Potterton was delighted to report to Irish Country Living that the 74-acre non-residential farm at Barfordstown, Kells, Co Meath, sold at auction under the hammer for €925,000 or €12,500/ac to the Meade family. The price achieved was above the average for the area which he said was generally in the region of €10,000/ac but there were very valid reasons for this.

Location

Firstly the location just off the M3 motorway makes it an attractive property, not just to farmers but to investors too as it is convenient, even for those that are Dublin-based enterprises.

Secondly the fact that this property was all in one large division, well maintained and with its own water supply added to its appeal.

The farm had been in grass up to three years ago when it was planted in crops. Presumably, it will be in potatoes going forward.

“Furthermore, Kells is also a good place for schools and to live although there is no dwelling on the property as it is, it is generally easier to get planning on a big property like this. There is considerable road frontage to the property also and although it is very conveniently located, it is just far enough away from the town for farming,” Potterton said.

“We were very excited about this property and we did expect it to go really well as there was plenty of interest since it was first advertised.” And this culminated in a busy auction room on Wednesday 26 June in the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells.

Although there were two dozen people in the room, really there were only four bidders. Potterton felt that there would have been more but it opened very strong at €650,000 and the price rose quickly in increments of between €20,000 and €5,000. When €815,000 was reached, the vendors were consulted and with three bidders left in the fray, the farm quickly reached €850,000 at which stage it was declared on the market. There were another circa 15 bids before the hammer dropped a the eventual selling price of €925,000.

The very progressive buyers, the Meade Family received a large round of applause at the end of auction.