G
Guest
·There is a farm in our area for sale. 52 acres of fertile pasture with a stock pond, 1300 feet of frontage on pristine river in Atlantic salmon territory, a 2300 sq ft. house in great shape, multiple barns in excellent shape, an established CSA with 60+ members, a co-op business and store with established clientele, PYO raspberries and strawberries, a drilled and a dug well, established Christmas tree and perrenial sales relationship with a major seed company, and a hay operation. The current farmer is willing to teach the new owners.
Asking price: $595,000.
Here's the rub. The hay operation takes in $25,000 per year. PYO is another $10,000. Retail veggies, trees, etc. comprise another $10,000. They sell out of everything they grow, but they are unable to do more because of their age. There are no numbers available yet on the CSA profitability, but shares are $100 each, so that's at least another $6,000. Profits on the co-op are 10% of the total, but no hard numbers are available yet. These numbers also represent two elderly folks running the farm with no help, and they haven't tapped any farmer's market/restaurant possibilities yet. The farm has a stellar reputation throughout the entire state. They raise no animals currently, but they're set up to do it.
Rub #2: Because of the Atlantic salmon issue, the local conservation group is seeking to purchase easement/development rights to the shoreline. The easments are very flexible and would allow us to continue haying/farming. Speculation is that the easement would put between $80-100,000 into the landowner's pocket. The state is also interested in upland easements, perhaps to the tune of another $100,000. The conservation group has a lawyer that donates her time to work out the legal issues, and they pay for the appraisal and I believe some of the closing costs of that aspect of the deal.
Mortgage would be about $3000 per month with 10% down on $600,000. That's almost double what I'm paying now, and I can't afford it. We would need about $15,000 to make up the difference.
As it stands, the established business kicks in a minimum of $45,000 per year. Then, we can count on another min. $80,000 from the conservation group, which would significantly reduce the mortgage payment again. So it's starting to look good. It's a lot of damn money, but once you crunch the numbers, it looks doable.
So what am I missing?
Asking price: $595,000.
Here's the rub. The hay operation takes in $25,000 per year. PYO is another $10,000. Retail veggies, trees, etc. comprise another $10,000. They sell out of everything they grow, but they are unable to do more because of their age. There are no numbers available yet on the CSA profitability, but shares are $100 each, so that's at least another $6,000. Profits on the co-op are 10% of the total, but no hard numbers are available yet. These numbers also represent two elderly folks running the farm with no help, and they haven't tapped any farmer's market/restaurant possibilities yet. The farm has a stellar reputation throughout the entire state. They raise no animals currently, but they're set up to do it.
Rub #2: Because of the Atlantic salmon issue, the local conservation group is seeking to purchase easement/development rights to the shoreline. The easments are very flexible and would allow us to continue haying/farming. Speculation is that the easement would put between $80-100,000 into the landowner's pocket. The state is also interested in upland easements, perhaps to the tune of another $100,000. The conservation group has a lawyer that donates her time to work out the legal issues, and they pay for the appraisal and I believe some of the closing costs of that aspect of the deal.
Mortgage would be about $3000 per month with 10% down on $600,000. That's almost double what I'm paying now, and I can't afford it. We would need about $15,000 to make up the difference.
As it stands, the established business kicks in a minimum of $45,000 per year. Then, we can count on another min. $80,000 from the conservation group, which would significantly reduce the mortgage payment again. So it's starting to look good. It's a lot of damn money, but once you crunch the numbers, it looks doable.
So what am I missing?