Well, that was interesting...

Yesterday evening a guy I didn't know showed up on my doorstep.

Turns out he has been negotiating with my erstwhile former business partner for about 40 acres of low-producing land.

We talked for some time, me telling him about the right-of-way and water line and septic and whatall, then the interesting bit came up.

Turns out Mr. Former Partner is asking 240K for that itsy piece of not-good land! I must have dropped my jaw in amazement because this guy asked what was so surprising.

I then informed him of the price Mr. FP had paid me over a year ago, a eminently fair price, for the whole farm. He looked at me for a few seconds in a rather dumbfounded manner. I suggested to him that he get the latest CSR reports and check out soil surveys. I suggested that, in my opinion, a market value would be somewhere around 150K if he intended to build a house, or houses on the homesite, and considerably less if he intended to actually farm the land.

Not only is Mr. FP asking an outrageous amount for the place but he isn't giving his potential buyer any information. I suspect, although it wasn't stated outright, that there are various and sundry half-truths, if not outright lies, being told.

Mr. FP is know for questionable business practices and anyone who is dealing with him, or thinking about it, absolutely must do their research and have all their "ts" crossed and their "is" dotted. If not, he'll run roughshod over them.

If this gentleman tells Mr. FP where he got his information, I can expect a visit from the former partner. He will be foaming at the mouth and is likely to go off on a rant. That's fine. I've headed him off in the past and will do it again if I think it's necessary. He can rant and rave all he wants but I did nothing wrong, just told the truth. I'd stand up in a court of law and testify to that.

I don't particularly dislike Mr. FP but I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him. Never have, never will.

I do hope two things:

First, that the visitor doesn't tell FP where he got his information. Peace and quiet are highly valued here and I would prefer not to deal with a crazy man on my doorstep.

Second, that the visitor does his research and does it thoroughly and well. He seems a nice enough person and it would be too bad if he became another person to fall victim to an unscrupulous prevaricator.

And so it goes, just another day in my life...