Where to advertise "car guy" house and barn

[bluecollarbill]

I need to tap the collective wisdom of the group.  

 

We are trying to sell our house in southern Connecticut which includes a "bank barn" that will hold up to 10 cars.  It is listed with a realtor, and I have put it on Hemming's Real Estate for Sale classifieds on line.

 

I am trying to think of other web sites where where it would be seen by "car guys" - who I think are the most likely to have an Interest in a house like this.  Any thoughts anyone might have on the subject would be welcomed !

 

Thanks !

 

Bill Stanley

203.215.8585

wjstanley@cox.net

[Brass is Best]

Bill, Try some car club newsletters in your area. Couldn't hurt.

[tom_in_nh]

Hemmings Motor News has a section on real estate for just the clientele you're looking for. 

[Grimy]

And there is www.CarProperty.com

 

I haven't used them but am on their email list.

 

[MotiveLensPhoto]

Forget about what YOU use it for. Think what it could be used for. Same thing as decluttering your house. You want a prospective buyer to see how their stuff will fit, not how your stuff does (or doesn't) fit. If you haven't already and the weather cooperates, empty it out and take some photos of the interior, showing doors, cabinets, electrical, etc.

[John_S_in_Penna]

2 hours ago, Grimy said:

And there is www.CarProperty.com.

That sounds ideal.  Excellent suggestion, Grimy!

[Paul Dobbin]

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

That sounds ideal.  Excellent suggestion, Grimy!

 

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

That sounds ideal.  Excellent suggestion, Grimy!

    I've used them about 15 years ago and will use them again later this year.   First I have to sell of some cars and antiques to make room       for the 13 car spaces the next guy will want to use.   What to keep after downsizing is the problem now.

[TAKerry]

Beautiful place Paul! My brother will be listing his home soon as well. I thought of the car angle too. He has a really nice separate oversize 3 car garage with a large shop area in the back, in law apartment over top. He is leaving MD to head to NC.

[1912Staver]

In practical terms , very few people are going to move very far just to get the " perfect " old car property. So 98 % of your potential buyers are likely to be within a 50 or so mile radius. If someone has enough collectors vehicles and related stuff to make use of a property like this then moving it all is a huge job. { I just spent the last 10 months doing just that and the move was only about 10 miles }.

 At the end of it all a friend who helped out during the move remarked that I should have spent the first week moving my two best cars, any parts for those cars alone and my hand tools. Monday of the second week called the scrap man for everything else. 

 His logic was that by the time you added up all the costs of moving just that 10 miles { rent back on the old property , gas, wear and tear on my truck and trailer and the value of 10 months of my time } the cost of making the move exceeded the value of the old car stuff moved. 

 Unfortunately at the end of it all I think he was probably correct. 

[auburnseeker]

I would make sure your realtor emphasizes the extra space in the listing.  When I was looking it was tough to find properties with big garages or barns.  Not because they didn't exist,  but the realtors failed to promote those aspects.  Even when I directly inquired with the realtor what I was looking for,  they gave me few options.  I scoured the sites with various keyword searches and found several that were never even presented by the realtor.  Often I would stumble upon the buildings in the photos. 

[Paul Dobbin]

49 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

I would make sure your realtor emphasizes the extra space in the listing.  When I was looking it was tough to find properties with big garages or barns.  Not because they didn't exist,  but the realtors failed to promote those aspects.  Even when I directly inquired with the realtor what I was looking for,  they gave me few options.  I scoured the sites with various keyword searches and found several that were never even presented by the realtor.  Often I would stumble upon the buildings in the photos. 

  Realtors see no value in garage space and usually never mention it or consider it when listing.

  That's why I like CarProperty.com.   1912Staver is right, moving is a BIG PROJECT, but space for 

  our toys drives us to big projects.  You'll seldom find a car guy that says the garage is to big.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

@bluecollarbill on the forum since 2011 with less than 20 posts...  tsk tsk.  😀😀

 

Hope you are well!  Managed to lose your email but will hang onto it now and pm you mine.  Still doing anything with CCR AACA?  Been out of touch with most of those guys for some time now...

 

Maybe we will connect before you leave our snow, congestion and silly taxes behind.. 😀

 

Steve

Edited January 9 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[MotiveLensPhoto]

23 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

In practical terms , very few people are going to move very far just to get the " perfect " old car property. So 98 % of your potential buyers are likely to be within a 50 or so mile radius.

 

Or it is someone from 1000 miles away who wants to relocate for whatever reason, family, job, weather, whatever. The more esoteric the property the wider the net needs to be to catch the one fish.

[1912Staver]

59 minutes ago, MotiveLensPhoto said:

Or it is someone from 1000 miles away who wants to relocate for whatever reason, family, job, weather, whatever. The more esoteric the property the wider the net needs to be to catch the one fish.

 

The cost of that 10 mile move was somewhere between $50,000.00 and $60,000.00  { Canadian so about $40,000. USD } Mostly rent back on the place I sold. but about $10,000 in fuel and $4,000.00 to move the bigger stuff I could not move myself. 3, 1946  Chevy 2 and 3 tons. My "square body " 81 GMC tow truck which decided to break down 2 weeks into the move and 2 " small " { for commercial quality } lathes , 1 medium size milling machine. Once again a commercial quality machine as opposed  to " home workshop " quality, and my smallish { 35 HP ] older diesel tractor. If I was moving say several hundreds of miles the cost of moving would have been well over $100,000.00. A housing crisis in my area and knock your socks off rents. New owner had me over a barrel on the rent back and went for the jugular.  Costs in some parts of the U.S. will be less; Canada is just nuts for things like rent and fuel , but any longer distance " car guy " move is going to be a very costly situation where ever you live. I was in the old place for 27 years and been collecting for nearly 50 years, so needless to say things had accumulated. Several projects sold off to other collectors ; all four of my vintage tractors for example, plus about 8 tons to the scrap man. Much of that wasn't really scrap, just things I no longer needed and could not get a non scrap man buyer for given the relatively short time frame I had available.

 I am not saying that someone with a 10 car collection { and presumably the shop set up , tools , equipment to support it } would not make a 1000 mile move in any circumstance. But when you look at the basic logistics and costs of such a move I think the likelihood of such a buyer is far outweighed by someone already in the general area. Hemmings real estate category can't hurt, the cost of the listing is low . Similar for the other suggestions mentioned. I agree, you never know.

Edited January 10 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

Americans are in a moving mood.   Climate, Retirement and following the dream, are still big motivators.   At age 62 we finally found a place to move to with better weather, younger people

more space and better views and privacy.   Bought land and began or transition from Florida life

to mountain life, 600 miles away.    

#1   Built a shop 2008

#2   Built a house 2012

#3   Moved 20 trailer loads of stuff to our new life. 2012

Now enjoying our 12th year here, new car club, some old friends and many new ones.

You only go throught life once, don't waste it on fear of change.

We vacationed here for 40 years and finally made the move and fulfilled our dreams, which included

going form a 5 car garage to 13.    

[joe_padavano]

On 1/9/2024 at 11:58 AM, 1912Staver said:

In practical terms , very few people are going to move very far just to get the " perfect " old car property.

Not always true. I moved from SoCal to Northern VA due to a job change. Fortunately I was able to negotiate much of the moving expense into the job offer. I filled a car carrier with my vehicles. Tools and parts went in the moving van. Here's a tip: if you fill the entire car carrier, they will pull up in front of your house to load up.

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

Joe,   from the looks of your list, you filled more than one car carrier.   Good Move, Virginia was another place we considered for years, but mountains and taxes won in NC.  Plus is was 300 miles closer to FL.  Lexington VA and

Buena Vista were the second choice.                    

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, Paul Dobbin said:

Joe,   from the looks of your list, you filled more than one car carrier.   Good Move, Virginia was another place we considered for years, but mountains and taxes won in NC.  Plus is was 300 miles closer to FL.  Lexington VA and

Buena Vista were the second choice.                    

The list has expanded somewhat since my arrival in VA in 1987. 😁

[1912Staver]

Absolutely, if you can get an employer to cover a good part of the cost it is a major help. 

 Canada is different than the U.S. , a lot different ! A very sizable percentage of Canadians { 90% by all reports } live in close proximity { within 100 miles} to the U.S. border. And even at that primarily in two general locations Southern Ontario / Quebec , and South Western British Columbia {over 80 % of Canada's population }. People do live outside these spots, but the cost of living is even higher than the rest of Canada. { Alberta is cheaper, but much more winter than the Vancouver area even in Calgary. Edmonton is usually even colder.} So unless you are directly tied to farming / ranching or a resource industry it does not make much financial sense. { or you like a hermit / woodsman existence }

 I already live in the place a good percentage of Canadians would move to if they could afford the staggering price of housing in South Western British Columbia. I could have gone to B.C.'s interior and saved somewhat on the property cost, but the wild fire risk is becoming a real factor to be reckoned with. 

 I have been retired for 5 years now so moving for a job isn't going to happen. And much the same for moving to the U.S. , something my wife and I were very close to doing about 30 years ago when our job skills would have made such a move reasonably easy.

Edited January 10 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[JACK M]

Out here where I live if there is any kind of out building it makes a huge difference in desirability.

One of my daughters went halves with her boyfriend on a two-acre lot with an older house.

They both sold their residences and were able to buy the place outright and put a few bucks into some remodel, especially the kitchen.

Then they took an equity loan and built a very large shop. Not really finished inside but looked great from the outside.

After a couple of years, they split up and sold the place for a ton of money.

That would not have happened if not for the great big shop building.

[ron hausmann]

On 1/8/2024 at 6:29 PM, MotiveLensPhoto said:

Forget about what YOU use it for. Think what it could be used for. Same thing as decluttering your house. You want a prospective buyer to see how their stuff will fit, not how your stuff does (or doesn't) fit. If you haven't already and the weather cooperates, empty it out and take some photos of the interior, showing doors, cabinets, electrical, etc.

I agree completely with the above! Real estate selling depends upon “location, location, location”, not use.

Ron Hausmann

[Jack Bennett]

Dependent on my limited ability to negotiate the internet, I have successfully reached your post.

Dependent on your question, I must suppose that you take me for a valid buyer, with both the ability and inclination to buy your expansive property.

The first statement is correct, I can negotiate the internet to the extent I can scam you into making a very costly mistake, emotional and financial, as you attempt to sell your property.

There are a few problems here though that punches holes in how you are trying to sell a estate, which appears to be years of improvements and personally constructed to meet your own needs.

So, I will not ask WHY you are selling a upscale property when the normal direction a new retiree travels is to down scale.

And, I will not ask of your ability to suffer a rather significant loss should I offer to buy your property and ultimately are found to disqualify for a loan or am no more than a narcissistic liar, and the sale was bogus from the beginning.

My initial observation is that you are neither poor or dumb.

The only value of your house, and property, is the actual amount you pocket upon completion of its sale, and the waste of time, and emotional rollercoaster trips, incurred during that sale also is a detractor to its final value…….as a fact, the worry can be fatal.

Were it me, and I were you, I’d scrap the realtor, I’d put the internet and car clubs completely out of my mind, I’d stop asking how I should proceed with the sale……but I would contact one of my trusted attorneys and turn the entire process over to their firm.

Move, resettle, start another massive car collection, but remember what it was like to start anew 15 years ago. 
Let those who know the legalities of estate management handle the house and you handle what to do with your car collection.