Horse Farms, Barns and Farmland in Maine

Photo: Jeffrey Scott Smith

Land with a barn and open fields is one of the harder property types to price and one of the easier ones to get wrong in a contract. Its value depends on things a listing photo cannot show: how the land is taxed, what the town allows, what easements run across it and whether the barn, the water and the fields can support the use a buyer has in mind. Around Freeport that means farms in Pownal, Durham, North Yarmouth and the rural parts of Freeport itself, in North Freeport and West Freeport.

Buying a farm or horse property

Zoning and use. Towns set their own rules on keeping horses and livestock and on how many animals a lot can hold. A riding arena, a boarding operation or a farm stand may be treated as a commercial use. We check the district and the ordinance before you make an offer.

The farmland tax program. Many Maine farms are enrolled under the Farm and Open Space Tax Law, which lowers the assessment on farmland of at least five contiguous acres that produces at least $2,000 a year in gross farm income. If land leaves the program, the penalty is the difference between the taxes that would have been paid over the last five years and the taxes actually paid, plus interest. We find out whether the land is enrolled and what keeping it enrolled would require.

Wealden Farm, Pleasant Hill Road, Freeport. Listed and sold by Balsam. Photo: Hommati Maine.

Easements and old roads. Conservation and farmland easements can limit building, subdivision and use, and old farm roads and rights of way may cross the land. We review them with the title company early.

Barns and outbuildings. Roof, frame, foundation, electrical service and water all matter, and so does how an insurer will view the buildings.

Water, fields and fencing. Wells and springs need to supply animals as well as the house. Hay fields, drainage and fencing affect both use and value.

New listings sent to you. Tell us the towns, the acreage and what the land needs to support and we will set up an MLS search that emails you new farm and horse property listings as they come on the market.

Gardens and outbuildings at the Getchell House, Bowdoinham. Listed and sold by Balsam. Photo: Hommati Maine.

Selling a farm or horse property

A farm buyer's first questions are about taxes, easements, water and what the town allows. Before your property goes on the market we research those questions from the public record, summarize the answers in writing and price the property from closed sales of comparable land and buildings, not from house square footage alone. We attend every showing ourselves.

Talk with us

Call 207.865.0123 or email homework@balsamrealty.com. Meetings are by appointment in Freeport, by phone or by Zoom.

What is your farm or land worth?

See also antique and historic homes and the Freeport areas.

Subscribe to Freeport on the Record, Freeport property decisions reported from the public record about once a month.