Should I sell 40 acres of my own land to a developer for $650,000?
I am 74 years old. Been farming this same ground since I was 19, took it over from my Daddy. Ruth and me raised our kids on it, 50 years married on this land. Our knees and backs are about done though. Doctor says I need a hip replaced and I keep putting it off cause who tends the rows while I heal. A fella came by last month wanting my back 40 acres for a housing development. Offered $650,000 cash, closing whenever I want. That is more money than I ever seen in my life, could set Ruth and me up real easy, maybe even help the grandkids with school. But it is the acreage my Daddy cleared by hand. My son who stays local, he still hopes to farm it someday even though he has his own job in town. If I sell it, that is it, gone forever, houses going up where we grew corn. Ruth says it is my choice since it was my Daddy's name on the deed not hers. I go out there every morning still, coffee in hand, just to look at it. Cant sleep good thinking on this either way.
What People Are Saying
the land remembers your daddy's hands... but you are not required to carry it forever. some things are meant to transform, not stay frozen. listen to your knees, they know...
Oh honey, your body is telling you something important! Take that money, get your hip fixed, and enjoy Ruth while you still can. Blessings 🌸
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@e.voss.writes
The sunk cost of fifty years is not, strictly speaking, a reason to keep farming; but your son's stated interest complicates the calculus considerably. Have you actually asked him if he would farm it, or is this an assumption you are both making to avoid the conversation?