Your property questions answered
I want my cousin to pay more for family farmland
Q Myfamily owns 25 acres of farmland in Co Roscommon. A cousin is renting the property annually and I know we are not charging enough rent. What is the average cost of renting 25 acres of farmland in Co Roscommon (the property borders Co Mayo)?
A When it comes to local land issues and their valuation, it's always wise to talk to a local auctioneer. We put your query to Roscommon auctioneer Paul Lafferty of James Cleary and Sons who has long experience valuing farmland and negotiating farm rents.
He says that the sort of money you might expect to get for good pasture land in Roscommon is around €150 per acre on an 11 month letting.
If you were willing to sign a six-year lease with your cousin, the rent would rise to around €200 an acre.
That's of course if the land is good pasture land. It could be that the land is more mixed in quality and would be valued accordingly. Farm rents in Roscommon, according to Lafferty, have increased by around €50 per acre in the past year, driven in part by the benefits in the REPS 4 scheme.
You don't say what rent you are currently getting or why you feel it's below market rate or where the land is or the quality, so this broad information is obviously a guideline.
If you want to proceed in the negotiations with your cousin, you should get a professional valuation.
Why should everyone know what I sell for?
Q I absolutely do not want the price my house achieves to be made public. I was advised by an estate agent last year to go down the auction route but I chose private treaty because I do not want the price to be made public knowledge.
The house is my only asset and I would consider it an invasion of my privacy for my 'wealth' to be made known.
What can I do to ensure the price stays private?
A What seems to be missing in some of this discussion about house price sales is that estate agents are under absolutely no obligation to disclose publicly what a house sold for.
A private treaty sale is just that - the price is private.
In a public auction, the price is known to everyone in the auction room and can be published without permission from anyone.
In a private treaty sale, the price should only be revealed with the permission of the seller.
The National Consumer Agency sought assurances from estate agents that the price they revealed was the true one not, as had been happening in some cases, an inflated one.
Despite the very public controversy, there is no assurance, nor can there be under the present system, that all house prices must be revealed, so don't worry.
Reinforce your desire for privacy when talking to your agent.
Try to be a little realistic however. While your desire for absolute privacy is entirely understandable and should be respected, there are so many people involved in any sale that the price achieved can often seep out, carried in the local rumour mill.
Your questions
Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received.
This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
