Real Estate: Horse farm owner tries live auction to sell property

FORT COLLINS No doubt some commercial brokers in Northern Colorado will be disappointed to hear this listing opportunity got away.

James Warson, a retired neurosurgeon, has decided to sell his J&J Horse Farm, 1632 N. Overland Trail, at auction, rather than use a broker.

J.P. King Auction Co., an Alabama-based auctioneer that specializes in high-end properties, will sell the 11-acre breeding and training center on May 11.

While there is no minimum bid required, its easy to anticipate a seven-figure sale price.

Warson, who now lives in Hawaii, paid $350,000 on the house and grounds in 1984, according to Larimer County records.

Since then hes invested more than $1 million in the horse farm and another half a million in the 124-year-old house.

The auction approach to the sale is intended to cut out the typically extended process of marketing and selling a high-value property.

In this case, maybe it doesnt take a brain surgeon to take the auction route.

“This condenses the entire campaign into six or eight weeks, essentially,´ said Carl Carter, a spokesman for J.P. King. “If you think about an ordinary sales campaign, you have to pace yourself. Once you get over $1 million or a couple million dollars, properties tend to move very slowly. You dont want to spend all of your marketing dollars in the first month. This way you dont have to worry about that.”

The J&J Horse Farm, on which Warson raised Morgan horses, includes a 20-stall barn, a 15,500-square-foot indoor arena, a viewing room, a trainers home and an electronic insecticide distribution system to ward off horseflies.

Amenities for the humans include a pool and hot tub for the house and a tack room.

The farm also has historical value.

According to Warson, the original farm was part of an 1876 territorial land grant. The home was built in 1880 by John Brown, once a companion of Wild Bill Hickock.

“You can still see the outline in the floor where they had a trap door where they could escape in case of an Indian attack,” Warson said.

Before Warson acquired the ground it was a tree farm. In fact, evergreen trees from the farm were used for landscaping the Foothills Mall in the 1970s.

The auction itself will be a unique real estate event.

J.P. King plans to spice the day with live music and up to 10 auctioneers and assistants.

“Once the auction gets started it will be a traditional auction chant,” Carter said.

J.P. King anticipates anywhere from eight to 20 bidders for the property.

“The popularity of horse farms has been going well,” Carter said.

Property tours of the farm begin April 27. For information on the farm and the auction process call (900) 558-6464, or visit www.jpking.com.

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