Background: Elon Musk’s building a spaceport out there in Texas for his Mars rocket — and God DAMN but that’s just an observation that’s chock-full of crystallized awesome — and the retirement community next door is possibly not entirely enthralled with having regular bouts of Rocket Summer. So Musk’s offering three times the appraised value of their houses to buy them out. No fuss, no muss, he’ll even throw in VIP passes to see the rockets go up.
As I said on Twitter: Musk offers 3x, go for 4x and maybe push for 4.5x if there’s a chance he’ll deal. I know that they’re saying ‘non-negotiable,’ but that’s always bull[expletive deleted]. You look like you’re ready to be persuaded, they’ll sweeten the pot. You might get only 3.5x, but you don’t get if you don’t push*.
Alternatively: I don’t know how rezoning works in Texas, but if you can live with the sonic booms and occasional brushfire until there’s an actual spaceport then you can probably-maybe find somebody down the road that’s willing to buy out your acreage for commercial use. Again, you have to ask. And also again, you have to show that you’re willing to cash out. Stating your stubborn refusal to move is a great tactic in the very beginning, but it can backfire quicker than you think.
Disclaimer: while I actually do know some stuff about commercial real estate, much of it is probably out of date and I only worked in the industry for a decade or so. I didn’t take classes in it. Don’t substitute me for a competent real estate attorney, or even an incompetent one.
Moe Lane
*Oh, and keep your goram mouth shut about what you get. That’s part of the deal. If somebody doesn’t have the brains to try to squeeze a little more, that’s on them. You watch out for you.