Sold my mother's farm, tractor, etc. today.

[RSKY]

That is impressive. In my county, auctions for real estate are pretty rare. Next county over, they are very common.
Do you mind me asking what his fee was?

Buyer pays a 10% fee. So whatever was bid on the farm, in this case $775k the buyer pays an extra $77.5k to the auction company. We will also pay half the survey and legal fees. The household goods sold that day will pay for that.

We talked to the buyer today. He was laughing that he had, "been all over town", trying to get the money to pay us. I suspect he will just write a check. He bought the farm Saturday and was planting beans Monday. So dry here I hope they come up.

We listed the second 80-acre farm with the same auction company today. There is about 33-acres on a steep wooded hill that sisters and I thought was practically worthless. He was rubbing his hands and smiling about it. He intends to spend a lot on out of state and Internet advertising of the building sites on that hill. We know the river bottom land will bring good money (two tried to get me to name a price at the sale) but he was grinning more about the hillside.

This guy really enjoys his work. Friendly, jokes around, but gets serious when talking business. He ALWAYS answers calls and texts. It may take a few minutes if he is busy with someone else but he always responds. If I need to talk I text, "Call when convenient", and he says that is the most considerate he has had. He and his girlfriend are very tech savvy and used drones to get great pictures for the advertising. His crew was very friendly and helpful.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

On Saturday we also sold a 46-year old tractor for $7600 to a family that will use it on their tobacco farm. Perfect tractor for what they needed. Sold a 1-year old Bushing 6' mower for $3000, which is only a hundred or so less than I paid for it. The price increase on those went from $2850 in April 2021 to $3100 when I bought last fall to a quoted price of $3999 last month. It had mowed less than eighty acres. Also sold a 40+ year old Ford mower for $125 and it had a locked up gearbox.

Household items went CHEAP. What they called 'Brown Furniture' is just not selling anywhere. Also china and other glassware nearly giveaway prices.

RSKY

 

[ultrarunner]

Always learning something on TBN…

Houshold items usually donated to one of the charities or dumped…

Sometimes resale buyers offer a bare bottom lot price and will resell individual on the Net…

Lots of downsizing and moving out of State and things mostly given away…

The Estate buyers seem to be 5% of value… mostly doing you a favor type of thing…

The bidding happens on Real Estate but the bids happen in the 10 days the property is up for sale.

Can’t remember when a property sold for the list price as they ALL go for over and only the last few weeks have price reductions been a thing…

 

[grsthegreat]

At my familys estate sale, we tried to find buyer for fathers large book selection. Towards later in the afternoon, when my brother offered to load any item in someones trunk, he also placed a batch of books in there…..he didnt want to take them home. Neither did i or my sister

 

[ultrarunner]

Maybe being exposed to both sides of the pond makes this an interesting topic…

The biggest difference is the feeling towards land and heritage in that many of my European friends have very long histories with the family homestead and don’t really value money the same way.

Having dinner in someone’s 1700’s home or 1600’s farm is only possible because it is handed down form one generation to the next more of as a caretaker role and I’m not speaking to nobility…

Very different thinking to be sure.

It could be because property taxes are cheap and with life estates inheritance taxes kept very low…

Of course everyone can’t own but for those that do it’s more of not on my watch did the land leave the family…

Maybe it is the fear of money as a store of wealth so much so that I have seen farm contracts from one generation to the next stipulating amount of annual Beef, Milk, Pork, Grain etc… in lieu of monetary payment… also as safeguard to inflation.

 

[RSKY]

Maybe being exposed to both sides of the pond makes this an interesting topic…

The biggest difference is the feeling towards land and heritage in that many of my European friends have very long histories with the family homestead and don’t really value money the same way.

Having dinner in someone’s 1700’s home or 1600’s farm is only possible because it is handed down form one generation to the next more of as a caretaker role and I’m not speaking to nobility…

Very different thinking to be sure.

It could be because property taxes are cheap and with life estates inheritance taxes kept very low…

Of course everyone can’t own but for those that do it’s more of not on my watch did the land leave the family…

Maybe it is the fear of money as a store of wealth so much so that I have seen farm contracts from one generation to the next stipulating amount of annual Beef, Milk, Pork, Grain etc… in lieu of monetary payment… also as safeguard to inflation.

Actually the farm we sold last Saturday was bought from the present day buyer’s parents. So it has returned to the original owners.

 

[ultrarunner]

Very cool…maybe an extra incentive to seal the deal.

I tried to buy my grandfathers tractor but it simply was not for sale and I was offering considerable over market due to sentimental reasons… first tractor I drove and time spent haying together…

 

[dmccarty]

It is sad. Lots of places like that around here too. Always wondered why the inheritors didn't just sell the property if they didn't want it. Maybe bickering among family members and couldn't reach a decision? Shame to see these old places just sit there and deteriorate...after a few years just the dampness, rodents, weather (and sometimes vandalism) make the place so it'd cost a fortune to make inhabitable again.
...

Sometimes, many times, the house is just too remote for people to live in and have a job. If they don't have a job and are retired, the house is too remote to good health care. So the house sits. Then decays.

Having said that, I know of some of these houses that are being maintained but I have not seen a person living in them for a decade or more.

On the other hand, I know of some houses that are not that remote from good jobs yet they sit empty. It could well be the lack of HVAC that keeps them empty.

The subdivision we lived in back in the city, had a house that was never occupied in the almost decade we lived there. Neighbors who had been there before us, said nobody had ever lived in the house either. The house was like every other house in the subdivision, nothing wrong with it that we could tell but not one person ever lived in it. Years after we sold our house, someone finally moved into the house. I would guess it was unoccupied for a good 20 years. Nobody knew why that house sat empty all of those years. We had lots of ideas but never found out what was really going on. It was odd to say the least.

Later,
Dan