Whilst each Stags’ department has their own specialism, we work closely together to ensure we can provide our clients with as wide a range of services as they require.

Why do we believe that this is beneficial when selling farms and land?

Prior to marketing we look to add value to the property being sold by advising on planning opportunities and lotting but following this we also try to make the whole sale process more efficient by being able to deal with every aspect, including the sale itself through our central Farm Agency department and our local offices; livestock & machinery sales; BPS & stewardship scheme transfers and professional valuations to assist with taxation relief.

Lower Rill and Way Farm, a 220 acre livestock farm at Shillingford in mid Devon is a recent example of when various Stags departments worked towards achieving the best possible outcome for our client.

Stags’ initial involvement was to assist Michael’s solicitor with a professional valuation for inheritance tax purposes. Stags’ professional services team carried out the valuation but the Farm Agency and Tiverton offices assisted with comparable sales evidence to ensure the valuation was accurate and therefore as tax efficient as possible.

The owner had decided that he wanted to retire and sell the farm and we spent time in understanding what they wanted to achieve and tailored our advice accordingly.

With most sales our principal aim is to maximise the sale price and our advice relating to lotting, pricing strategy and method of sale revolve around this, but we also look at other ways of adding value.

At Lower Rill this included whether there were opportunities to convert some of the farm buildings and this required input from our planning team, however with the barns being too close to the main house (which was Listed) it was decided not to pursue this option.

We launched the farm to the market in five lots and our farm agency and Tiverton office teams worked together to identify potential buyers, accompany viewings and within the first week we’d received offers on three of the lots.

With firm interest in the farm itself, Stags’ on-site sales team were able to advise on the most suitable method for the disposal of live and deadstock and a farm sale was swiftly arranged with a date set to balance providing enough time for marketing but also not to draw out the property sales longer than needed. Some of the sheep on the farm were also sold through Stags’ South Molton livestock market.

Through the feedback from the marketing of the farm, we saw an opportunity to divide one of the lots into two, and after doing this and agreeing sales, we increased the overall sale price by nearly £50,000.

Our work is not done yet as we are working to finalise the sale of the final lot, but the sale of Lower Rill outlines how our different teams work together cohesively for the benefit of our clients.

For further information on Stags’ Rural Departments, please call 01392 680059 or email: farms@stags.co.uk