two thousand acres from you,” Sthykar said, “If you sell me that much, I
will buy right now.”
“Unfortunately
I can’t,” Belvyk said, “Trust me, if I could, I would, I get more fees from
more sales,” he smiled, “but the owners of the land don’t want to sell lots
under ten thousand acres anymore.”
“Why
is that?” Sthykar asked.
“Quite
a story,” Belvyk said. “If you are done looking, we can drive back to my office
and I will fill in the backstory.” Belvyk wanted to get Sthykar back into his
office as he finished his sales pitch so that he could quickly pull out the
papers and get with the sale before Sthykar changed his mind.
“Alright,
let’s go,” Sthykar said.
Belvyk
turned the car around and hit the gas, rushing back down the same road on which
they had arrived.
“I
have this total land parcel of one million acres to sell for the owners, Janvyk
Timber Company, whose stockholders are the founder’s family,” Belvyk began.
Sthykar relaxed back into his seat taking in the beautiful view of the
mountains and the trees. “Janvyk the elder, the founder of the company, who put
all this land together was the richest man in this area,” Belvyk continued.
“The current owners are his grandchildren. However they do not share his love
of timber business and don’t want to come live out in the back country to
manage the operations. About six months ago, the company was in some financial
difficulty, so they have finally decided to sell off the assets and live off of
the income from investing the sales proceeds in the big cities.”
“Is
there a lumber mill on one of the plots?” Sthykar asked, “I don’t want
lumberjacks wandering over into my property.”
“There
is a mill, but it is in the town. It is the biggest employer in the town. They
will cut lumber and then haul it there. The new mill owners have said they will
even manage lumber operations on anyone’s land and send them a monthly royalty
check.”
“Well
that’s certainly something to consider for the future. But for now all I want
is land for hunting and for quiet family vacation, so why not two thousand acre
lots anymore?”
“So,
like I said there are these one million acres,” Belvyk continued, “and for each
lot the family members have to negotiate the sale price with a potential buyer.
They wanted to sell it in one-hundred thousand acre lots, but I argued them
down to ten thousand acres—told them they would be waiting for months to find
buyers for that large a plot. As it is, that is already a hundred lots to
negotiate for, they don’t want even more on their plate. Now they agreed to
sell the first five lots in two thousand acre parcels just to test the market
and the prices, but that was three months ago; no more.”
“Relkyett
got lucky, he bought at the right time,” Sthykar said.
“Indeed,
a timber investor bought two of those lots, a retired couple bought another
one, and the fifth lot was bought by a company whose business I don’t know.”
“Alright,
I will buy ten thousand acres,” Sthykar said, “I doubt I will buy land again
after this.”
“I
am sure you can earn good income from timber here, and build up your acres just
like the old man Janvyk He accumulated ten acres at a time when he started
out.”
“Oh
it’s not about the money,” Sthykar laughed. “My wife is a city girl, doesn’t
like mountains and jungles much. Our next purchase will be a home in a big city
if she has her way.”
“Which
she probably will.” Belvyk chuckled.
“Ha
ha,” Sthykar laughed, “Anyways, how fast can I take ownership?”
“As
soon as you and the family can agree on the price, I will give you the land
title.” Belvyk said, “I will call them on the phone
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley