Greedy People

[TurtleNinja]

Something of an update to my #10 answer to the questions in Thread Saver I answered a few days back.

The auction for the fields and property was today. It didn't stay in our hands, so we did lose that 1/3 of the farm we had been renting. Dad didn't have much of a chance, thanks to a surprise bidder none of us knew about. The other person, he stood a chance against, but not the one who ended up getting it.

All in all, he was treated VERY poorly during the whole situation. Not by the auctioneer, he was honestly trying to help, but those he was bidding against, and those who were selling the property(minus the brother, he was actually trying to be decent, his sisters weren't), pretty much screwed him over. He worked and improved those fields over FORTY YEARS, and the mother of the folks selling the property had wanted him to have it anyways, and this was the thanks he got.

The son was trying to make sure Dad got the land, but his sisters were greedy and out for as much cash as they could squeeze out of the sale, and when it was over, they didn't act like they cared too much, seeing as how they were happy as could be with the price they got.

The bidders I'm very ticked at. Neither bidder really NEEDED the property. One was a greedy corporate farmer(ie: ones who are big enough to have "Inc" in their names, not family farmers like us) who only wanted the land because...get this...he owns too many damn pigs. Seriously. Idiot bought a ton of pigs to feed when corn prices were cheap. Now that corn prices are up, rather than selling off the extra pigs he can't afford to feed, he's trying to steal a man's 40 years of hard work so he can keep his hogs.

The other guy, well, this is where it gets messed up. The other bidder, who eventually got the property, doesn't need the land either. He's the one we rent our apartment from. And owns a good number of the rental properties in town, enough that my mother pretty much says he owns half the town. *sigh* As landlords, we've been treated well by them. However, seeing as how they're amongst the ones that snap up all the land around here and have the money to sink folks like my father, yeah, we're not happy.

All Dad was doing was trying to buy the land he'd been renting, working, and improving upon the last forty years. The other bidders were simply folks who already had plenty of money and weren't in need of the extra property, just looking to add to their holdings.

We do have some options to get some of the land back from neighbors who were on Dad's side and saw how badly treated he was. Won't be the same fields, but we might be able to get back at least a 1/3, if not 2/3 of the land we lost in the next couple of years. One is pretty much given and was offered before today's auction and a private sale, so next spring, we might get 1/3 of what we lost back. The other is being considered on.

So...given all the developments of losing 1/3 of the farm to the people we rent our apartment from, it's safe to say that Earl and I will probably be moved back to the farm by the holidays. We were expecting it anyways if Dad had managed to get the property, just on account of the cost of the property. But since he lost and who he lost it to, it's just a good idea to get going.

And before anyone asks, we won't be without Internet. While they're still on dial-up at the moment, we've looked around at WiFi options and have found a likely provider. Still have to talk to them and work things out for set-up, but we have someone in mind we can talk to, now that this auction and other crap is over with.

Needless to say, I really, really hate greedy people who are already living comfortably on the farm property they have, but snap up property when it comes up for sale, just to swell their pocketbooks, while folks like us have to fight to our limits just to keep what we have and get any scrap of property to give us extra breathing room with. *sigh*

[BubblyShell22]

Wow. That sucks, TN. It really ticks me off to see greedy people like that. It makes me think of the private schools here in Indiana that are being handed money vouchers to fund their schools while the public schools suffer.

[TurtleNinja]

Ooh, don't get me started on that voucher rubbish. *has a HUUUUGE and rather political rant about that she won't get into here*

On the upside, things are, thankfully, starting to look better.

How Dad was treated remains unfair, and that's the biggest thing we're still ticked off about and probably will be for awhile. That the land belonged to a distant relative, my Dad worked it for so long and improved it, and that said relative wanted him to have it. Forty years of his work, now in the hands of a guy who owns half the property in town and seriously doesn't need the land or the money, but from the sound of things, that's what the guy does.

The social aspect of this b.s. aside, once the shock and indignation passed, it looks like, financially, it was for the best. Dad bought a new combine this spring, and farm equipment is outrageously expensive. It's like buying a new house or paying for remodeling in an existing home, to get an idea of the price tag. Paying for the property, even though it would be over time(had Dad got the land, it would have been paid in 10-15 years), would have just added to the price tag of things he'd have to pay for.

Buying farm property isn't cheap, either. One acre of farmland generally sells for $4000, depending on the quality of land and what sort of improvements might need to be made to make it good for farming on. Land that isn't very good or needs a lot of work might sell for less. I've heard of land here going for $6000 an acre for really good land.

After last week, we all sort of calmed down and thought about it, and if Dad had actually managed to get the land on top of the new combine(which he DID need, though), we think that financially, we would have been crippled by how much it all would have cost, regardless of how long Dad had to pay it off. Now all he has to worry about is that combine, and he had the payments for that all set anyways.

The other upside is that we might end up getting the acreage we lost back anyways, just in different fields from the ones we lost. Everyone in the community who was at the auction and knows Dad, knows how badly we were treated during the situation. Everyone says he deserved to get the land and had wanted him to get it, but we just couldn't bid against one of the richest families/companies in town.

We now have around three offers that might just recoup those losses, but would be sold privately and over time that Dad can buy them one at a time, at a price agreed between him and the seller, no bidding, and even getting just two would be almost the same amount as we lost.

The first one is almost a guaranteed, as it sits beside a field we already own. The second is being considered and seems to be likely, as the person who owns it is renting it, but isn't getting proper rent on the land like she wants. She may switch over to having my Dad work the land as he'd pay the rent she should get.

A third property is down the line and just a possibility at this point. Belongs to a family friend who had to go into assisted living this spring. He's got somebody farming it for now, and we watch over his house(hubby and I mow the lawn for him), but the person farming it only signed on to do it for a year, so if he doesn't continue(another one who doesn't pay the rent he should), I know the gentleman who owns it will ask my Dad.

But we have to wait and see on that one. The others seem more likely, so we thankfully have options, so the loss isn't as bad financially, just socially. It just wasn't right.

[BubblyShell22]

Well, at least there's a bit of a bright side to what happened, so that's good. I'm glad things are starting to look better for you, TN. But I agree about the treatement not being fair.