When looking at buying a house to keep horses at home which is more important to you house or horse facilities.

[setterlover]

We are in Pembrokeshire at the foot of the Preselli hills

 

[Ceifer]

A house that’s right next to your stables might seem like a good idea - easy to do late night checks. More secure etc.
However, the horses will know you’re in your house and I’ve found out to my detriment, they will bang the walls and doors. Especially if you have something on box rest

 

[Xmasha]

When we where looking it was about the amount of acreage , outbuildings and location. Didnt care if the outbuildings needed replacing, just easier to do a repair & renew than go through the planning system.

The house was secondary.

Ours needed a full refurb everywhere, although it was tough at the beginning, we have it just how we want it now.

 

[starbucker]

A small dated kitchen can be changed. poor draining fields with no hacking.. Id rather be at a livery! Id focus on do the bare bones / site layout work. Access, location, size, quality of land. is there rights of way across the land how good are the fences / boundaries, is it direct onto a 60mph road etc

 

[Fieldlife]

1 Quality of land - enough and well draining. Or someone has already put in the hardcore infrastructure to make useable all year round
2 Access to decent hacking from home.

Everything else can be resolved with effort.

 

[Ceifer]

Oh yes sorry I sound a negative Nancy.
Dont underestimate fencing costs. I love where we are and I’m very lucky but I should have negotiated the fact that 90% of our fencing needed redoing. 8 acres of various paddocks equals 20k of cost.

 

[setterlover]

Am I mad to consider this but a couple of house have come up in the area we are considering .One is absolutely what we would want and one isn't far off.
Ideal one had 4.5 acres other one 3.7 acres both gently sloping no flood risk..
Both have reasonable horses facilities and both houses would need cosmetic 'doing up' nothing major from what the agents are saying,both have no ' chain'
We are happen to be in the area early August Can't go earlier as need cover for animals here and are away end of July we are considering viewing and possibly 'going for it ' now rather than spring next year.
This would probably mean moving in late autumn early winter if all went ok with sale etc
My mum was a great believer in what is meant to be will be so if they are still on the market then would we be mad to go for it.

 

[Polos Mum]

What was your reason for waiting until Spring?

The right size / location equestiran properties don't come up that often so unless the reason for a wait is compelling - not sure I would.

I certainly would go and have a look - they may not be as right in the flesh and it'll give you a great head start in the Spring on what's realistic in the area if you've seen a couple now.

 

[setterlover]

The reason to wait until spring was that houses always sell better and quicker in the spring and summer and moving is easier in the summer with long hours of daylight and no need to source winter haylege and bedding immediately.
We moved to our first equestrian property in a November and it was a chore trying to sort out hay bedding we moved to this our second equestrian property in a July it was much easier.
We also have a holiday booked for the first 2 weeks in September so not around for viewings though we could actually cut that down to a week without financial loss but not cancelled altogether without loosing a lot financially.
We will arrange to view when we are up there and see how it goes

 

[Marigold4]

Horse facilities most important to me; house most important to husband. Three years of looking and haven't been able to find something that suits both of us and that doesn't have legal issues. Neither of us is very good at compromising!

 

[Polos Mum]

There are a few good horse property facebook groups where you could gage some interest in your place ahead of appointing an estate agent formally.
If you wanted to get an idea on how easy it would be to sell yours quickly if one of the ones to view was as ideal as it sounds.

I think you mentioned down sizing so hopefully the benefit of the right property would outweigh the pain of finding a hay supplier in autumn.

 

[setterlover]

The thing is we make all our own haylege ( it's quite dry haylege nearer wrapped hay)
All ours for this winter is made and in. We make half size rounds each equivalent to 10 small hay bales if it all works out maybe we could take a few with us to start us off so now looking for supplies straight away.
We have had people knock on the farm asking if we would ever consider selling the farm !!!

 

[Polos Mum]

I can't recall the distance but if it's a potential deal breaker then maybe look into having it all moved up there by haulage co?

In one particularly bad year I bought hay from old hay supplier in Lincolnshire (to new house in West Yorkshire). They bought loads (full load and drag trailer) to make it worth it - but it wasn't as expensive as I'd imagined and I got the quality hay I wanted.

The transport cost might even make it cheaper than buying in as well as being assured of the quality.

The odd hole can be patched with duck tape if your vigilant when restacking.

 

[setterlover]

It's about 100 miles between where we are now and where we are looking so if it all works out it might be worth costing out hauling it there.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

We sold our equestrian property in Feb and still didn't get moved till September so even with the best will in the world I don't think waiting till spring is always the best option for getting moved in summer.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

As title considering selling up and downsizing next year and interested in people's thoughts.Starting to look at properties to gauge what is around and wondering what people would find the most important really good horse and yard or really posh house
We tend to look at horse facilities as the priority as houses are easier to deal with. Kitchens and bathrooms can be updated conservatory can be added with no need for lengthy planning permissions ( for the most part) whereas putting up barns field shelters and stables all tend to involved planning permissions and often hit snags with just getting the permission as well as the costs of applying and getting it A decent size equestrian barn we put up cost the best part of £1,000 in application fees and took the best part of a year to go through with all the checks and surveys ,( bat survey water and run off etc.) that was before the cost of the actual structure.and the arena we put in at a different property took 3 years 3 appeals before finally got approval.
As long as the house is livable in and tidy we tend to look at the land fencing access and buildings as a priority.
What do others think.

When we bought this place, it was the land and facilities were a priority and the location.

This is a bungalow, microscopic kitchen and small all over. Does us though just two of us.

The value has increased 7 times what we paid.

 

[setterlover]

We have now viewed the cottage.
Plus side .
Location perfect I don't ride anymore but footpaths and bridleways right off the property quiet location.
No very close neighbours but only 1.5 miles from nearest village with shops dog friendly pub and vet practice.doctors
New biomass boiler new solar panels all new upvc windows .Re wired
2 Good large solid stables each 14 x 12 and large hay and feed store opens direct on the land.Piped water to field.
Double garage needs tidying up.
Against
Minimal kitchen one unit plus sink unit
Bathroom useable but needs tidying up.
All rooms inside needs decorating and perhaps layout inside rejigged
Car port needed to but caravan under cover
Grounds are very overgrown has been empty for 18 months being sold by children of elderly parent who died 18 months ago has now cleared probate.
The land also is very overgrown but an area in front of the stable block making a grass yarded area is clear and an area immediately off that could be quickly cleared to create about half an acre or bit more of grass for winter use .Very good drainage so usable with stables left open for access during the winter.
There is 4.5 acres but part of it is steep and probably about 2 acres or so could be usable grazing.
2 very good doers so that would be fine supplemented with haylege.
Also against it is potential move in the winter.
Currently thinking we may go for it
Agent thinks it needs money spent on it and it is over priced but she feels an offer would be acceptable.
Thoughts?

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We were more bothered about the land and buildings than the house
The house was liveable in, although it needed bringing up to date and the buildings could be adapted for the horses.
We looked at another property almost within sight of this but north-, rather than south-facing, as ours is. The houses would have been more suitable, really but the land was steeper and wetter so we decided where we are now was better. And are we glad!
The other one is in a frost pocket, if it snows the long track has to be dug out by the residents and it is dark for 6 months of the year. We looked at it in May and were quite naive so didn't think about the winter.
You can do a lot to make a house suit you but you can't change the land much.

 

[gallopingby]

We have now viewed the cottage.
Plus side .
Location perfect I don't ride anymore but footpaths and bridleways right off the property quiet location.
No very close neighbours but only 1.5 miles from nearest village with shops dog friendly pub and vet practice.doctors
New biomass boiler new solar panels all new upvc windows .Re wired
2 Good large solid stables each 14 x 12 and large hay and feed store opens direct on the land.Piped water to field.
Double garage needs tidying up.
Against
Minimal kitchen one unit plus sink unit
Bathroom useable but needs tidying up.
All rooms inside needs decorating and perhaps layout inside rejigged
Car port needed to but caravan under cover
Grounds are very overgrown has been empty for 18 months being sold by children of elderly parent who died 18 months ago has now cleared probate.
The land also is very overgrown but an area in front of the stable block making a grass yarded area is clear and an area immediately off that could be quickly cleared to create about half an acre or bit more of grass for winter use .Very good drainage so usable with stables left open for access during the winter.
There is 4.5 acres but part of it is steep and probably about 2 acres or so could be usable grazing.
2 very good doers so that would be fine supplemented with haylege.
Also against it is potential move in the winter.
Currently thinking we may go for it
Agent thinks it needs money spent on it and it is over priced but she feels an offer would be acceptable.
Thoughts?

If the location is perfect it’s worth serious consideration. I would expect it to be priced to sell if it’s a probate sale, different agents have different perspectives on things. You can always do somewhere up a bit at a time but you can’t change the location or proximity to village etc. Remember to check out the neighbours even if they don’t appear very local. We’ve just rejected somewhere having studied a map and discovered a very undesirable set up close by.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

I'm all for the horse facilities the house is irrelevant in my world if it had an indoor school I would sleep in a shack

Mr P is all for the house if its not right or easy fixable it's a no go so we have many arguments about this when house hunting.

Totally agree. Currently in a property we moved into in March this year and I am organising all the horse facilities. So far I’ve had stables put in an existing barn and I’m getting winter field divided into two. Mr.C is trying to get me engaged in building a house extension but I’m really not bothered as long as I’ve got my horsey facilities organised

 

[blitznbobs]

It depends entirely on the price bracket tbh… if you are talking about selling then you need to concentrate on the house. Whilst equestrian market is one thing, you don’t want to alienate other buyers. My biggest business is property and a good bathroom but especially kitchens can be deal breakers. Kitchens are expensive to replace. Houses in my book come in 3 types… at one end is derelict houses or nearly derelict houses … these sell really well . People love the romance of a wreck and they go in with the knowledge they must do everything. At the other end of the spectrum is the done up to the nines house… again sell really quickly even in a dodgy market for top whack money… the third type is the inbetween house. This is the difficult house to sell, it has a functional bathroom and kitchen which the owners see nothing wrong with, they put it in 20 years ago and it works fine. Yes it has the dodgy door in the corner but you don’t notice that. The buyers see a kitchen that needs replacing - maybe not today but asap and In reality it costs as much to put a new kitchen in this house as it does in the derelict one… yet the owners think it’s worth as much or nearly as much as the luxury type house. For this reason I will never look at an inbetween house. Now the section of the population that is struggling to buy a place with land will over look a lot of problems with a house but these are a tiny percentage of the house buying market so by only thinking of them you are cutting out the majority of the market. I live in a house that has other houses round it that also have enough land for horses… maybe 8 or so… only one of the eight currently has horses at home. (2 when I have horses at home in the winter) so just cos it has horsey facilities don’t assume a horsey person will buy it.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Sounds great to me. House needs work but everything else sounds great. Personally I would go for it.

 

[Hallo2012]

I'm all for the horse facilities the house is irrelevant in my world if it had an indoor school I would sleep in a shack

Mr P is all for the house if its not right or easy fixable it's a no go so we have many arguments about this when house hunting.

literally the same in my household!!!!!!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I think for me it will be turn out- You can add facilities and make existing better, shape the rest into what you want. The turnout is what it is and other than fencing etc it has to work for you/be enough etc.

The house, The shell would be important. I'd be happy to live in a dump and remodel as long as the actual stamp of the house is suitable and nice looking!

We are going to be properly looking in the future, so we already look now to see what's around. Location is also important.

Exciting!

 

[setterlover]

The cottage is definitely over priced the estate agent said they recommended a much lower price as it needs a very minimum of £60,000 spending to put it in order but the 2 'children' selling it wanted to go for a higher figure.
Part of the land is very steep but an area at the bottom less steep (around 2 acres) could be cleared of rough grass and be a useable paddock directly accessed from the stables.That would be plenty for us with 2 extremely good doers who are on restricted grazing most of the time.
There have been some viewings but all have been put off by the amount needed spending on it and the fact that only part of the land would be useable grazing.
Our horses are 20 and 24 these will be the last so grazing has to work for them until we have no horses.
We have decided we may proceed with caution.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

The cottage is definitely over priced the estate agent said they recommended a much lower price as it needs a very minimum of £60,000 spending to put it in order but the 2 'children' selling it wanted to go for a higher figure.
Part of the land is very steep but an area at the bottom less steep (around 2 acres) could be cleared of rough grass and be a useable paddock directly accessed from the stables.That would be plenty for us with 2 extremely good doers who are on restricted grazing most of the time.
There have been some viewings but all have been put off by the amount needed spending on it and the fact that only part of the land would be useable grazing.
Our horses are 20 and 24 these will be the last so grazing has to work for them until we have no horses.
We have decided we may proceed with caution.

We once looked at a property which was advertised with 20 acres. That proved to be almost vertical cliff face, mountain goats would have struggled! We still talk about the 'spider farm'!

 

[cariadbach10]

I would say house, as I keep my horses in an in/out open barn system, and would want to recreate that to my own spec in anywhere we moved to. Having 12 x 12 stables already there would actively put me off- the thought of mucking our boxes every day- eugh!

A ready made arena and nice out riding wouldn’t though!

 

[setterlover]

Having 12 x 12 stables already there would actively put me off- the thought of mucking our boxes every day- eugh!

We would leave the doors pinned open as there is direct access onto the grazing so horses could come and go as they please.

 

[lauragreen85]

I'm all for the horse facilities the house is irrelevant in my world if it had an indoor school I would sleep in a shack

Mr P is all for the house if its not right or easy fixable it's a no go so we have many arguments about this when house hunting.

I would sleep in the indoor lol

 

[ihatework]

The cottage is definitely over priced the estate agent said they recommended a much lower price as it needs a very minimum of £60,000 spending to put it in order but the 2 'children' selling it wanted to go for a higher figure.
Part of the land is very steep but an area at the bottom less steep (around 2 acres) could be cleared of rough grass and be a useable paddock directly accessed from the stables.That would be plenty for us with 2 extremely good doers who are on restricted grazing most of the time.
There have been some viewings but all have been put off by the amount needed spending on it and the fact that only part of the land would be useable grazing.
Our horses are 20 and 24 these will be the last so grazing has to work for them until we have no horses.
We have decided we may proceed with caution.

Excellent - all grounds for a hefty negotiation! Good luck!