Large Scale Central

Selling/Buying a home: Garden RR liability? Asset?

General Discussion
#1

Regular LSC participant Shawn Viggiano ( see his new posting) indicates he has sold his home including his outdoor railroad. Apparently, at least with his buyer, the garden RR was not a liability to the sale-- it may have been an asset.

What has been your experience as either a seller, buyer, or both?

As a seller:
1 - Was track, etc., removal contingent upon making the sale?
2 - Was there an expected price reduction? increase? because of your garden RR?
3 - Was the RR existence made a discussed feature during the initial showing of your home? If not, was the RR downplayed with “of course the train will be removed…” etc.
4 - What advice was given by your listing realtor related to the garden RR?
5 - Were you advised to remove it prior to showing your home? Promote the RR as a “perk” or added feature? Raise the cost of the home 10% to cover the cost of replacement? Or?

As a buyer:
1 - Of what importance to you was the existence of the garden RR? Were options for modification part of your decision to buy or not buy?
2 - Of what importance or non-importance did the seller place on their railroad? Did they wait for a reaction from you before even mentioning it prior to your on-site visit?
3 - Was the railroad noted in any public listings? If existence was known by the realtor, what advice did you get?

Realtor opinions also welcomed.

Wendell

#2

Wendell, I haven’t bought nor sold a home with a garden railroad in it. However I did meet a lady who bought a house with a garden railroad. Now she didn’t know anything about garden railroads, but not only did she keep the railroad, she operated it during a neighborhood event. I saw the railroad years ago, and 2 jobs ago. I haven’t been over to that part of Pittsburgh in years, so I don’t know if she still has it. I am not sure that I could even find the house again, to find out if it is still there. But the railroad did not prevent her from buying the house.

#3

I am a Realtor and I don’t think a gardene RR is a positive or a negative. I have toured hundreds of houses and it is pretty rare to come across one with any type of RR. Any RR equipment is usually taken away well before the house sells. Shawn had a rare case where the buyer was into trains and they were able to work out an agreement.
When it comes to extras like individual furniture I like to say that I’m not a furniture salesman unless the house comes furnished. RR’s are the same way even though they are sort of a “fixture” generally any trace of a garden RR would be removed by the owner. If staying the Trains would need to be negotiated apart from the house because most people would not want them. I know, sad.

If I was listing a property that had a RR I would suggest to the owner that we leave it until we have an accepted offer. If the buyer is interested then something could be worked out like what Shawn did. If not then get packing. Of course I’m talking about the average sized RR not the large ones that take over the backyard. It is tough to return a yard to “normal” when there is a massive concrete mountain and fish pond in the middle of it. It would be fun explaining that.

If the seller didn’t want to take the RR away then I would take a few photos of it and put it on the MLS and mention it in the listing but I wouldn’t market it as a Garden Railroad with a 3 bed 2 bath ranch.

Funny, yesterday at an open house while waiting for people I was reading a train book and put it down on my chair when an agent and her buyers came in. Later in the tour they asked if I liked trains so I told them about my adventures and guess what the other agent has a train for her Christmas tree. You never know who is into trains.

#4

That’s a difficult question or questions to answer. If the railroad is to be sold with the house, of course you would want to be compensated for it in some manner. Likewise, if the buyer doesn’t want the railroad, but wants the house, who pays for the removal and re-landscaping.

It’s similar to homes with pools. Some buyers just don’t want a pool, so they will look elsewhere. You need a buyer who has an appreciation for the thing. Even if they aren’t a model railroader, they may like having it in the garden. Then the question of how much of it do they want. Someone with limited knowledge of the hobby may just want to watch a train go around their new garden. How elaborate is the railroad, meaning, first, how much track and how many switches (turnouts). How easy or difficult is it to run a train. Is it track powered, DCC, battery powered, etc. Basically, how simple is it to to run a train?

All of these things must come into play when you’re thinking of selling your railway with your house. Personally, I don’t know what I would do if I ever had to move. I’d like to think that the railway would move with me, and that I would simply remove all of the track, etc. and plant more bushes and flowers in it’s place.

#5

Wendell,
We we recently sold our home, it was listed that the railroad was not included with the sale of the home. The buyers were fine wit that and there was no issue. I removed all the tracks and trestles after we were sure the deal was going through. We did not get any feedback from prospective buyers on the railroad before we got an offer.

I think this is more of an issue with an indoor railway, where as a layout could take up alot of space in a home. Buyers really want to see the space they have to work with.

#6

IIRC most homes I have seen that went up for sale with e GR in the back, eventually sold with the track and features being pulled up and replaced by gravel paths or redwood chips covering the ROWs. the pathways were a more desirable feature than the GR.

Model railroads are a niche hobby, GRs are a niche in a niche.