Is Now a Good Time to Sell?

There’s plenty to consider when deciding the best time to sell your rural property.  For many, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and the best advice is to plan strategically.

At any given time, there are good reasons to sell and good reasons to hold on.  Determining the ideal selling time is a bit of a crystal ball exercise and it’s much easier in hindsight.

During the drought most pundits urged caution and sellers generally delayed putting their properties on the market unless necessary.  Potential buyers had a difficult time taking business plan projections to financial institutions to secure lending – after all, whether it was cropping or livestock, future cash flow looked uncertain at best.  Marketing rural properties was challenging – photos consisted of endless bare ground and property inspections took place early morning or late afternoon when the seasonal conditions seemed less harsh.

Despite the hard times, farmland prices across NSW increased by 17.2% in 2019 according to the Rural Bank Australian Farmland Values Report 2020.  This result defied the pessimistic predictions by some industry members that “land prices are going to fall”.  During the drought wasn’t a bad time to sell after all.

So what about 2020?

Most districts have had rain and there has been a flurry of activity sowing the winter crop.  Landowners with abundant feed are offering agistment, but there is limited uptake as the season is pretty good over much of NSW.  Re-stocking costs for livestock are significant.

The temptation is hold out for the winter crop, or until stock are ready to turn off.  This could be a good option.  Or sellers could be missing the best opportunity in years to maximise the sale price of their asset. 

The key to maximising a sale outcome is the buyer, so you need to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes.  Think in terms of when you would like to purchase a property.  In most rural property purchases, the buyer is looking for ROI and economies of scale.

At this point in time, buyers are primed. The season is good and they can take a robust business plan to their financial institution.  The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the solidity of agriculture as an industry for investment.  Furthermore, most farms are able to continue business-as-usual compared to other sectors.

When it comes down to it, the best time to sell is when people want to buy.  That time could be now and you don’t want to miss the opportunity. If you'd like to have a confidential and obligation-free discussion to explore the options, please give me a call on 0429 921700 or email mguest@ruralpropertynsw.com.au.

Michael Guest

Photo credit: Joshua J Smith

 

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Posted on Monday, 18 May 2020
by Michael Guest in Latest News
farm for sale farmland prices rural property for sale rural property market when should I sell
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