I specialize in horse properties and it's amazing how many so called horse people care as far as horse properties go. I am seeing more and more "horse" people selling their farms for top dollar. Or, if they have a large enough parcel, they will subdivide it into smaller parcels, so no one is able to keep horses on it. When you ask them "Why?", their answer to you is that they just want to sell and get as much $$$ from it as possible. It seemed that when I got into horses years ago, that horse people cared enough to help each other and make sure their horses had enough property. They actually did not want any development because of the horses. Now, it's their turn to move and therefore, just have a "don't care" attitude.
What about local horse people that have horses and would like to buy a small farmette so that we can keep our 2-3 horses with us 24/7? The sellers of these facilities are gearing towards selling to the big city folk and get as much as possible for their facility. I seem to remember this being called GREED. Now, don't get me wrong. I realize real estate is a good investment, if it is maintained and improved, and you should be able to get a profit from selling it, but not to the point where it is insane. This type of attitude is chasing the locals away to where property is more affordable. Besides, if we keep subdividing, pretty soon there will be no farms or farmettes to keep our farm animals and it will be nothing but one huge "city". As it is, we are running out of farms to grow our own crops because of development.
Think about this: Do we really need so many shopping centers and malls? Do we really need to build so many new homes when there are so many vacant ones sitting on the market? The older homes, if in good shape, can be updated and remodeled. It is so wasteful. With all the development going on and cutting back on open space, we suddenly have so much flooding. Places that never flooded before, are flooding now. Why? Simple. It was open land before and the soil absorbed the water. Now, with the development, it is all concrete and runs off the land into gutters, which lead to streams and rivers. They all overflow and, voila, flooding has begun.
When city people move into the rural places and there happens to be some type of farm animal next door, which had been there years before these people moved in, guess who complains about the so called smell. And yet, they bring their kids down to see and pet these animals. Does that make any sense to you? If we can't keep the animals out in the country anymore, where are we going to keep them?
This is a topic that needs some serious thought and action. If something isn't done about it, we will have major problems. This is happening all over the country, not just a specific area. I realize some counties and states are pl;acing some properties into conservancy and buying some farms, but the government can't do it all. WE are still paying for it. It's time all of us started thinking more about the future of our children rather than MONEY. Just think, future generations may not even have a cow, a horse or a chicken even, if things keep going the way they are. Remember, if you're in it for the MONEY, you will not be able to take it with you when your time comes.
Brigita,
My brother and his family just finished building out an equestrian center in PA (Pleasant Valley/Quakertown), approx 48 acres I did the following post http://activerain.com/blogsview/52478/Now-this-is-a he decided to do this after several are farms sold off.
His Daughter Kelly is also in Real Estate and an accomplished competition rider who does a lot with Farm properties in the area.
Good post.
I lived in Germany with my company for several years. They really limited growth and created small compact towns with green belts and farms surrounding. Go to most European cities and you will find a maximum 10-15 minute walk to a park or forest. It is a real shame that we allow the great and beautiful vastness of our country to be overdeveloped and constantly expanded.
One other great German law put a HUGE tax on any property sold after less than 10 years of ownership. No housing bubble there. Just good longterm homeowners and slow but steady appreciation.
I am actually quite familiar with the Hellertown, Quakertown area. A 100+ acre farm, known as Pleasant Hollow Farm, on Rt. 212 in Coopersburghas been in operation for many, many years. It is in the process of being sold. (Everything should be finalized by sometimein June.) What the seller did here was she subdivided the property into 2 lots. One had the home plus one barn, and the other had the upper barn with the indoor arena. The property was put into conservancy, so that this way the developers could not buy and develop it. I'd say she's a smart lady. That's the kind of person I like.
Brigita A. McKelvie, e-PRO
Nazareth, PA