FARM offer??

[gwpoky]

Here is the situation:

A farm about three miles from us is up for sale by owner, 80 ac with a good wood lot and lots of maples and about 60 acof fields and farmstead. I emailed out of curiosity and got a reply that the farm is still for sale. Our issue is that we would need to sell our place to move, so what I am asking here is any ideas ie: offer to buy on contract for deed, farm swap ect. We own 15 ac and have been looking at moving to more land further away, but this place is close so we could keep our customer base. What he is thinking on price is very fair and realistic it just making it work for both of us in transition. In his email he says he would be willing to discuss transition options.

Any input would be great, I do not what to let this pass without even trying.

Thank you,
George

[Eli]

I would get to know the seller and explan your plan for the place. If the seller likes what you want to do and wants you to have it they will be much more flexible with price and financing. There is a million ways to finance things and having the seller on your side is a great place to start. They don’t make any more land and historically land has been a great invest ment I hope to leave mine to my children. Good Luck. Eli

[Rivendell Farm]

I think there is something called a bridge loan you may be able to get until your place sells. Bob

[Jonathan Shively]

Why is he wanting to sell? Home to big and costly to heat? Doesn’t want the work of 80 acres? Is your home newer, smaller, one level/floor with an attached garage? Maybe a home swap with you paying the difference?

[Eli]

Check out direct and guaranteed loans through USDA they have a variety of loan options used to be FHA but now it called Farm Servica Agency (FSA). Eli

[gwpoky]

They are selling because they want to move to Arizona to be closer to there children and do not want the hassle of the acreage. At first they where wanting to stay in a one bedroom apartment on the farm in the summers, but now they are not sure they want to stay at all. The trouble with FSA, at least in my experience, is they don’t like to work outside the “norms: corn/soy and confinement” I have never looked into a bridge load, I will look into that.

[J-L]

I would at least check out the FSA guaranteed loan. I have seen some loan officers think outside the box. Put together a farm plan and give it a whirl. You won’t be out anything.

[Eli]

When I got my first FSA loan I was rotationally grazing my dairy heard. They were more interested in my business plan and profitability. As long as I had accurate numbers. However that was 20 years ago. Good luck.

[blue80]

We were flat out told a couple years ago by the USDA loan program managers that there was a 1 to 100 horse to cattle ratio. They were adamant that draft horse powered rotationally grazed systems would not get funding….

We also had a rude awakening that properties over 35 acres cannot be resold on the secondary mortgage market. Meaning the bank you get a loan with will not be able to bundle and resell, nor will a large mortgage consortium give lending on a property over 35 acres.

We ended up getting a high interest 15 year fixed loan with a local bank. They were adamant we would not be written as an ag loan; the bank managers words were that it takes a year to repo an ag loan property, only a couple months for a conventional. Although as he put it, “of course we hope it doesn’t come to that”

It would seem that some of the farmers griping about the lack of young hard working people willing to farm and raise families in the country would help newcomers get in….

[dbarker4322]

FSA is loaning money at 1.5%. They will loan up to 45% of the amount. In order to qualify you need to have all your “ducks in a row”. It takes awhile to get approved and then you have to wait on the funding. They will guarantee the loan and hold the second mortgage, this makes it easier to get the other half through another bank.

Dave

[Eli]

FSA was a good thing for us without them I would not have gotten a chance to farm. Any way the thing is to explore all of your options talk to your local Chamber of Commerce and Small Busness Association they have Busness loans and grants if you qualify. Weigh your options and good luck. Eli

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