Advice Needed - House for sale, realtor states chickens prevent sales!

[HEChicken]

I believe it but.....15 years ago when I was on the market for a house, I spent weeks or maybe even months looking at all of the available listings in the area I wanted to buy. Finally one Sunday I went to an open house for which the house was so-so, but then I stepped out into the backyard. Sitting in a corner of the yard was the most beautiful chicken coop I had ever seen, and enclosed in the run were 6-8 chickens. I decided right then and there that this was the house for me. Having grown up keeping poultry, I was eager to get my own flock as a young married woman, but the thought of building a chicken coop was daunting. We made an offer on the house that day and a condition of the offer was that the chicken coop stayed and at least two hens as well! The seller gladly accepted our offer and left 2-3 pullets who started laying almost immediately. I never did fall in love with the house but I loved the chicken coop for as long as we were there

So it could be that a potential buyer might feel the same way I did and be more interested in the house BECAUSE of the coop? (Just recently DH and I discussed moving to a property with more acreage and I took a look around our area to see what is available. The only two properties that really jumped out at me did so because they already had some outbuildings - including chicken coops).

 

[Julie08]

You can suggest a co listing, meaning you hire your agent she has hers and they have to split the selling commission that might shape up your current agent into working more with you if she knows she will have to split her commission with another agent.

 

[greeneggsandham]

What is the zoning for the property? If it is AG then livestock, poultry, etc. are permitted and it shouldn't matter if you have chickens or any other type of farm animal. Also, if having the price reduced isn't going to be enough to pay off the ex I would fight that. She sounds like my husbands ex, but in our case we had the last laugh and she was not a very happy person. The courts will listen just make sure you are prepared for anything.

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:

I like that idea. It's always better if you can get everybody on board to cooperate. It would be awful to have to get rid of your chickens over this, esp. since you'll have to start over with a new flock once you've moved and you are probably already quite attached to your current flock.

 

[lovemychicns]

Quote:
I 100% agree! That was my first thought...the agent is not on their side. Time for a new agent.

Me three.We sold our house in Maryland this past Sept. in 17 days.I have 30 chickens
all there during the sale of our house. Get a new agent.

Karen

 

[PineappleMama]

Just who picked this realtor? If the Ex got absolute control on that I'd petition the judge to pick someone else... conflict of interest is not cool. I'd get one that neither party has any association with. Mom's still tangling with her recent Ex, it is NOT pretty. Having a friend trying to handle stuff that's poda be unbiased would not help matters.

I think most of us here would be happy with seeing that, but others... who knows.

As long as they are legal birds, not outlaws, I don't see how a judge could order you to remove them... or your doghouse or your kid's swingset...

But if it's YOU guys really wanting it sold and fast, then maybe finding a temp home for them would be good for YOU, and okay you can live with it if it helps out Ms Cranky Pants.

 

[averytds]

Like I said, a lot depends on the potential buyers. You can sell anything to the right person. When I heard about the house that wasn't selling because of the chickens, my questions were "What kind of chickens?" and "What's the coop like?"

I just didn't see any reason one way or the other that you would have to get rid of them permanently. 4 chickens are nothing to move for the day. I haven't spent a lot of time in the court system, but I've always heard at least appearing to be cooperative serves you better. Especially if the other party is obnoxiously inflexible.



I'm afraid I can't picture your set-up besides it being a tractor. What exactly is your run like?

 

[EweSheep]

IF it is a fixed coop, you can put a clause in there that the spot will be rototilled, grass seeded in the spring OR put an estimate of what it would cost for a landscaper to do that chicken plot.

I agree, either get a lawyer OR find another agent because of conflict interests. I am guessing the realtor would blab on the ex on the condition of your house and all that jazz. Not a good idea to find a realtor that is a very close friend to either one of them.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
If I was listing this home, I would have made the chickens a positive instead of a negative. Too bad that the ex is involved, always makes it so difficult because you know how it works with trying to agree on anything, no matter how trivial. But, as I said I would have made it sound like a little chicken lover haven . . .but I think outside the box whenever I list anything. Too many buyers out there with different needs and wants and you have to sort of wine em' and dine em' every which way you can.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Gotta say that I find a LOT of things more off putting than chickens and a coop. When I was looking for my current house the realtor learned to call ahead and ask if the owners were smokers or permitted smoking in their house. If the answer was yes, we just didn't bother going because as soon as I smell smoke, I'm outta there. And I have a very sensitive sniffer for cigarette and cigar smoke......blech! Or dog or cat poo all over the place....ugh....Now, horse, cow, chicken, & goose poo? No problem, LOL! Just not inside the house.

I agree with the jettison the realtor movement. She's not giving you a square deal.