Your $$$ Needed To Keep The Southern Region Open

[charlie]

...if i messed up, please correct me..

Important clarification......

It is not a loan exactly, it is a land contract financed through the Murray Family. Although it is like a mortgage and there is interest, it's important to remember we did not borrow this from a bank and early payoff has some issues.

This is the way I understand it, but other BOD members that have been around longer than me should know better......

Johnny negotiated this contract with the Murray family and when you think about it they are selling to us at a loss. The oil company offered them more cash and they still chose to sell to us even though we were scrambling to get the paper work done and our option to buy had expired. Know that this man has taken time off, driven to the courthouse at his own expense just so he could testify in court for our benefit. If we pay double the payment, that has big complications for him as far as accounting and taxes go and also cuts the amount the Murray family will get out of the deal (and we got a huge deal on it in the first place).

So, I'm not smart enough to know if it's possible to pay off early and save a ton of money, but I do know that would probably be a burden to our overly generous finiancier.

Granted, we raise a quarter million this year we can always invest in some sort term bonds or a Tahitian winter retreat!

[Artsay]

IE a 30 year mortgage could be payed off in 22 years by making one extra monthly payment per year. Additonally paying your mortgage twice a month (1/2 each time) saves you serious cash.

Actually, I don't think that's true anymore. That logic was true when interest rates were 8-9%. Now they're much lower (Our 15 year loan is 4.75%) so it's not as much as an advantage. It doesn't hurt to pay more and apply it to the principle, but those calculations of one month extra/22 year payoff, etc., just aren't correct anymore.

We refinanced to a 15 year mortgage and are saving over $100,000 in interest. Crazy...

[Artsay]

So, I'm not smart enough to know if it's possible to pay off early and save a ton of money, but I do know that would probably be a burden to our overly generous finiancier.

So is it clarified in the contract that there's a pre-payment penalty? I understand what you're saying but I have a hard time believing that the Murray's wouldn't accept early payment in full and be done with it.

[rhino]

Ok, I'm at work but Charlie sent me a notice about this thread and I will reply tonight.

Ryan

[randomboulder]

The other day someone mentioned to me the idea of possibly taking a few small plots of the 700 acres on the preserve and selling them to help raise the money. It sounds like it could be a feasible solution if it were possible. Sacrifice a small portion of the land to help save the rest?

Does the RRGCC have the rights to do this before the contract is fully paidoff? Is there something in the land contract that would restrict this possibility?

Curious if this has been discussed or looked into.

[charlie]

......Curious if this has been discussed or looked into.

I think it has been considered in the past, but many different things are higher on the priority list right now. First off, we don't actually own the land yet so that's probably an issue. I have also been around some conservation land buyer programs in the past (TNC) and I know the legal and tax work involved would be no small amount of effort.

Also, the RRGCC BOD is 6 people. We have jobs and lives and we're doing everything we can. From my standpoint I'd be overjoyed if we could even pull off the projects we currently have on the table, much less research and take on all the great ideas that are coming out. So, the Project Manager in me says "avoid scope creep at all costs" cause in my professional experience that's the main reason balls get dropped. I've seen it happen way too many times in my job and I'm struggling to keep my head above water as it is. Maybe that's something to put on the table in the future but I doubt that's going to happen in '06.

Of course, there is an open BOD seat right now and we appreciate ALL the help everyone is giving us!

Thanks everyone!!!!!! I think we're all pretty jazzed that everyone is thinking about this right now.

[Spragwa]

Ok, I'm at work but Charlie sent me a notice about this thread and I will reply tonight.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan.

I know the BOD is working very hard to keep projects going and to answer questions, etc. When I am one person asking for clarification of one issue it's hard sometimes to remember that there are 100 more just like me asking similar questions that you want to answer in turn.

[rhino]

Ok, prepayment

There is not a prepayment penalty, nor do we have any reason to believe that the Murray's would not want and/or appreciate an early payoff of the loan. Once enough money is raised I am certain something can and will be worked out. The only thing I keep trying to guard against is the desire to make small "additional" principal payments. The Murray's are not a lending institution and probably are not prepared to accept "odd" payments in the same way a bank would.

I hope this helps. If not, just ask away or send me an email and I willl respond as fast as I can.

adams dot rharris at gmail dot com

Thanks
Ryan

And thanks again to all those that have donated and continue to donate time and effort to raise money.

[SCIN]

Dude, that's a strange email address for someone named Ryan. You may want to spell it out unless you want spam.

[Yasmeen]

It's his spam account, SCIN. Just like mine is mynameisnotyasandidareyoutosendmespam@gmail.com Amazingly, that attracts all the spam from my primary account. Gmail kicks ass in so many ways. Maybe posting it in the same thread will even reduce Ryan's spams for the day.