A chicken house quandary

[HighFlight]

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts. The "sunk cost" article was insightful. DW and I are pretty settled on moving sooner rather than later; starting to look at other houses this weekend. We are in a position to manage the costs without too much pain. And, if we stay in SE Tennessee/North Georgia the moving costs won't be significant as we can do most of the move ourselves. I'd totally forgotten about the rooster issue; when we had our chicken houses there always were a couple of roosters in with the laying hens. Happens with 50,000+ birds I guess. Definitely would like to be the first ones to move if we can. More to follow as we look and work with the county about the possible nuisance issues with the odors.

 

[Jerry1]

Definitely would like to be the first ones to move if we can. More to follow as we look and work with the county about the possible nuisance issues with the odors.

I’d pick one or the other. Either engage with the county or sell and quietly go on your way.

 

[OldShooter]

I’d pick one or the other. Either engage with the county or sell and quietly go on your way.

I disagree, subject to how much effort the OP wants to put into seeking a solution. If there are multiple possible solutions, like working with the county and exploring a sale, I would work to bring as many as possible to fruition. Then at the decision point, pick the best.

 

[4legsgood]

I’d pick one or the other. Either engage with the county or sell and quietly go on your way.

+1, for disclosure reasons.

 

[Jerry1]

+1, for disclosure reasons.

That’s what I was thinking. Plus, he wouldn’t want a story in the local paper about how the residents are up in arms about the chicken houses as he’s trying to sell the house. Lay low and sell the house.

 

[Koolau]

I did not know that chicken bedding gets fed to some cows. That's grossing me out.

To OP. The situation sucks. I think I would move. I've got one annoying rooster at the neighbors 150 yards away and no smell from half a dozen chickens, but a large operation...that's something else.

If you wanna be grossed out, keep in mind that keeping a chicken house "clean" (keeping the droppings cleaned from the floor) stunts the chickens as they typically feed from the ground and ingest their own droppings. They NEED the nutrients in their own droppings. Perhaps by now, they artificially supply those nutrients in water or feed. In the old days, it was "bad" to clean all the droppings from a chicken house.



By the way, while talking about living next to something gross, a turkey operation is worse than a chicken operation. Not sure why, but I've experienced it when traveling near a turkey operation near some friends house. Yuk on steroids!

 

[Mark1]

I would just put "do not know" on those forms as one person might have different sensitivities to odor than another lol.

Another option might be to overwhelm the buyers with disclosures.

"This is a subdivision type neighborhood so there may occasionally be barking dogs and other noises associated with this type of neighborhood. This is also an agriculture area and there may be smells associated with horses, cattle, chickens, and other livestock. There may also be noises associated with mechanical machinery associated with agricultural farming and production. ..Blah, Blah, Blah..... Lastly, there may be a vacant restaurant behind the back alley."

 

[Gumby]

That’s what I was thinking. Plus, he wouldn’t want a story in the local paper about how the residents are up in arms about the chicken houses as he’s trying to sell the house. Lay low and sell the house.

Exactly.

 

[OldShooter]

If OP sells through a realtor, the realtor will know exactly what disclosures are necessary and how to couch them in the most comforting way.

 

[Aerides]

If OP sells through a realtor, the realtor will know exactly what disclosures are necessary and how to couch them in the most comforting way.

And the seller need never even interact with the buyers.

 

[Fermion]

Another option might be to overwhelm the buyers with disclosures.

"This is a subdivision type neighborhood so there may occasionally be barking dogs and other noises associated with this type of neighborhood. This is also an agriculture area and there may be smells associated with horses, cattle, chickens, and other livestock. There may also be noises associated with mechanical machinery associated with agricultural farming and production. ..Blah, Blah, Blah..... Lastly, there may be a vacant restaurant behind the back alley."

That is a good strategy and pretty much what most stocks do in their quarterly reports. They list so many reasons why your investment with them might fail that everyone ignores the statement.

 

[Walt34]

Why do you have to disclose that? It isn't on your property. Wouldn't it be up them to do due diligence?

As noted, it depends on local/state laws. If I was the buyer and I found out the seller knew about it, I'd be furious and be in immediate contact with an attorney about the material defect that was known to the seller.

 

[Aerides]

Another option might be to overwhelm the buyers with disclosures.

"This is a subdivision type neighborhood so there may occasionally be barking dogs and other noises associated with this type of neighborhood. This is also an agriculture area and there may be smells associated with horses, cattle, chickens, and other livestock. There may also be noises associated with mechanical machinery associated with agricultural farming and production. ..Blah, Blah, Blah..... Lastly, there may be a vacant restaurant behind the back alley."

I mean ok, but would you fall for that? I would ask my realtor what on earth they are thinking showing me that house.

 

[Mark1]

I mean ok, but would you fall for that? I would ask my realtor what on earth they are thinking showing me that house.

Probably, But I believe many of us are overwhelmed with all the paperwork at closing. I remember in TX at my closing, they had a pipeline disclosure which appeared at closing. The pipeline was ~ a block away. It seemed like it was after about the 20th page of signatures, so DW and I signed it and moved on.

 

[Drake3287]

Chicken house isn't in operation yet so there are no odors to disclose at this time. Another reason to be one of the first to sell and move on.

It would greatly depend on how well known this chicken operation being proposed is to local property owners. Most Real Estate agents don't wish to be caught in these potential legal battles down the road. If this has been in the local papers then the new buyers have a case. Not to mention other neighbors telling them later on.

 

[freedomatlast]

Why even bother with realtors? Just more time, bureaucracy and expense. With a little common sense and a little research, it's not hard to sell a house on your own. I'd take sets of pictures, maybe even a video, inside and outside, list it on Zillow TODAY, price it attractively, and get the place sold. If it sells quickly, great. Put the stuff in storage and rent until they find another house.

We sold a rural 1891 farmhouse with huge garage and separate huge barn back in early 2020 that bordered with a 100 acre farm. When we moved in, the fields were mostly corn, tobacco, and other plants. Then ownership changed hands and there were more cows, chickens, and hogs and the associated smells that come along with that. On beautiful spring mornings, instead of smelling flowers, we smelled excrement. The flies were out of control. One morning I went out to get the mail and the white mailbox looked black. As I got closer, I found that it was completely covered with flies. Flies were also really attracted to the attic for some reason. Then in the fall during butchering season, there was the shrill squeal of live hogs being killed for hours. Not sure what all was going on there. Then came the illegal dumping of human waste on the fields in the middle of the night for fertilizer. Then there was smell and associated ground pollution of the application of vegetation killer on the fields before changing crops.

We attractively priced and sold the place on Zillow in a week with a nice profit as we had a lot of sweat equity in the place. Closing took place before it got hot out and the new owners are thrilled with the place to this day. We answered all their questions honestly throughout the process. We still talk from time to time and they couldn't be happier. The other neighbors have lived there forever, and they will probably never move. When you move to a rural area, you can't expect the environment to be like the city. Goes without saying there will be smells from time to time and some people don't seem to mind the farm smells and accept it as part of rural living.

But it sure isn't for everyone, including me.

Going to local government and asking that smells be contained is going to be a waste of time and just further document the real reason OP will sell the place and that's not a good thing. Making enemies with the chicken house owner isn't going to end well for OP. No one can control the wind direction, so face realty and get out now.

I have some experience with OP's situation and I'm just expressing how we successfully handled it. If I was in the same situation again, I handle it exactly the same way. I hope OP can benefit from my experience and advice and obviously they and anyone else is free to handle their similar situations any way they wish.

 

[Venturer]

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts. The "sunk cost" article was insightful. DW and I are pretty settled on moving sooner rather than later; starting to look at other houses this weekend. We are in a position to manage the costs without too much pain. And, if we stay in SE Tennessee/North Georgia the moving costs won't be significant as we can do most of the move ourselves. I'd totally forgotten about the rooster issue; when we had our chicken houses there always were a couple of roosters in with the laying hens. Happens with 50,000+ birds I guess. Definitely would like to be the first ones to move if we can. More to follow as we look and work with the county about the possible nuisance issues with the odors.

I live just south of you in Ga. There is an ongoing debate about a bunch of commercial "farms" going in in the northern parts of the county that has taken some folks by suprise. But I can just about guarentee that the local government already knows all about the "new" chicken houses coming in. At one time we had thoughts about building a home in that area off of Cleveland highway because that road is in a beautiful valley. I'm glad now that we didn't do that because it is fast on its way to being ruined. Good luck to you but as has been said if you are going to move do it sooner rather than later. And if you want to stay in the area go East closer to the mountains where it is harder to build large chicken houses!

 

[HighFlight]

A lot to consider on the disclosure front. We are in a rural area with a metal fab shop close by, some cattle just down the road, etc... so the agricultural aspect plays in. We spent a few hours yesterday looking at houses-fortunately DW has a sense of humor. She also is pragmatic-as she said, if we are making a wrong decision and it costs us money, so be it. If we stay and that's the wrong decision then we've lost money and have to deal with chicken house odors. We will get through Christmas and then attack this harder. Based on my experience and how the construction is going, I expect the houses to be in operation around late March.

 

[HighFlight]

I live just south of you in Ga. There is an ongoing debate about a bunch of commercial "farms" going in in the northern parts of the county that has taken some folks by suprise. But I can just about guarentee that the local government already knows all about the "new" chicken houses coming in. At one time we had thoughts about building a home in that area off of Cleveland highway because that road is in a beautiful valley. I'm glad now that we didn't do that because it is fast on its way to being ruined. Good luck to you but as has been said if you are going to move do it sooner rather than later. And if you want to stay in the area go East closer to the mountains where it is harder to build large chicken houses!

Thanks. If you aren't looking for the chicken operation, it's very hard to see from Hwy 60. And when the trees are full it's not obvious at all. I expect we will be moving early in the new year; I now need to get on the small projects that were for the spring.

 

[HighFlight]

On the moving front-anyone have experience with home buying companies? I've done some research and realize we won't get market value for the house (it doesn't need much work, just some paint refreshing), but I'm weighing that against a traditional realtor approach/selling myself, with the probable delay in selling and getting closer to the "grand opening" of our chicken attraction, with possible price reductions. Or we could go with a combined approach, with the buying company as our backup option. I'm thinking speed may be of the essence in this case, so if anyone wants to talk me off the ledge.....

 

[freedomatlast]

On the moving front-anyone have experience with home buying companies? I've done some research and realize we won't get market value for the house (it doesn't need much work, just some paint refreshing), but I'm weighing that against a traditional realtor approach/selling myself, with the probable delay in selling and getting closer to the "grand opening" of our chicken attraction, with possible price reductions. Or we could go with a combined approach, with the buying company as our backup option. I'm thinking speed may be of the essence in this case, so if anyone wants to talk me off the ledge.....

I have the home buying companies sending me unsolicited offers on one of my rental properties constantly. These are extreme low ball offers designed for the truly desperate or ignorant. An auction would probably get you more than the home buying companies, but there is expense in that too.

Putting an ad on Zillow costs nothing. Most people are internet savvy and when looking for a home, look on Zillow and other similar platforms. The MLS is much less of an advantage that it was 10 or 20 years ago. I had over ten people interested in a showing the first week I listed my farm on Zillow and the first one wrote a full price offer. I'd certainly try that before involving the time and expense of realtors.

 

[Teacher Terry]

You can sell it for more than what those companies will give you. Once we got offers from a few and they were truly ridiculously low. I don’t have a good sense of smell because my allergies are so bad but I can smell a chicken ranch miles before seeing it. It’s truly disgusting.

 

[4legsgood]

... I'm thinking speed may be of the essence in this case....

^this

You won't want a race to the bottom on price if neighbors put their houses on the market.

I just sold 2 properties and found doing the disclosures to be nerve wracking. I over disclosed most would say, but I still think of things that maybe I should have written in, and I think I will feel a little worried for a year or so after the sales are final.

A couple of thoughts I came away with from my recent sales:

If you decide to disclose the 'farm', maybe add a few other disclosures so there isn't one obvious reason you're selling.

Know in advance a real estate agent will want to disclose anything you tell them to avoid liability.

I have a feeling getting the sale done sooner is a lot better than later, both for getting the most money out of the place and peace of mind.

Best of luck, your next place is going to be great.

 

[Fermion]

The evil side of me sees an opportunity here to get a permit for a chicken house in a area, buy up all the houses cheap when they scramble to sell, then cancel the permit and make bank.

 

[aja8888]

The evil side of me sees an opportunity here to get a permit for a chicken house in a area, buy up all the houses cheap when they scramble to sell, then cancel the permit and make bank.

Hog processing plants are even worse than chicken houses.