned into a hay barn etc. the location is amazing with amazing hacking and views but remote, so with kids who wanted to do activities, it would be a pain tbh. living where we do (high up-windy and wet), decent outbuildings was worth compromising on land a little, and internal stabling very useful.

don't be afraid to think outside the box, ours wasn't listed as an equestrian property (it was on Remax!) but it is now :) I rent additional land but know that I always have somewhere to put them if needs be. our place is an ex mechanics yard so we have a huge yard that we are converting to a hardstanding pole yard. so all in all, to have the work done to turn it into something useable has been £5K and a fair bit of graft.
 
Another for property three! I would not be happy to move and have to compromise if I had to rely on renting land. So much can be done to improve a property and stables over time, but if you don't have the land to start with there is no point.
 
Property 3 - if you are intending to be there a long time - the kids will grow up and either be off to university or leave home altogether - unless you are really unlucky ;)

In the spring/summer/early autumn you may spend a lot of time outside, but a nice house will always help during those long winter days and be a salve to the non-horsey members of the family. One of my friends has the perfect equestrian property for sale (lovely house, stables, paddocks and manege - if only I had the right amount of money :( :( :(
 
Well I would say house 3 as well - if you want to hack. Owning land is important, never feel that you have to be dependent on someone else for grazing, because it might be OK for a while and then it gets sold ...............
If your horse interest is competitions and schooling then whether or not there is good hacking or not doesn't matter. (I know show jumpers and dressage people who never leave the yard except in a lorry.)
 
Just a different thought, having owned a couple now take care to look at the kind of land. 5 acres of heavy clay at the bottom of a hill over grazed by horses would be worth less to me than 1 acre of good established pasture that has been well looked after.
I had 12 acres that just about was enough for 3 1/2 horses, I bought 10 acres that had 15 stables (madness I thought) until we've been here 3 months and have grass coming out of our ears. My 3 1/2 have been on 0.5 of an acre for 2 months and the grass is still thick - 2 are muzzled 24 hours because otherwise they would explode !

As they say size is not everything -
 
Our compromise is that house and land are 1.1 miles apart. We live in a quiet Dartmoor village and the land is outside. Fab hacking, 5 acres of land, barns,and stables are pretty tatty but the boys live out anyway, bore hole and no electric. If we want to buy our house and land together we'd have to find another £150k. It's not perfect but it's ours.
 
House three for me too. I currently live in what ten years ago I would have turned my nose up at and considered a dodgy area but now I'm here I love it. I agree owning some or all of the land is a big factor otherwise why not stay where you are and look for a small yard to rent nearby
 
We moved into a much smaller cottage in need of complete renovation, it was a different area so taking children back to school did get complicated until they changed schools a secondry age.

Advantage for us was country side location and our own 7 acres of moorland grass, but no stables or facilities. We have improved and added to over the years as we can afford to and have never regretted moving here.
 
Number 3 sounds good as the stabling is usable but you could potentially do them up over time (whereas a small, ugly house will cost a lot to change!). I'm in my second house and am lucky enough to have two horses here. I have a 3 / 4 bed house in the middle of the countryside, nearest neighbour close enough to notice if our house were on fire but far enough away, large garden and some outbuildings which are very handy. But like you its not absolutely perfect by any means, the cons are that we live on top of a high hill so its usually windy and very cold and snowy in the winter (and we're a 10 min drive to the nearest village shop and 20 min drive from OH's work which isn't bad but can be in winter on very narrow, hilly country roads), the land isn't enough so my other 2 horses have to remain at my mums house, I had to pay a few thousand to build stables as there weren't any here and still need to pay £2k more to have field drainage put in as the field doesn't drain well at all, offroad hacking is nearby but still need to go on a narrow country road to get to it which has huge lorries and large farm machinery rattling along it quite often, the house although certainly large enough for us does have a slightly odd layout which may be a problem once my toddler grows out of the study and needs his own room as they're the other end of the house and we need to update the bathrooms and flooring in the house but its perfectly usable until we ever have the money to do it (having already gutted and redone the kitchen). But hey ho, having horses at your own place is wonderful but yes you do have to make comprimises for sure. I dream of my next house being a 4 bed new build (old houses cost so much to maintain and jobs are neverending!) with 5 acres of land, stabling, immediate offroad hacking and a sand school - how I dream of a sand school every day!
 
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Following this with great interest as we are in exactly the same buying position. We just yesterday had our offer accepted on our first property with land. Top priorities were it must be within current school catchment, and have its own grazing land. Outbuildings/stables also a big want.

The property we have (touch wood, cross fingers, etc etc) gone for has all 3, it's in catchment and has plenty of stables albeit rather run down and tatty, 5 acres next to some oak woods (which I'll have to manage against acorn/oak poisoning). The house is pretty lousy - a 3 bed bungalow with only one small internal bathroom/wc combined. Big compromise after rather nice 4 bed with 3 bathrooms/ensuite! Decent hacking and a small and overgrown sand school. Very pleased, just hoping it all goes through OK.

OP, we were looking round 3 years ago and looked at a property which sounds a bit like your number 3. Tucked at the back of a housing estate, but hacking straight into The Forest of Dean, and 5 acres behind the house. Of your 3 options, that's by far the best IMO
 
One thing to think of is even if the stables are run down at number 3 and need to be demolished planning permission has already been granted so that's one big battle already won :)
 
My vote is also for three. About two and a half years ago we bought our first equestrian property, a run down 3 bed cottage, near to where we previously lived but although in Surrey it was alongside a railway line and not the prettiest area although on a nice road It had 6 acres but no stables but very good hacking.

In the last two and a half years we've added an arena, stable yard with 3 boxes, tackroom, covered area and hay barn and a substantial extension to the house in that order. It is now my dream home and known to all my friends as "pony cottage" as it is all about the ponies! I love it and am delighted with everything about it. It has been hard work getting everything exactly how we want it but it has been worth it as its perfect for us.

Good luck, there's nothing better than having your horses at home and being able to pop out to remove fly hats and rugs at nightfall... That's what I'm about to do now and it never gets tired.
 
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